A Dream of a Child

HIV Children

I received a letter from Hans Olsen, UNICEF Representative to Malaysia this month. The letter introduces a dream of a young girl name Puteri about her hope and dream. When Puteri was still very young, both her parents died of AIDS-related illnesses. Sadly for Puteri, an innocence child, was born with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) – severe viral infection that progressively destroys the immune system.

Puteri have a dream. She holds on to her hope, but she need help… our help. Hans writes, “Do you remember your hopes and dreams as a child? Perhaps you dream of traveling the world or driving a fast car. Perhaps you hoped you would become a musician, a doctor or a sports superstar.

This is the dream of Peteri, a 12 year old living with HIV in Malaysia:

“I dream of getting cured,” she says.

There are more children like Puteri. Officially there are 1,000 children in Malaysia are living with HIV. Unofficially, Hans Olsen writes, the number is much larger. 

Here are some facts about children around the world that I want to share with you in hoping that we all will be aware of what happening to our poor little ones who urgently need our attentions and helps.

·        Every hour, 42 children below 15 years get infected with HIV

·        It is estimated that 2 million children under 15 are living with HIV

·        In Malaysia, 40% of HIV cases were amongst ages 13-29

·        Around 25,000 children die each and every day from preventable causes; 1 in 3 before they are even a month old.

·        More than 90 million primary school aged children around the world are out of school

·        In Malaysia, some 115,000 school children have not mastered writing, reading and counting skills

·        In 2009, numbers of hungry people in the world climbed to record highs exceeding one billion

·        Many people were unable to feed themselves in 2009 not because they could not find food, but rather because they could no longer afford it.

·        In 2009, 101.8 million hungry people in 75 country. 84.1 million is women and children

·        Some 3.5 million children under five die every year, largely as a result of under-nutrient.

I have no back-up data to support my claim but I’m convince that one of the top causes of death in Malaysia is not so obvious like car crashes, drug overdoses, alcoholism or any natural disaster accidents. I think it is this - FOOD.  We are literally eating our way out into the grave. Obesity caused by bad diet! While during our fore-fathers battled disease, hunger and other deprivations, we are killing ourselves – with excess food; rice, curry, fried chicken etc.

Come let us remember those who didn’t have the opportunity to eat 3 times per day. Let’s remember children who hunger for food and care from us. Remember their cry for a ‘left over’ from our plates each time we ignore them and eating excessively. I want to echo Hans Olsen’s calling for people to support and donate some of your income for those who needed the most – especially, our children.

“I know you want to help make a future of hope possible for children. Because having hopes, dreams and a bright future is the very essence of what it means to be a child. As we remember our own pat childhood hopes and dreams, let’s ensure our children are not deprived of theirs.”

If you cannot support financially, it’s okay. Perhaps you want to do it next time. But please remember them in your prayer. Tell our children that we care. That God is real. That He cares for them as we shine His light to the world through our concern for one another.

God bless you.