t’s hard to describe what life is like for children orphaned by AIDS on the rural Missions and outstations of our Archdiocese at the tip of Southern Africa.

Whole families of siblings struggle along together, with the older children missing school to beg for food from equally poor neighbours. Others have been taken in by merciful ‘Gogos’ (grandmothers). One old lady has a ‘family’ of 10, with only her pitiful state pension to feed them all.

These children barely survive … hunger is a regular visitor in their mud hut homes.

But there is hope.  Many Mission priests and their parishioners stretch their limited funds and resources to ensure that every child receives at least one meal a day. With meat an out of reach luxury, vegetable stew with rice is a life-saver. Sometimes, all they can scratch together is a sandwich with peanut butter … which is at least ‘something’.

Sometimes there’s barely enough to go round, and it hurts – badly – to see that. Those who see the hunger do the best they can, and they could fill every plate if they just had the funding to do so.

It will take a special spirit of generosity … but whatever you can spare – even if it’s only a little – will make a big difference to hungry children. So please will you make a donation online now?

In return for your generosity, we can only give you our prayers. Please click here to request special intentions to be included in our monthly Mass for Mission friends.

Thank you and may God bless you for your kindness towards hungry children.