“I know what plans I have in mind for you, Yahweh declares, plans for peace, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Jeremiah 29:11

In sub-Saharan Africa, AIDS has orphaned 15 million children, who need intensive support to go beyond survival and to live life to the full. Orphans and other vulnerable children affected by AIDS have it really tough. The loss of their parents leaves them desolate, bereft of security and with multiple unmet needs for care, counselling, food and treatment, if they are infected too.

Part of the tragic reality of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) is that they are less likely to go to school than others. This could be for many reasons, mostly linked to poverty worsened by the impact of AIDS on their families. Many parents living with HIV struggle to raise money to send their children to school, especially single mothers. Relatives who take in orphans may not have enough money to pay school fees and buy necessary uniforms and books. Other orphans are left to fend for themselves in a world still marked by AIDS-related stigma and discrimination.

For the African Jesuit AIDS Network (AJAN), reaching out to OVCs is an urgent priority. Most Jesuit AIDS ministries – associations, parishes, schools and Christian Life Communities (CLC) – do so in one way or other. Click here to read more about projects that cater to OVCs.

With funds on the decline, it is becoming more and more difficult to help children affected by AIDS in Africa. And yet a modest amount goes a long way: with 60 euro/US$78 a year, you can send one child to primary school in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Togo or Uganda. This sum will pay for a child’s primary school fees, uniform and school supplies like a satchel, pens and pencils, and copybooks.

This Christmas, help Jesuits in Africa to give children orphaned and made vulnerable by AIDS a future and a hope. Your donation could achieve more than you ask or imagine. Thank you!

To donate online, please click here

To donate via cheque, please send it to African Jesuit AIDS Network, P.O. Box 571, Sarit 00606 Nairobi, Kenya

To donate via bank transfer in euros, please use the following details

To donate via bank transfer in US dollars, please use the following details

In some countries, it is possible to make a tax-free donation by donating through our Jesuit partners. To find out more, please fill in and send us this form and we will be in touch with you with more details.

Click here to read the appeal in French and Portuguese.