I am currently working on a[n incredibly rushed, time sensitive, but vital] project and doing it has brought me to look up many of the statistics on the condition of those living in South Africa. They are startling and not only show how much help is needed, but also reaffirms that I came to the right place to do volunteer work. Here are some:
29% of pregnant women in South Africa are HIV positive.
63 out of 1,000 children die before their 5th birthday [where I am in KwaZulu Natal, it rises to 75 out of 1,000... this is higher than any other province].
12% of 15 to 19-year old girls have been pregnant.
There are 3.7 million orphans in South Africa.
20% of South Africa's children have lost one or both of their parents... 26% of all children in KwaZulu Natal are orphans.
12.4 million [68%] children live in the poorest 40% of households. Nearly 3 million of these children are in KwaZulu Natal. That is a monthly income below R350, or $48.
37% of children do not have access to drinking water at their homes.
41% of children do not have access to adequate sanitation at home-- this means instead of having a flushing toilet that disposes of waste, these children are using holes outside or buckets as toilets.
Not all the statistics are bad-- it is actually good to see that nearly 97% of school-age children attend some form of school, and it is about equal between girls and boys [the awful education system, now that is a different story]. 89% of schools have water on site and 61% have adequate sanitation.
Also, in 5 years child hunger was cut in half to 2.7 million children.
But still, reading some of these things makes my heart hurt. Really. It gives me a stomach ache. When you through away all the fluff and just look at the statistics, it is astounding.
If you are interested, I was looking at what is supposed to be the most accurate statistics to date from a program at the University of Cape Town. The address is http://www.childrencount.ci.org.za/
wow. Glad you are doing so much good there!
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