In support of various AIDS Orphan care centres in Africa, the Selah Project is raising funds by sending an athlete to run from Cape Town in South Africa all the way to Cairo in Egypt while visiting the various beneficiaries on route. This gruesome 12,000km solo run through 9 countries will be attempted to raise international awareness for this cause. We will start with pre-runs in all the provinces and later challenge all road running clubs and other athletes to share in a relay run from their provinces to a central point in Johannesburg while our athlete makes his way up from Cape Town. From Johannesburg he will carry the torch throughout the different countries up to Egypt while being joined by various participants on-route representing the individual countries. So pledge your commitment today by joining our Facebook page (Selah Project), share this with all your friends, buy at least one R10 ribbon to sponsor 1Km of the route and take part in the blog on this website. This is no solo task – together we can make a big difference.

According to the World Health Organisation 34,3 million people in the world have the AIDS virus. 24,5 million of them live in Sub-Sahara Africa.  16,6 million Children were orphaned from HIV/AIDS worldwide. 15 Million of them are in sub-Saharan Africa alone. In some countries which are badly affected by the epidemic a large percentage of all children, for example 16% of children in Zimbabwe and 12% in Botswana and Swaziland, are orphaned due to AIDS. These children will face enormous risks in their struggle to stay alive.

Even with the expansion of antiretroviral treatment access, it is estimated that by 2015, the number of orphaned children will still be overwhelmingly high. The age of orphans, however, is fairly consistent across countries. Surveys suggest that overall about 15% of orphans are 0-4 years old, 35% are 5-9 years old, and 50% are 10-14 years old.

The scale of the orphan crisis is somewhat masked by the time lag between when parents become infected and when they die. As adults continue to die from AIDS over the next decade, an increasing number of orphans will grow up without parental care and love. Join us and pledge your support in an effort to make a difference to the lives and future of these children.