UNAIDS estimates that to date, a staggering 14 million children have been orphaned by AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. South Africa has the largest number of people living with HIV in the world and by 2025, it is estimated that 40% of South African adults will have died of the disease. In Uganda, HIV infections increased by 30% between 2005 and 2011. Two-thirds of all South African children live in extreme poverty. 35% of Uganda's population continues to suffer from hunger.
Even Ground is a network of high-impact, hyperlocal efforts directed towards breaking the cycle of poverty in Africa by providing increased access to education. The programs in the Even Ground network are able to offer specialized services to particular communities in-need, while consolidating administrative overhead for maximum efficiency. Check out the 2016 Annual Report
Originally known as Orphans Against AIDS (OAA), Even Ground was founded in 2002. From the beginning, Even Ground has worked to break the cycle of HIV/AIDS by ensuring that children and youth affected by the epidemic receive high-quality education, nutrition, and care. To do this, Even Ground brought together a group of small, like-minded organizations, all started by young people, to address the impacts of the HIV epidemic on children and youth. Even Ground worked to facilitate the operations of these projects and to cultivate a network of support and collaboration between them.
Even Ground's partner projects have each developed unique models of education support and care for young people and families in communities affected by HIV/AIDS. Orphans Against AIDS became Even Ground in 2013. Each of the Even Ground projects was initiated by a young social entrepreneur who took the risk to help children in need. Today, the projects are run and supported by a network of family, friends, and donors. [arrow_link href="/programs"]Learn more about the programs[/arrow_link]