Giving a Future and a Hope

Have you ever lost a loved one? I imagine every one of us have had an experience of death in our close family or friend sphere at some point in our lives. Maybe the experience leaves you feeling raw and lonely as you remember how it feels to loose a good friend, a close relative or even a parent. As normal as that loss is, being that death is a part of life, I am sure it impacted you psychologically and left a scar on your soul…. But imagine if the loss of your loved one, occurred along with robbing you of your shelter, food and education… Imagine your entire life being flushed down the drain as you were abandoned by that death…. What if the one who was supposed to take care of you suddenly wasn’t there any more…? What if everything you had to depend on, suddenly was gone…?

This is the case of many of the children living in Kenya. AIDS, the silent killer has robbed so many innocent children not only of their parents but also of their future. They are left with nothing, with no one to fend for them and no where to turn. They are abandoned, out of their elements, with no solutions, no direction nor hope. They are facing death alone, facing diseases alone and facing the future alone. Their unspoken question is; “Who will help me?” “Does anyone care?”

The AIDS pandemic is rolling across the continent and leaving a multitude of victims who have lost everything, including their future.

One of the most affected areas is Rusinga Island, in Lake Victoria. Here the number of orphans has exploded within the last few years and there are no local resources to deal with the problems.