Hezron

Monica's grandchildren, Brenda and Hezron, were barely alive when she rushed them back to her small village of Homabay, Kenya and enrolled them in an orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) program offered by her local Catholic Diocese, and funded by the United States 'President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Leila Nimatallah: Will Obama Keep up the Fight on Global AIDS? 2010

With PEPFAR funded anti-retrovirals (ARVs) to keep Brenda's HIV at bay, along with medical support for both Brenda and Hezron, school uniforms so that they could attend school, early childhood development interventions and seeds for the family to grow a nutritious garden, Brenda and Hezron literally came back to life before their grandmother's eyes.

Leila Nimatallah: Will Obama Keep up the Fight on Global AIDS? 2010

Monica's grandchildren, Brenda and Hezron, were barely alive when she rushed them back to her small village of Homabay, Kenya and enrolled them in an orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) program offered by her local Catholic Diocese, and funded by the United States 'President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Leila Nimatallah: Will Obama Keep up the Fight on Global AIDS? 2010

She was sitting in her two room mud house perched on the top of a steep hill with her husband and their seven year old granddaughter, Brenda, and five year old grandson Hezron.

Leila Nimatallah: Will Obama Keep up the Fight on Global AIDS? 2010

She was sitting in her two room mud house perched on the top of a steep hill with her husband and their seven year old granddaughter, Brenda, and five year old grandson Hezron.

Leila Nimatallah: Will Obama Keep up the Fight on Global AIDS? 2010

With PEPFAR funded anti-retrovirals (ARVs) to keep Brenda's HIV at bay, along with medical support for both Brenda and Hezron, school uniforms so that they could attend school, early childhood development interventions and seeds for the family to grow a nutritious garden, Brenda and Hezron literally came back to life before their grandmother's eyes.

Leila Nimatallah: Will Obama Keep up the Fight on Global AIDS? 2010

All the gains in the lives of children like Brenda and Hezron will be confined to a chosen lucky few if global leaders continue down this path of flat-funding.

Leila Nimatallah: Will Obama Keep up the Fight on Global AIDS? 2010

All the gains in the lives of children like Brenda and Hezron will be confined to a chosen lucky few if global leaders continue down this path of flat-funding.

Leila Nimatallah: Will Obama Keep up the Fight on Global AIDS? 2010

This means that other vulnerable children like Brenda and Hezron cannot be supported and cared for, and therefore might not survive.

Leila Nimatallah: Will Obama Keep up the Fight on Global AIDS? 2010

The future of children like Brenda and Hezron depend on it.

Leila Nimatallah: Will Obama Keep up the Fight on Global AIDS? 2010