The pressing issue of child headed households is one that is especially prevalent throughout Africa. What happens when parents die of HIV/AIDS? We know that millions of orphans are taken in by the Grandmothers, but there are millons of children who simply have to take on the role as care-givers to their younger brothers and sisters. The implications are dire: These children take on enormous burdens, they give up shcool, try to feed their siblings and face hardships that children cannot bare alone. There is much written about how vulnerable these children are to exploitation.

Here are some links to articles about Child headed households:

http://www.childrencount.ci.org.za/

http://www.childjustice.org/html/issue305_pr.htm

http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Nov05/africa.orphan.heads.ssl.html

This link shows a list of the number of orphans in various African countries:

http://www.avert.org/aidsorphans.htm