Letima Ikhetheleng, the seventh of eight children, was used to poverty, but also to getting enough to eat.
"After the death of my father, life changed," he says. "Food was the problem."
Letima's story confirms that a little help can often go a long way, that a small investment in orphans and children who might otherwise be lost to the tide of HIV can pay off in amazing ways.
The 18-year-old lives in a remote area of Lesotho, the tiny country completely surrounded by South Africa. Letima and his siblings received agricultural and educational support through a Catholic Relief Services program. They learned how to maintain a small, raised "keyhole" garden, which increased the variety and nutrition of the food they ate.
"We were able to have three meals a day," he says.
The program also provided books and shoes so Letima and his siblings could return to school.
"We would be like all the other schoolchildren who are not orphans," he explains. "My life is now better."
Drought, poor harvests and the fourth-highest HIV infection rate in the world have placed Lesotho in the midst of a complex emergency. The effect of HIV on children is particularly poignant. In Lesotho, HIV most often strikes down people between the ages of 18 and 35, in the prime of their lives. Children are taken from school either to take care of sick family members or to assume responsibility for supporting their households once their parents have died. On average six teachers a week die from HIV and AIDS, steadily eroding the education system and shrinking future opportunities for children.
Photo by David Snyder for CRS 
