HIV/AIDS in South Africa
The HIV/AIDS pandemic is presently running rampant through the country of South Africa. It is believed that over five and a half million people are currently living with the disease, representing 10.8 percent of the total population. There is an average death toll of about 1000 people a day, and statistics from 2009 show that 310,000 people died from HIV/AIDS within South Africa in that year alone. In addition, recent studies of pregnant women indicate that around 30% of women about to give birth have this terminal disease. This means that not only are these women carriers of HIV/AIDS, but their newborns will also be at imminent risk. These are all startling statistics which cannot be ignored any longer. We must all do something to help the people of this country.
The message is getting across in many of the urban and suburban areas, but the overwhelming majority of people in rural places remain undereducated on the subject. There are numerous villages which are believed to have HIV/AIDS rates of over 60%, and it is only getting worse. In some of these areas, people are often so impoverished that they actually try to contract HIV/AIDS in order to collect the 500 Rand per month given out by the South African government to those who have the disease. In turn, these people use this estimated 60 dollars per month to help the rest of their families survive.
The majority of people in South Africa who are infected with HIV/AIDS are between the ages of 16 and 40. The Funky Foundation treats the under 16 population as if they are endangered species and focuses the majority of its attention towards the youth. These young children are the future of South Africa, and if they can be educated about the problems they face, the country can have high hopes for tomorrow. If not, HIV/AIDS will only become more prevalent and it is likely that the country of South Africa will almost entirely consist of people under the age of 20 or over the age of 50. Therefore, it is imperative that each and every child in South Africa is given the opportunity to rise above the problems that his/her country faces and lead the nation back to prosperity in the future. It is the goal of Friends of Funky Foundation to help provide this opportunity.