If the choice was to starve or offer your body for sex in exchange for food – what would you do?

That’s the terrible dilemma facing children like Joyce, who lives in northern Uganda. She lost both her parents when she was just 11 years old, but she had little time to grieve; with four younger brothers and sisters to care for she dropped out of school to support them and it was a daily struggle to find enough money to feed them all. They often ate just once a day and Joyce could not afford to pay for school uniforms or books so her siblings also had to leave school.

Trapped in a daily fight for survival with no apparent way out, Joyce was desperate. She was prepared to make any sacrifice necessary to provide for her brothers and sisters – including forsaking her virginity. A man would pay a good price to sleep with her, particularly given the tragically common and very dangerous belief that sleeping with a virgin can cure HIV…

Thankfully, Joyce didn’t need to sell her body, because ACET reached her in time. We enabled her to train as a tailor so that she could earn a safe and steady income; now 17, she has her own successful business and can pay for her brothers and sisters to go to school. Joyce says, “Now we can afford two meals because ACET supported me to gain a skill.”

 

Thomas doesn’t know the risks he is taking – or the danger he’s causing…

14 year old Thomas used to hang out on the streets with the gang he led. He and the other boys would steal, drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes and sexually abuse girls on a regular basis. They would wait for the girls to come by on their way to collect water or firewood and attack them. Thomas and his friends were simply copying what they saw older boys in their community doing. They didn’t know any different.

But then Thomas was invited to an ACET Life Skills day run by his local church. He learned about relationships, sex, peer pressure and HIV. When Thomas realised that his behaviour was putting him and others at risk of HIV he left his gang and started going to Life Skills sessions every week. One by one the rest of the gang members followed him. Thomas says, “Now we have a new lifestyle appreciated by many people in our community. The ACET programme opened our eyes and saved our lives”.

These stories illustrate two of the routes by which over 7100 people are newly infected with HIV every day. We invite you to make a donation now – you will be helping other children at risk to grow up free from HIV.