ONE Answer: A classroom can stop AIDS!

Aug 2nd, 2005 1:30 PM UTC
By Meighan Stone, ONE Communications Director

As Americans, we know that education is
the key to opportunity. In many parts of the world, education can also
be the key to survival and a hopeful future. In Uganda, kids who
make it to secondary school are three times less likely to get AIDS,
and worldwide, access to a good basic education could even prevent
700,000 HIV cases every year. Can you believe that 46 million
children are out of school in Africa alone – more than all the children
in primary school in the entire United States – and that more than half
are girls?

The good news is that, working in partnership with
poor countries, we can make a difference. Debt cancellation from
the U.S. and other countries helps nations like Tanzania get rid of school fees that keep kids out of school, and as a result, primary school enrollment has doubled!

When
we invest in one area, it pays off in others. Just sending a child to
school helps boys and girls live longer, have healthier families,
prevent diseases like HIV/AIDS, get better jobs and earn more money -
lifting up their families, their communities and eventually their
countries. All kids have dreams, they just need the tools to make them
real.

You can visit a village school in Africa and also learn more about how:
A dedicated village in Djibouti got 100% of its children into school
An AIDS orphan in Ghana got her education
One woman got a firsthand look at the need for a “HERO” in South Africa

TAGS: The ONE Blog