Since its discovery in 1981, HIV/AIDS has become one of the deadliest pandemics in recorded history.

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Worldwide, HIV/AIDS is a silent killer that has claimed the lives of more than 25 million people. According to the United Nations, an estimated 4.3 million become newly infected each year.

But there is hope.

Since 1988, December 1 has been observed as World AIDS Day to raise support and awareness for the fight against this deadly pandemic. Operation Blessing has committed to working on the front lines of this effort, for which the threat is global and the stakes high.

In India alone, more than 5.7 million people have already been infected by the disease. If trends remain the same, reports from U.S. National Intelligence Council suggest that an estimated 20 to 25 million people in India will become infected with HIV/AIDS by 2010, surpassing the number of those infected in central and southern Africa, the current focal point of the pandemic.

A woman who has been was diagnosed with HIV, receives free medical care at the OBI-supported HIV/AIDS Nireekshana clinic.

To help bring relief to India’s hurting, the OBI-sponsored Nireekshana Health Care Center in Hyderabad, India provides ongoing care to more than 1,000 HIV-infected residents. The free clinic provides patients with medicine, vitamins, supplements, counseling – and most importantly – hope.

“It is the love and care that makes Nireekshana a special place for those who are turned away from society,” said Kumar Periasamy, director of international disaster relief at Operation Blessing. “Patients are treated like any other human being.”

In Bushbuck Ridge, South Africa, nearly 25 percent of the estimated population of 500,000 is suffering from HIV/AIDS, while those who are not infected live their lives sharing this burden.

Much of the time, those who suffer most are children.

OBI recently supplied five tunnels for growing vegetables to an AIDS orphanage in Bushbuck Ridge, South Africa.

"My greatest need is to see the orphans of my town being taken care of and feeling wanted and loved," said Anna Themba, who founded Ebenezer Home Based Care, an Operation Blessing-sponsored organization which provides food, supplies and education to more than 3,200 HIV-infected homes each month. "We must educate and protect them – it is our duty."

Themba, who is also the director of an orphanage for 800 HIV-affected orphans, linked arms with Operation Blessing again in July to start an innovative garden project in her community.

OBI supplied the orphanage with five vegetable tunnels which function like a greenhouse to quickly produce high yields of vegetables every month.

Themba is using the produce to provide nutritious meals for the children living at an orphanage and also sell at the local markets to help continue funding her HIV/AIDS efforts.

"I want to do something for those suffering around me," Themba said.

For more information about World Aids Day, click here: World AIDS Day.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Be a part of OBI's ongoing medical relief efforts by making an online contribution to help those suffering from extreme poverty and sickness.

 

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