The burden of the AIDS epidemic often falls squarely on the shoulders of children.  When children are orphaned, impoverished, forced to work to support a family, many of their basic human rights are violated.

Timothy Mbugua works for legislation to protect the rights of children made vulnerable by AIDS.  Timothy is an HIV and AIDS Policy Analyst with World Vision's Advocacy Team.

Q: You hail from Kenya.  What are you hearing and seeing about the impact of AIDS there?

A: In the African custom—before AIDS came into the picture—if you lost your parents, there would be a relative who would take you in.  Even your neighbor would take you.  But now this safety net has been broken, and it's not uncommon to find children looking after themselves.

Q: What does this do to children, losing a parent in this way?

A: Watching your parent die, possibly being the one to care for them, hurts children in ways we can't possibly imagine.  The child probably has to leave school, so their education is stopped.  Now that they're orphaned, they're living in poverty, perhaps even caring for younger siblings.  There's also the psychological and spiritual damage to the child of everything that's happened.  When we work for legislation to protect children, we push people to consider all aspects of the child.

Q: What type of legislation would help children most?

A: Legislation that gives children what they need more than anything: their parents.  We want to make AIDS drugs available to people in poor countries, at a reduced cost.  I am passionate about this legislation.  If parents could remain alive longer, perhaps the children would not be orphaned.  Pregnant women could get the drugs they need, so their babies don't get HIV.  And children living with HIV and AIDS would get the treatment they need.

Q: How are you doing this? 

A: When the Health Minister agreed that the current legislation (to provide cheaper drugs) was not working, he asked for input. So I thought "why don't the child-focused organizations get together to give their comments?" So we formed the Global Treatment Access Group, along with UNICEF, Plan and Save the Children.  Now Care is part of the group too.  It's very important to join hands to get this legislation, so everyone who needs AIDS drugs can have them.

Q: This legislation has been a long time coming.  And more people die every day.  How do you handle it?

A: One of the main things as an advocate is that you should remain patient, that you should keep your cool.  Because it's like a war, and the only way you can win this war is to keep it cool.  You need to let people understand what you're saying, let them see your side of the story, win it over by brining the facts as they are.  That way, you can help those who are making the decisions to make the right decisions.