Rays of Hope for Africa's AIDS Children

Natasha is seen at Bowy House, a home for orphans and sick children, in Paarl, near Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, June 14, 2007. Natasha is testimony to the success of anti-retroviral medicines in transforming AIDS from a certain death sentence for infants and young children to a manageable disease, providing a glimmer of hope on a continent of gloom. (AP Photo/Obed Zilwa) (Obed Zilwa - AP)

The home is an example of the localized care that many experts say should be Africa's model. The government pays for the medication, but its founder, Hester Veldsman, who founded Bowy House, relies entirely on private donations and struggles to meet monthly expenses of $9,500 and is always grateful even for donations of diapers and groceries.

And what happens when communities don't care or can't cope?

In Zimbabwe, about 1.3 million children _ or one in five _ are classed as orphans and 100,000 live in child-headed households, according to UNICEF estimates. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's confrontation with the West has caused humanitarian aid to plummet and families are collapsing under an inflation rate heading toward 4,000 percent.

Zimbabwe's official media regularly report on children being raped by HIV-infected men who believe sex with a virgin will cure them.

Similar abuse has been reported in impoverished Lesotho and Swaziland, where AIDS has slashed life expectancy to the mid-30s and left an army of orphans vulnerable to exploitation. School enrollment rates for girls have dropped as they quit to care for younger siblings and sick parents or simply can't afford the fees.

In Zambia, the AIDS-related death of parents and grandparents coupled with migration to cities has left many rural children with nobody to care for them. Faith-based organizations are struggling to fill the gap.

In Cape Town, a church-based charity called Act of Grace plans to use some 150 shipping containers as emergency shelters for AIDS orphans.

Veldsman even now is overcome by tears when she thinks of Bowy, the 5-year-old boy for whom it was named, and who died months before AIDS drugs became available.

She counts Natasha as one of her victories.

"The doctors gave up on her, and I said, No, we can't give up," said Veldsman.

Aside from the medicine, there was one other vital ingredient in Natasha's survival, Veldsman said: "Tender loving care."

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AP correspondent Joseph Schatz in Zambia contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Veldsman's organization: http://www.miqlat.org.za.