Cambodian Teens at Risk: HIV/AIDS

I'm writing to you today because i'm compelled to draw your attention to the problem of AIDS among teens in Cambodia. Today, Cambodia has the highest infection rate in Asia, with an estimated 170,000 persons living with HIV/AIDS. Almost half the population (13.8 million) is under the age of 20, and in the near future they will fall into the most vulnerable category. Some 12,000 Cambodian children under the age of 15 already live with HIV/AIDS.


Numerous factors render Cambodia particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. These include a legacy of genocide, civil war, and famine. In tandem with persistent poverty and political turmoil, this scenario has led to a weak health infrastructure badly in need of rehabilitation. Other crucial factors include Cambodia's large commercial sex industry fuelled by high population mobility. Along with this, the government opposes the preaching of the Christian message, which could have a significant impact on the flourishing sex trade and local HIV infection rates.


However, with your help, we have an opportunity to change that!


While we can't change the government's mind about the Christian faith, we can, through our HOPE for Cambodia's Children Program, get the message of God's love out, along with training related to health, hygiene and HIV/AIDS prevention.


You see, the young people that attend our HOPE meetings simply don't have the same paradigm that we do. Firstly, they've been raised in poverty, squalor and atheism. Most don't know what it's like to go to school, eat regular meals, have clean water to drink or have proper sanitation. Secondly, from the time they're six or seven years old, it's been their responsibility to take care of their younger siblings. Since they don't understand about health issues and good hygiene, it's not surprising that the younger children don't learn any of these potentially life-saving habits either. Since they don't understand the significance of the risk of HIV/AIDS, they take no precautions.


AIDS is one of the biggest health threats in the developing world. I know you'll agree, we must respond to this urgent need to prevent the further spread of this pandemic! If left unchecked, it will only get worse and thousands of young people will never grow up to experience life or have the opportunity to find out that they have a heavenly Father who loves them and wants to set them free from fear, poverty, and disease.


When you send us your gift, here's what we'll do:

What an opportunity we have! — Through your past support, the HOPE program is steadily expanding its outreach.

Pictures

Ratha said that before the Hope program he did not know the importance of good hygiene for himself or his siblings. The health lessons have taught him how to protect himself from dengue fever and the risk of HIV/AIDS, among other things. Through the Bible teaching, Ratha has now become a believer. He says that he has learned to respect his grandmother, which he had never done before.


Dalein, 11, stands in front of dozens of small children as she helps Hope for Cambodia’s Children put on a drama in a poor Phnom Penh neighbourhood. Currently, she is in sixth grade. Dalein and her sister work with their mother, who sews shoes for a living. Dalein’s father died when she was very young. HFCC has taught her many things over the years, especially about health. “I learned about hygiene,” she says. But the most important thing Dalein has learned about is Jesus Christ, who she follows as her Saviour.