Do you remember Edson?

We first introduced Edson to you when the Operation Neighbour Care (ONC) project began in 2010. He was one of the first Zimbabwean HIV and AIDS orphans to be supported by the project. After losing both his parents to HIV and AIDS, Edson lived with his uncle who could not afford to send him to school.

Edson himself carries the HIV virus. When he was first supported by ONC, he was covered head to toe in warts and was also exceptionally small for his age. Despite his poor health, he was still expected to till soil and carry water for his uncle. He would often skip his medication because it would make him even hungrier and there was little food around home.

Thanks to the generosity of SIMaid partners, today Edson’s story has taken a different direction. He is twenty-two and studying in year eleven at school. He is well on track to study at college after he graduates and he dreams of being a lawyer! Edson is able to manage his HIV and AIDS and is no longer small for his age, nor does he have warts. He no longer needs support from ONC, and requested that his place be given to a needier child.

Edson still has many health struggles but with HOPE for the future, he says that his battles are winnable.

This Christmas, A $35 tax-deductible* donation to Operation Neighbour Care (90209) will help provide a scholarship for a HIV and AIDS orphan like Edson in Zimbabwe. Help us inspire HOPE-shaped futures this Christmas by clicking here.