Customer Reviews

AIDS Orphans Rising: What You Should Know and What You Can Do To Help Them Succeed

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this book. It takes the reader into the everyday lives of real children living in profoundly challenging conditions. Their parents have died, and relatives have often rejected them. They are grieving, and they are often lonely and afraid. Older children bear the burden of providing food, shelter and comfort to their younger siblings.

Yet the stories are filled with hope. When we in the West think of these children, we tend to count them out. But they are determined to take care of each other, to survive and overcome their circumstances. They're finding work, however humble, and they are going to school whenever they can. They're living in the present, laughing and loving. If they have adult problems, they are also still children, capable of playing and experiencing joy.

Sister MaryBeth Lloyd offers us the big picture, well documented with statistics and projections. She shows us the dimensions of the African AIDS crisis and its effect on children, but she has also filled her book with useful information on how her readers can help meet the needs of these children. And most affectingly, she lets us know and admire the children themselves.

The author was a student in our Grants Training Classes, and I have tremendous respect for the work she does. She combines love for the children with a practical approach to supporting them as they grow up and take their place as the next generation of African adults.

Jillian Coleman Wheeler
www.GrantMeRich.com
www.YourInternetCashMachine.com
www.NewAmericanLandRush.com

AIDS is one of the worst threats that have thwarted humanity. In human knowledge, it has a short history; though its origin is possibly as old as humanity itself. Now in the 21st century, AIDS has become ever more terrifying in a different way than a medical condition: it is prowling on the lives of children. In her latest book AIDS Orphans Rising What You Should Know and What You Can Do To Help Them Succeed (Loving Healing Press, December 2007), Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd alarms the readers with the frightening figures of the world's minor population that is left orphan as AIDS continues to take their parents down. Every 14 seconds, such a tragedy occurs in some part of the world!

In many developing and poor countries, the death of both parents leaves the surviving children on their own. Thus a child headed household (CHH) is formed where the orphans, many of them under 9 years of age, have to work for their survival. Those who are not left a house by their parents have to live on the streets, beg for food, and are prone to falling into crime and prostitution in order to survive. The situation is assuming the status of a crisis in African countries, particularly in South Africa and Zambia, where the governments are economically too weak to support AIDS orphans. What do these helpless children do?

As Sister Mary Elizabeth explains in her book, viewing these children as totally helpless will not be so correct a view since these orphan kids have developed coping strategies of their own to ensure their survival. These range from menial labor to selling grains and nuts, and learning technical skills while continuing to go to school full time. Still, they are very much in need of help from grownups not only to live better but also for emotional support and the development of positive and fully functional personalities as they move into adulthood. Without help, they remain at a high risk of becoming a prey to exploitation and abuse.

How can the lives of these AIDS orphans be salvaged? Sister Mary Elizabeth provides a complete resource guide in AIDS Orphans Rising for the readers to help them play their role in helping the poor kids who have been left on their own in the struggle for survival. The Sister ad her team are working in various parts of the world to support AIDS orphans and their efforts make an instance of inspiration for all those who care to save human children from the claws of poverty and potential abuse. AIDS Orphans Rising is a major step in this direction.

This is a very easy read and an eye opening book. I finished it in a day. It's well structured so you can jump to whatever chapter interests you most without losing anything. I like the book pragmatic spirit. It doesn't shy away from the deep actual problems, YET it offers practical and proven to work solutions that anyone can engage in.

My "Aha!" moment was the realization that we should look and treat these children as head of households in charge of keeping their little brothers and sisters together inspite off all the suffering and dire conditions they are facing. These children are not hopeless, are not helpless nor should they be forgotten. They're trying to move on with their lives and we should help them do it. Like giving gardening and trade advice, providing househols tools, and basic supplies like soap, rice, and sugar. If you can't do it on your own the book provides a list of reputable organizations that do just that.

So if you ever wonder "What can I do to help?" here is your answer. In fact every chapter has 5 to 10 simple steps that you can do at home or in your community that can make a big difference.

Yes you can make a difference!

REVIEWED BY: Wayne S. Walker

The vast majority of the books that are reviewed at Stories for Children are for children. This book is not specifically for children, but it is about children and I believe that it can be helpful to children. Most everyone is aware from the news that one of the worst health crises in our time is AIDS. One of the tragic results of the AIDS explosion is an increase in the number of Child Headed Households (CCH) as parents die from AIDS and leave their children behind. The author is a member of the Religious Teachers Filippini who has for over twelve years been helping the orphans of CCH in Albania, Brazil, Eritrea, India, and Ethiopia. She has a doctorate degree in Nutrition and Public Health from Columbia University, so she is well qualified to discuss the subject.

After providing statistics to show the danger of the situation, Lloyd moves on to describe what these children themselves are doing to cope with their plight. She has found them to be resilient and courageous, especially when provided with the means to help themselves. She then explains what has been done to help them, how successful it has been, and what others can do to assist even more, citing examples of various organizations who are working to meet the needs. While pleading for donations, she does not advocate just throwing money at the problem but suggests that those who are interested check out any organizations to make sure that the funds are actually getting to the children in need. In fact, 100% of the profits of this book are dedicated to helping Child Headed Households.

Parents want to teach their children to be compassionate toward others. School and youth groups are always looking for worthy projects. Adults can get the book, share with the children whatever information they believe is appropriate for their age, and then work together to come up with ways to assist. The book contains copious footnotes and an extensive bibliography for those who are interested in learning more. There is also a radio interview conducted with the author for Inside Scoop Live by Juanita Watson. This is not a "fun" or pleasant book to read, but it contains information about our world, however heart-wrenching it may be, which we and our children need to know in order to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Sister Mary Elizabeth Lloyd has a doctorate in Nutrition and Public Health from Columbia University. Sister Lloyd has worked with Religious Teachers Filippini for twelve years. The organization helps orphans and child-headed families. Her experiences in Albania, Brazil, Ethiopia, Eritrea and India has made her want to share the plight of child-headed families with the world. 100% of the profits from this book go to help child headed households.

Sister Lloyd has found that most of the child-headed households she sees are a result of AIDS. According to Sister Lloyd, the AIDS epidemic in Africa is out of control and shows no signs of slowing down. She feels that by writing this book she is doing her bit in helping ease the suffering of children left orphaned by this awful disease.

I might have enjoyed the book more had it not read so much like a dissertation. I would have liked to have heard more personal stories of the children and how Sister Lloyd interacted with them. However, that being said, the book is written well and all the facts are backed up. It is a book that everyone who is concerned about AIDS in Africa should read.

I find it very hard to give only two stars to an author who so clearly loves the children she and her organization serve. It is her obvious dedication that has kept me from giving this only one star.

This slim book is a mishmash of statistics. with individual stories of children not much different from the narration for one of those infomercials from many non-profits now on various cable stations. For anyone who has read even a little about the topic, there is little new in the numbers, and even more up-to-date references and data can be found by a quick web search. The disorganization and redundancy of both the data references and anecdotes was very distracting. One other concern: there are many other non-profits and Christian organizations involved in similar work, yet the book ignores this fact--one more way in which this resembles an advertisement for the organization rather than an overall picture of this global crisis.

Bottom line: if you want to support the AIDS Orphans Rising organization, do it by donating the cost of the book directly to the organization rather than buying a book of so little real value.