Is it possible for anyone to pause for a moment and stop thinking about one's self and think about someone different from you, not necessarily someone you know? Is it our nature or our responsibility to look after thsoe who are less priviledged than me and you?

I had an opportunity to travel to a rural area in my home country. I had to go there as part of my project, which is aimed at helping children orphaned by AIDS. What I saw is something no one would ever wish to be in.

There is hunger in Zimbabwe. People are starving and yet they have to work in the fields in preparation for the planting season which started a few weeks ago. Long queues are witnessed at the GMB depots in these areas, where people wait patiently for the promised maize. According to some villagers, sometimes the maize is distributed, but most times they return home with nothing to show for their patience.

I had the opportunity to talk to this elderly woman, who for some reason really caught my attention. Her husband died about ten years ago. She didn't have to work hard for her children as most of them had grown up by that time so they looked after each other. She now stays with her grandchildren, whose parents stay in towns where they are working to assist this granny. She says that her children cannot afford to stay with their kids in town because life is very expensive. The problem is that she seems to be getting no more support from her children in towns.

She says the her children no longer visit her as regular as they used to do. The money she get from her children when they visit her during the holidays like Christmas, Easter and so on, runs out quickly such that most of the time she has no money to buy basic necessities for her grandchildren. She had to wait in line for the maize. Unfortunately, the maize was not distributed that day. She was told to return the following week, but no particular day was given, so it meant she had to come daily, just to check, yet there was no guarantee that she will get the maize.

Imagine if this grandmother had all her children fallen victim to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. With no where to look for help, and no one to turn to when her grandchildren fall sick. Many families are like that in Zimbabwe. Because of poverty and hunger many people in towns have taken their children to rural areas, where they feel life is inexpensive. Those in towns are engaged in all sorts of activities to raise money for their families. With unemployment being the order of the day, many opt for the easy way out the blues. Some are into stealing, burglary, and some are into prostitution just to earn money to survive. The end result is tradgic, leaving their parents in the rural areas to cater for the orphans. These grandparents have not heard about the AIDS Levy from which they can get assistance. The Levy only benefits the well-established children's homes who are being assisted by other well-wishers and a hoard of NGOs.

The hunger is sparing no one. The outcome is death, especially among those with AIDS because without a proper and balanced diet their immunity is adversily affected hence they succumb to the pandemic. They leave behind their children in a cold world without that family love that we so much seek in times of troubles. The country is deprived of its work force and our economy is negatively impacted. For those of us who are here right now, what is our duty in such a society?

I look forward to a day when HIV/AIDS will become a chronic illness not a life-threatning illnes in the developing countries, but first things first we have to take care of the orphans in our communities. I call upon each and every one of us to spare a moment and think about these children. Let us not subject them to this stigma and discrimination simple because their parent died of AIDS. It must be our responsibility to look after these children.