“There are three ways to get AIDS: From your mom, from blood, and from unprotected sex. I got it from my mom,” said 12-year-old Farah, matter-of-factly—over the radio airwaves. Farah is an orphaned resident of The Rainbow House, an orphanage we support for AIDS affected children in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. An only child, her mother died when she was 4. She is very open about her HIV positive status and was recently interviewed on a Haitian radio station for an awareness campaign.
In addition to providing shelter to 42 AIDS orphans and children who suffer from the disease, The Rainbow House has an innovative outreach program whose goal is to educate the community about AIDS. Their hope is to eliminate the negative stereotypes and unfounded fears that cause people to shun or mistreat children like Farah — the innocent victims of the AIDS pandemic.