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Children Affected By HIV/AIDS
June 2, 2002
Book Challenges and Inspires All People To Be Compassionate Caregivers
Sometime between the ages of 4 and 8, Stefanie was infected with the HIV virus through blood products she was given to treat hemophilia.
Demonstrating maturity far beyond his 5 years, Justin draws a circle when he talks about his illness. “I only tell people I have AIDS if they are inside my circle. I don’t talk to people outside my circle.”
Nkunda and his seven younger siblings live with their aging grandmother since losing both parents to AIDS. The children battle frequent illnesses due to malnutrition and unsanitary living conditions, and without help, their future – like that of 12 million other African children – is bleak.
One of the greatest challenges facing our world today is the desperate plight of children affected by HIV/AIDS. In addition to millions of young lives lost to the virus, it is projected that by the end of the decade, some 40 million children worldwide will be orphaned because of the disease. AIDS pandemic Caregivers will need more resources to aid and comfort these innocent victims. To help in the journey, World Vision Publications will publish Children Affected by HIV/AIDS: Compassionate Care, which takes a look at the lives of children touched by HIV/AIDS and the psychosocial ramifications for their caregivers.
Edited by Phyllis Kilbourn, Ph.D., Children Affected by HIV/AIDS: Compassionate Care is a collection of the insights and expertise from counselors, community educators, and health professionals who care for children. This book is a valuable resource for compassionate caregivers to the millions of children who desperately need help living through the tragedy and brokenness of AIDS.
The book is divided into six sections covering essential topics:
Dr. Kilbourn, director of Rainbows of Hope, WEC International’s program for children in crisis, writes about the challenges of global AIDS crisis as it affects children and sets the path for compassionate care giving.
Janice Sakuma, an avid speaker, writer and advocate for children with AIDS, writes of her experience in caring for her young daughter who died from AIDS after acquiring the virus from tainted blood products.
Ms. Sakuma and Paul Hudson, M.D., a graduate of Johns Hopkins who spent many years working as a missionary doctor in Ethiopia and Nepal, present the theological foundations for church and mission involvement in caring for children affected by HIV/AIDS, and offer several practical ways individuals and communities can respond.
Also included are discussions of the vital – yet seldom addressed – issues surrounding compassionate care including the role of touch and play, longing for relationships, coping with bereavement and loss, and providing spiritual nurture.
Other sections discuss ways to build successful intervention plans to meet the many and varied needs of children affected by HIV/AIDS including possibilities for orphan care, and how to provide quality community education as a means of prevention.
Completing the book are chapters dedicated to issues of particular importance to caregivers themselves and providing them with essential information to guide them in handling the social, emotional, economic implications of the disease, in addition to the physical losses. The book concludes with a tribute to compassionate caregivers everywhere with the inspirational poetry of Stefanie Sakuma, who used prayer and poetry to confront the challenges of living with AIDS. Stefanie lost her courageous battle with AIDS at the age of 11.
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Children affected by HIV/AIDS: Compassionate Care
Editor: Phyllis Kilbourn
Publisher: World Vision Publications
Publication Date: June 02
ISBN 1-887983-28-7
1-800-777-7752
206 pages, soft cover
Media Contact:
| Gardi Wilks: (708) 366-8389 | | |
email: mediainfo@worldvision.org
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