HIV/AIDS PROGRAMS

More than two thirds of the people who die from AIDS live in Sub-Saharan Africa. In several countries, at least one in five adults is HIV-positive. Villages are becoming ghost towns and local economies are crumbling.

Africanow has 12 million AIDS orphans and the number is expected to rise to 43 million by 2010.

AIDS is the biggest threat toAfrica's development, according to the United Nations. The reason is the large number of people in key roles are dying, teachers; farmers; health-workers; civil servants and young professionals.


Latest numbers reflect:

  • 29.4 million people with HIV
  • 3.5 new HIV cases in 2002
  • 2.4 million deaths from AIDS in 2002
  • 2.8 million children under 15 with AIDS

It was in the early 1980s around the shores of Lake Victoria in the Masaka and Rakai districts of southernUgandathat the AIDS epidemic first began. The landscape has been scarred by AIDS. There are many empty fields - there is no one left to plant them.

In many places the land holds graves instead of crops. And the roadsides in the trading areas are lined with run-down wooden huts bearing the word 'Clinic.'

For almost 20 yearsUgandahas seen death on a massive scale, and many more will die in the years to come.

1.7 million Ugandan children have become orphans as a result of AIDS.

The toll that AIDS can take on children and young people orphaned by the epidemic is dramatic. Not only do they have to go through the stress of seeing their parents fall ill and die, but as family assets erode, the very prospect of their own survival is undermined.

In the early 1990sUgandabegan an active education program for the prevention of AIDS and infection rates have dropped overall in the country. However, in the rural areas where electricity still is not available, communications inadequate and lack of educational programs, AIDS is still a major problem.

The problem is exacerbated by poverty, illiteracy, weak education, inadequate, and in many villages, total lack of public health systems, and the low social status of women.

Health care workers in some of our villages estimate that nearly 40% of newborn babies are HIV-positive. The percent of students in local secondary schools orphaned from AIDS is 65%.

Sherman Healthcare Foundation provides programs in the highest at risk areas in education and prevention of AIDS. Community health care workers using the local culture health beliefs and communication strategies that are culturally familiar to the local residents conduct these programs.

The programs include:

  • Education programs for women to promote the prevention of HIV infection.
  • Ensure that men are informed of their potential role and responsibility in transmitting HIV.
  • Promote access to high quality voluntary testing and counseling for pregnant women.
  • Reduce stigma and discrimination towards women who choose not to breastfeed in areas where avoidance of breastfeeding is interpreted as evidence of being HIV-positive.
  • Ensure that care and support services for mothers living with HIV and their families are available and accessible over the long term.

Many of these programs and seminars are conducted by health care workers in village centers and other gathering places away from the clinics. Visiting the village clinic can result in a stigma and suspicion that the person is HIV-positive.

Testing is strongly encouraged for all men and women. Many of those tested refuse to learn the results from fear. In those instances they are encouraged to visit a health care facility on a regular basis where they are given guidelines on living and eating habits.

Knowledge and information are key to reducing AIDS infections. This includes using and distributing the knowledge and experience of everyone involved in improving the response to the epidemic.

To this end Sherman Healthcare Foundation is expanding its programs to reach as many as possible with life saving information.

Please help us in this life saving mission

 

ORPHAN PROGRAMS

A report to the British Government stated, "more than 12 million children in Sub-Saharan Africa - equivalent to theUK's entire child population - have been orphaned by AIDS. By 2010, this number will be over 43 million children, an overwhelming number."

 

An entire generation of youngsters is often orphaned two or three times as their parents die to be replaced by grandparents, aunts, uncles and other relatives who also fall victim to the disease. These children grow up in an emotional and spiritual vacuum without a future and without hope.

 They've been labeled "The Orphaned Generation."

 Many of these children are forced to abandon their home village, go into the large cities and become street children, begging, stealing, eating from garbage dumps, and in general have a miserable existence. Some are imprisoned where they suffer severe trauma and sexual abuse from adult inmates.

 Through its many assistance programs, Sherman Healthcare Foundation insures that:

  • All orphans and needy children get access to an education.
  • The children receive proper health care, food, shelter and clothing.
  • The children don't become victims of neglect and child abuse.
  • What is needed for internal growth is provided.
  • The restoration of the children's rights to basic needs.

 

With the help of our partners, we can continue to prevent these children from moving to the nearby towns to become street children and criminals. We can enable children to undergo an integrated growth that produces responsible society members. Child labor can be curbed and illiteracy can be reduced.

 

FOOD PROGRAMS

In a world of abundant food, no child should be hungry!

Many children living in the world today have little, and some cases no food to eat.

Fund provides food everyday for families living in famine conditions. Our representatives continually monitor local conditions to ensure families have adequate food supplies.

Local village schools do not have the resources to feed the students. Sherman Healthcare Foundation ensures that every child attending schools in our areas receives a meal at school. Without our assistance, many children come to school in the morning hungry, have no food all day, and often return home to nothing.

How can a child remain healthy, study and be focused on learning when they've had nothing to eat all day? By providing a meal at school we can ensure each child has one good meal everyday, remain healthy, and be attentive and focused in the classroom.

We're dedicated to feeding as many children as possible, and we do feed thousands of children everyday, but there are many children still surviving the day with nothing to eat. We need your help to add additional schools and children to the school lunch program.

You can provide a child a lunch for an entire year for just pennies a day.

Make your donation today to feed a child for one year for just $160 or for any amount to assist in this vital program. We know you feel as we do, no child should be hungry and without food.

 

EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND SCHOOLS

Education and poverty have an impact on each other.

Education develops intellectual capacity and social skills. Levels of education correlate with income levels and children who complete only four years of school are better equipped to move out of poverty.

Of those attending school, there is a marked gender disparity in education. Girls are secondary to boys. In addition, orphans (both girls and boys) are often denied any educational opportunity, and children with physical and mental challenges rarely attend school.

Many schools are dilapidated and need of repair and upgrading. Sherman Healthcare Foundation has committed its resources to invest in educational opportunities for children living in these underdeveloped areas who have been denied this right including orphaned and disabled children.

  • Elementary and secondary schools are being constructed in remote areas.
  • Classroom furniture, equipment and teaching aids are acquired as schools are completed.
  • Sewing, carpentry, wood and metal workshops were built and supplied with materials.
  • Water systems installed for clean drinking water.
  • Dormitories for teaches and students constructed to provide housing for those living far from the schools.
  • Free lunch programs for each child attending school by day and complete meal programs for those boarding at the school.
  • Counseling is provided to encourage parents to send their disabled children to school.
  • Home visits, where the children are not attending school, to remind the parents of their obligation to educate all children living in their home, including the orphaned children.

These investments are providing educational opportunities for thousands of children who have been denied the right of school. As a result they will become productive adults with life long employment and learning opportunities. This will enable them to move out of the poverty cycle

 

 VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT

 Income inequalities exacerbate poverty levels in remote villages.

 An important concern for fighting poverty is to ensure that resources reach the poor and marginal groups living in remote rural areas. Sherman Healthcare Foundation provides social and educational program to assist these families in their daily struggle. These programs focus on:

  • Reaching the poor and vulnerable with programs available to all.
  • Adult training programs on better farming and animal care.
  • Marketing programs to increase income generated from products.
  • Training in various local cottage industries.
  • Village seminars on health and nutrition.
  • Development of water sources and better sanitation.
  • Programs for the empowerment of women.

Experts from various government agencies, both local and international, and major universities are provided to conduct these programs. In addition to the large village seminars, continuing weekly adult education programs are available on many topics.

 

Attendance at these programs can be from several thousand at a village gathering to 12 or 15 at the small one-on-one education programs.

 

Thousands of people have benefited from these free programs. Sherman Healthcare Foundation continues to expand these programs to additional areas to serve as many as possible.