Lending a Hand to the Children Orphaned by AIDS in China a talk by
Chung To, Chairperson, Chi Heng Foundation
During the 1990s, blood selling became a popular way to earn supplementary income for poor peasants in Central China. Due to unsanitary blood collection practices, such as re-use of needles, unsterilized equipment, blood pooling, and re-injection of blood back to the donors after plasma extraction, many blood donors contracted HIV and other blood-related diseases. Some rural areas became seriously affected by AIDS, with an infection rate as high as 40% to 60% among the adult population.
The AIDS epidemic also creates a growing orphan population. As more and more adults die of AIDS, the children they leave behind will become orphans. Growing up without the love and care of parents, these children may not be able to go to school due to lack of financial means, and may develop psychological problems. These orphans, who could soon be in the millions as China’s AIDS population grows, will be less likely to be employed when they grow up if they are not educated.
Volunteering on behalf of the Chi Heng Foundation (CHF), a registered charity based in Hong Kong, Chung started a program providing assistance to the AIDS patients and their children. Currently, CHF provides education sponsorship and other care and support for over 7,500 children whose parents have died of or are dying of AIDS in the area, making it the largest non-governmental operation focusing on serving the AIDS impacted children in China.
During countless trips to the Central China, Chung had visited hundreds of households in many villages deeply affected by AIDS. He will share his first hand, intimate experience from a local perspective with the audience, and what the program he founded is doing to help these children. In addition to discussing the current situation, Chung will also talk about the needs of the orphans and how we can help.
