What would you do if you won the lottery?

When Alenda and Juan Valenzuela  recently won the first thing they did was give a good percentage of their winnings away.    Their goal:   to help Junior–an AIDS orphan–with life-saving treatment.

Junior’s father died of AIDS when he was 5, his mother’s death followed when he was 13.   That is when he himself was the first patient at a Children’s AIDS Fund Uganda Kampala clinic when it opened in 2003.  After more than 10 years of HIV/AIDS treatment Junior has major health challenges.

“When my husband told me about Junior’s struggles and his deteriorating condition, I realized that we needed to do something to help him,” Alenda said.  “When the opportunity to help him presented itself we didn’t hesitate to help Junior.”  Throughout his ordeal Junior has maintained an upbeat outlook, writing poetry and stories to help him deal with his illness.

When my husband told me about Junior’s struggles and his deteriorating condition, I realized that we needed to do something to help him

Children’s AIDS Fund International’s (CAFI) ongoing efforts to help HIV impacted children and families appeals to Alenda and Juan and they plan to continue their support  this holiday season by helping other families and children in Africa.   Alenda is particularly interested in the micro-enterprising programs featured on the CAFI website, these are small seed loans given to families and individuals to begin entrepreneurial activities to help feed and support their families.

“We wanted to do more and feel these loans are a great and simple way to help the children and their families this holiday season and hopefully for the rest of their lives,” Alenda said.  “We hope others will take advantage of these programs too.”