The hard facts

ORPHANS

• Nearly 163 million children across the world are orphans.
• The magnitude of the orphans and children in crisis remains deeply distressing, and the situation for children is likely worsening due to the global economic crisis and the effects on children due to bad governance, conflict, poverty, disaster, and disease.
• Vulnerable children, with few means of supporting themselves are often forced to work in commercial agriculture, as street vendors, beggars, domestic servants, or given over to the sex trade — victims of human trafficking.

MALNUTRITION

• Every 2 seconds, another orphan dies from malnutrition.
• Malnutrition plays a part in more than half of all child deaths worldwide.
• Even more often malnutrition cripples children’s growth, renders them susceptible to disease, dulls their intellects, diminishes their motivation and reduces their productivity.
• Consider 4 children you know. What if one of them had so little to eat that they could not grow? In South Africa, one out of every four children under five has stunted growth, a consequence of malnutrition.
• Millions of children suffer from micronutrient malnutrition, when the body lacks essential minerals and vitamins. These deficiencies can lead to severe mental or physical impairment, life-threatening anemia, lowered productivity, blindness,and a weakened immune system.

HIV/AIDS:

• 6,000 children are orphaned by AIDS every day. That is 1 newly orphaned child every 14 seconds.
• The number of the entire child population of California, Oregon, and Washington = the 12,000,000HIV/AIDS orphans living in Sub-Saharan African.
• Given the current number of individuals infected with HIV or AIDS, the number of children orphaned byAIDS will continue to rise for at least a decade.
• Who’s caring for these kids? Less than 10% of children orphaned and made vulnerable by AIDS are receiving some kind of public support. Rice Bowls & YOU, could make an impact! Join us Sunday at Mission Abilene to find out how you can make a difference around the globe.

Make some noise.

C