More than a Million innocent children are orphaned or abandoned to live on roads in
Zimbabwe due to the devastating effects of HIV/ AIDS crisis. These kids have lost their
both parents and all elders in family to the AIDS pandemic and experts fear that 1 out 5
children will become orphan by the end 2010 in Zimbabwe. 90 % of these children are
raised through extended families and not in orphanage. Efforts to provide basic food,
education and health facilities to these children are getting hampered because of the
current political, economic and humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe.

These children are facing triple threat of cholera, Influenza A H1N1 and measles
outbreaks while Zimbabwe is having second highest monthly inflation rates in the
History of Mankind. Every 1 of the 7 living in the age group o 15-40 years is suffering from
AIDS in Zimbabwe. More than half of adolescents are in fear of getting infected with HIV
virus in a few years of time.

Absence of social safety, parents or guardians, spiraling inflation, deteriorating physical
infrastructure, erosion of livelihoods, food insecurity, rising malnutrition, inadequate fund
to support education, the severe impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is having a dramatic
impact on the overall well-being of the children in Zimbabwe. These orphans struggle for
the basic necessities: food, clothing, education and medicine.

Around 120,000 children are living with HIV in Zimbabwe along with the most of the
taxable population of the country. They are living on margins, mostly on the Food Aid. The
School attendance has declined from 85 % in 2007 to less than 20% in 2009. The
student turn-out is low as a majority of public schools have pegged school fees to match
the running costs.

Consequently, a majority of Zimbabwean children can not afford to pay these fees, have
stopped attending classes and access education; even if schools are open and
teachers conduct lessons. These orphan children (and others infected by the virus) are
particularly affected by the multiple traumas of chronically ill caregivers, orphan hood,
lack of quality education and high food insecurity.

Many NGOs have come forward to address this issue along with UNICEF and other
helping bodies. One such organization, Heart4Kids is working for the cause since 2003
in Zimbabwe.

Heart4Kids is a non-profit 501 3(C) organization dedicated to improving the quality of life
of children around the world whose lives are shattered by the HIV/AIDS virus. Heart4Kids
seeks to protect these children by providing them with food, clothing, educational and
medical assistance, and above all hope.

More information on how the organization is helping these children and bringing hope to
them can be collected from their website http://heart4kids.org/

Author Bio: Sandra Denenga is the founder of Heart4Kids organization. Heart4Kids
relies on donations from around the world to help Zimbabwe’s orphaned children. The
tax-deductible online donation provides meals, clothing, school supplies, and medicine
to Zimbabwe’s struggling orphan population.
http://heart4kids.org/