| Children at the weekend
emotionally narrated the plight of fellow children infected and affected by the killer
disease. They moved their attentive adult audience as
they told of the stigma and discrimination against the more than one million children
orphaned by Aids.
Speaking at Nairobi’s Central Park on Saturday at a
function organised by the Kenya Aids NGOs Consortium (Kanco) and a donor NGO, the UK-based
Comic Relief, a Standard Eight pupil, Master Dishon Wagura said: "When parents or
caregivers fall sick and die, a child’s life often falls apart."
Children whose parent or guardian were infected or died
from Aids, they went on, were often forced to fend for themselves, said Wagura, who is a
student at Bryne Academy.
"Most of the children are then forced to drop out of
school. Girls are especially forced to leave school to assist with essential domestic
duties, including caring for the sick and their siblings," he said.
Shalom Rono, 13, who is a Standard Eight pupil at Nairobi
South Primary School pleaded with the society to help children orphaned by Aids.
"Acceptance is the first step in solving the problem
and given a chance, we (children) believe there is a lot we can do in the fight against
HIV/Aids," Shalom said in her speech.
Earlier, the children joined adults in a unique event to
raise awareness for the Aids orphans. They sung and danced and recited poems that told of
the suffering of the children are day in day out subjected to by the society upon losing
their parents. |
