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The HIV/AIDS crisis has left thousands of young children to fend for themselves in Southern Africa. As a result many children as young as 10 years old look after one or more younger siblings. These children are forced to work or beg to survive, thus preventing them from attending school, depriving them of an education and a childhood.

We aim to provide relief for these children by collecting funds which will be distributed to charities in Southern Africa that directly assist children affected by HIV/AIDS. These vetted charitable, non-profit, non-governmental, community based organizations in are encouraged to keep administrative costs to a minimum. AidAfrica Ltd. is itself a non-profit charity registered in Ireland (CHY:15818) which is mandated never to use more than 5% of donated money for administration. Thus a minimum of 95% of donor money will reach the intended African charities.

Facts
According to UNAIDS/WHO estimates 21.5% of those aged 15-49 years old, at the end of 2003 were HIV positive. According to their own estimate of total population size this implies that around 5.3 million South Africans were living with HIV at the end of 2003, including 230,000 children under 15 years old.

Children living with HIV
The AIDS Law Project, an NGO based in Johannesburg, estimated that 50,000 children in South Africa were in need of ARVs at the beginning of 2006, but that only around 10,000 were receiving them. UNAIDS estimates that at the end of 2005, children accounted for 8% of those receiving ARVs in South Africa.

AIDS orphans
As well as many children being infected with HIV in South Africa, many more are suffering from the loss of their parents and family members from AIDS. In 2003, UNAIDS estimated that there were 1.1 million children living as orphans due to AIDS in South Africa, compared to 660,000 in 2001. Once orphaned, these children are then likely to face poverty, poor health and a lack of access to education.

AidAfrica
To see more on the projects we support, please go here. To find out more about past an future AidAfrica events, please go to our Events page. Other websites of interest are on our Links page.

If you would like to make donations, please send money to the AidAfrica account [Account number: 55404037, Sort Code: 93-12-33] at AIB, Grafton Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. If you’d like to donate sweat equity instead by getting involved in fundraising, please contact us at AidAfrica@gmail.com.