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IRIN PlusNews Weekly Issue 316, 29 December 2006
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
NEWS:
MALAWI: HIV/AIDS leaves young people struggling to survive
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Teaching street children about HIV
EVENTS:
JOBS:
MALAWI: HIV/AIDS leaves young people struggling to survive
Chisomo Jonasi, 12, who lives in Lirangwe, on the outskirts of Blantyre, Malawi's second city, lost both his parents to AIDS-related illnesses 18 months ago. He now spends most of his time doing odd jobs in people's gardens to support his three siblings, the youngest of which is five.
Were it not for HIV, he said, his parents would be alive and he and his two sisters and brother would have continued their education. "As the situation is now, our future looks gloomy."
Like most other families in the area, Chisomo's relatives are too poor to take them into their homes. Instead, the children have remained in the grass-thatched mud house left by their parents. "It is not easy, but we are surviving. My hope now lies in those who wish us well," said Jonasi.
More details
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Teaching street children about HIV
Appalled by the deaths of their friends from AIDS-related infections, the street children of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, did not hesitate when offered the opportunity to learn more about the disease.
"I saw many of my friends die of AIDS - they did not know where to go for treatment because they were street children," said Bienvenu Samba, 25, who has spent 11 years living on the streets. "Many of them were HIV-positive or had sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), like gonorrhoea or syphilis."
The Central African Republic, ravaged by years of civil conflict, is one of the poorest countries in the world, and the United Nations has estimated that 10.7 percent of the country's approximately four million inhabitants are HIV-infected.
More details
[ENDS]
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| Links |
AIDS Media Center
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The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis & Malaria
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International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS
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AEGIS
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International HIV/AIDS Alliance
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