MISSION STATEMENT

The Mission of African HIV Orphans: Project Embrace is to offer a two-pronged approach to the devastation caused by the AIDS virus in Ethiopia.

• Provide a nurturing, stimulating, loving home for infected children orphaned by the disease
• Provide comprehensive, accurate education to families, staff, and the local community regarding AIDS prevention and care of infected loved ones.

NEED

• Ethiopia is a nation that has been severely afflicted by the worldwide AIDS epidemic.  An entire generation is being decimated in the child-raising years, leaving hundreds of thousands of children orphaned.  Many of these orphaned children test positive for the HIV Virus.
• Facilities in Ethiopia caring for HIV children are seriously overcrowded.
• There is much misinformation and superstition surrounding HIV and AIDS within the Ethiopian population. Relatives are often reluctant to accept children whose parents have died of AIDS.
• Education about prevention of the spread of HIV and the reality of living with those affected by HIV is needed.

AHOPE FOR CHILDREN PROVIDES

• Pleasant and well staffed children's homes that care solely for children who have tested positive for HIV.
• A loving and stimulating environment for the children as long as they live.
• An ongoing community program to educate about how to curtail the spread of HIV and how to live safely with a person who is HIV positive. 

UPDATE TO MISSION STATEMENT, JULY, 2004

     The original Mission Statement was written at a time when the prognosis for a child with HIV was an early death.  In 2004, with the ARV medications becoming available for the HIV positive children in care, the emphasis has changed from providing care for an expected short lifespan to providing care and education as appropriate that will allow the child to develop skills for an independent adult life.