In some countries in Africa, there are families that have a difficult time surviving. These problems are caused by malaria, HIV/AIDS, war, and hunger. Some families have parents that are dead so the children are homeless and are taking care of each other. In my opinion all of us could do more to help those in need in Africa.


Malaria is a deadly disease that mosquitoes carry in them. At night, the mosquitoes come out and bite people. That’s how the people sometimes get malaria. Malaria can be treated by medicine. Some people can’t afford to be treated.


Some children have to take care of each other because their parents are working. The parents work from sunrise to sunset so the children have to fend for themselves. Those parents are having a tough time because they are not making enough money to feed their family well. There are some people who live in the villages that helps the children that live nearby. Once a week they go to the children and give them food. Only some of these poor children are lucky enough to get help from their neighbors. Other children do whatever they can to survive.


Women in Africa have many struggles. Some of the girls who live past age five have to trade sex for food. They only go to school as long as their family can afford it. Some girls end up pregnant and then they have to take care of a child. They also have to try to take care of themselves and stay very healthy if they get HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS is a very serious disease. AIDS kills 90% of the people who get it. Can you imagine what your life would be like if you had to take care of a child and still try to stay healthy until your child is old enough to live on his or her own? One place that is helping struggling women is a shelter for only woman who suffer from HIV/AIDS and their children. The shelter provides medicine for HIV/AIDS and helps take care of the children. The mothers don’t get the medicine for free, they have to work and help out to pay off the medicine. Some woman who don’t have HIV/AIDS or a child, volunteer and help with the struggling mothers.



Another major problem is The Invisible Children. Those children have to hide during the day so they don’t get captured by soldiers and get made into little soldiers. The Invisible Children are millions of kids that are homeless. They come out and sleep on the streets or anywhere they can fit. These children get up before sunrise to go and hide. They have to try and get food for themselves and younger siblings without being seen. If they do get caught by the soldiers then they are taken to a camp where they are tortured. The soldiers then make the children torture other children and make them kill innocent people. All these children probably think about is guns, different kinds of weapons that could kill people, blood, people dying, and dead bodies everywhere.


The last problem that is even worse than The Invisible Children is all the wars that are happening in Africa. Thousands of people die in each war. I think we need some of our military to be in Africa trying to bring peace. Instead of just sending our military to Iran or Iraq, we could also be sending the military to help the African families that are struggling. People in Africa are dying because of greedy and dishonest leaders. Even if our military can’t change the way that African citizens live or act, they could at least help those poor children that have lost their families in the wars.


Malaria, HIV/AIDS, war and hunger are all problems that the whole world needs to help Africa with. Maybe if the U.S. made a little difference, other countries might try to help too. Supporting Nothing but Nets is one way all of us could help out in the fight against malaria. So please help Africa with some of their problems if you can. I hope that some of you that read this will try to help out. The people in Africa need a miracle to happen, and a miracle isn’t going to happen by itself.