World AIDS Day

The Facts

People living with HIV
33.2 million people worldwide
30.8 million adults
15.4 million women
2.5 million children under 15
15.2 million children under age 17 are orphans due to HIV/AIDS-related causes (one child is orphaned by aids every 15 seconds)

New HIV cases in 2007
2.5 million total new cases
420,000 children under 15

AIDS deaths in 2007
1.7 million adults
330,000 children under 15
(United Nations Joint Programme on HIV and AIDS - UNAIDS)

The truly frightening thing is that these statistics are merely estimates, the true picture is much, much worse.  We can't sit back and let this happen, we can do something about it.  We have a mandate to do something about it!
Jesus refers to himself as “the good shepherd,” but he asks us to feed his sheep.  He calls himself the “light of the world,” but then he asks us to be “light” also.   
God is the King, but God invites us to play a part in seeing the kingdom furthered around the world.  The question is what can 'we' do to bring 'light' to those in the darkness of HIV and AIDS?

"God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them."  Bono

Mother Teresa said, “Every time I look into the eyes of a poor man dying of AIDS, I have this eerie awareness that Jesus is staring back at me.”

I'd like to highlight two very worthy campaigns -
Tearfund’s latest campaign 'Bring Childhood back to life' is an invitation to play your part in changing the future for children left alone by the death of their parents
find out more here  Perhaps we could buy less and give more this December? 

Nelson Mandela Former President of South Africa said "Many people suffering from AIDS are not killed by the disease itself. They are killed by the stigma and discrimination surrounding everybody who has HIV and AIDS. "
Find out more about Stamp Out Stigma which is challenging HIV and AIDS discrimination in Ireland.