Half of Africa Is Disappearing

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Half of Africa Is Disappearing

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The children sang for us! So excited were they that they began singing as soon as my wife, Patty and I came through the door of the small room. Their round faces with large gleaming eyes smiled broadly. They could see that we were obviously enjoying their melodious tunes—belted out with as much volume and enthusiasm as three, four, and five years olds could produce.

One by one they took turns dancing for us, gleefully clapping their hands as we clapped along with them. The children relished this opportunity for some fun and joy. Perhaps these precious youngsters understand that they have so little to be joyful about.

We could not visit this group of 21 beautiful children at their homes. They have no homes. They have no parents. All of their parents have died recently of HIV/AIDS. Four of these youngsters are also HIV positive.

We met them last month in Gabaronne, Botswana. There the Holy Cross Hospice and Orphanage is operated by the Episcopal Church to help ease the suffering of people dying of AIDS and their orphans.

Our oldest daughter, Hollie, who is spending four months as a medical volunteer in Gabaronne before entering Medical School at the University of Washington, divides her time between the Hospice and the Hospital. Our visit with her was our first time to be in Africa.

The director of the Hospice and Orphanage gave us a tour of the facility. We saw room after room of people dying of AIDS and their most common fatal infection, tuberculosis. She asked me to raise any funds possible when I returned to the USA. "We have thirty more orphans coming in next month," she told us, "and we have no where to put them and not enough money for their food."

A large portion of the native population of southern Africa is dying. Efforts to deal with the problem in some cases only are making matters worse.

Our daughter is living in a home with other volunteer doctors and medical students from the US. We asked them about what they had seen concerning the HIV epidemic while in Africa. "The most striking thing," one of them related, "is that almost all of the patients we see are under the age of twenty-five or over fifty. It's as if all of the people between those ages have died off." Hollie's most difficult experience has been watching babies die.

Botswana is reported to have the highest AIDS rate in Africa. But the students told us that this statistic is very misleading. In Botswana the government provides medical care and is actually testing for AIDS and providing medicine and drugs. So they are able to track the disease and keep records.

The surrounding nations do not provide medical care and don't know how serious the problem is. Whole families and villages are disappearing. Thousands of people are dying in droves and the problem is almost beyond comprehension.

People from neighboring nations such as Zambia and Zimbabwe steal across the border every day hoping to get medical care in Botswana, but unless they can prove citizenship they are denied treatment.

The government of Botswana is very aggressive in trying to deal with the HIV epidemic. But the problem continues to increase. Billboards, newspapers, bus stop benches, and even shirts are plastered with HIV slogans such as, "Know Your Status" and "Always Be Sex Safe"—referring to condom use. Free condoms are passed out seemingly everywhere you go in Botswana.

Though condoms could slow down the problem, they are not the complete answer. The only effective answer is for the people to hear and heed the words of our Creator.

He has made this promise: "If you will listen to …the Lord your God and …keep His commandments…I will put none of these diseases upon you" (Exodus 15:26).

His seventh commandment is "You shall not commit adultery." If just that one commandment were observed by everyone, even for only one generation, sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV could be defeated.

What does the future hold for the southern half of Africa? According to the medical volunteers, well over half of the black population will die off in the next twenty years. People from India, China, and the North African Muslims are moving in to occupy the region.

God intended that His laws would give those who obey them peace, health and happiness—or, in the words of Jesus Christ, "life more abundantly." To learn more about God's Commandments—and why we should keep them—please request, download or read online our free booklet, The Ten Commandments.