“Aside from being an AIDS orphan, [the] other most worrying problem we have in our community is hunger. Another is lack of clothes and blankets. Some don’t even have houses. Some even can’t go to school,” Helena said.

Each day presents seemingly impossible challenges for children like Helena, who are missing their parents and, as a result, missing out on their childhood.

Helena's story is not unusual. Many children like her have lost one or both their parents to HIV/AIDS as the disease become more prevalent in Asia. According to a report released in 2006 by UNICEF, there are about 15.2 million children orphaned by AIDS—2 million of them live in Asia and 12 million in sub-Saharan Africa. By 2010, it's estimated that number—which includes children who have lost one or both parents—will grow to at least 20 million.

The missing face of AIDS

As the number of HIV positive people in Asia increases, inevitably so will the number of children orphaned by the virus.

“Children have been the missing face of AIDS,” UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Rima Salah said. “They are missing their parents, they are missing their school. They see the devastation in front of them and they are not part of the agenda. They are not even part of the plans of actions and part of the budgets.”

And it is not just orphaned children who are suffering, she said, but also those who have sick and dying parents whom they are forced to care for.

The social stigma the children suffer starts from the day it becomes known the parents are HIV positive and continues even after their death. They face discrimination both at the hands of adults and other children in both their villages and schools.

"The children orphaned from AIDS need protection and care. This is possible only by making the community sensitive and aware to combat the social stigma and prejudice against the innocent children," explained Salah.

An Increasing Problem

The scale of the AIDS orphan crisis is somewhat masked by the time lag between infection and death of the parents. If as expected, the number of adults dying of AIDS rises over the next decade, an increasing number of orphans will grow up without parental care and love. There is an urgent need to scale up responses and this is going to need both increased financial resources and commitment over the next few years.

In 2001, there were 65 million orphans in Asia, with approximately 2 million of them orphaned due to AIDS. The number of people in many of the largest Asian nations with HIV/AIDS threatens to surpass the numbers in some of the most severely affected African countries. Even a small increase in the prevalence of AIDS in these countries would lead to significantly more orphans.

Doug Webb, Children and AIDS Advisor for UNICEF, said there are millions more in the queue waiting to become orphans. "Even if the number of infections stopped tomorrow, the number of orphans will continue to go up."

He said orphaned and vulnerable children are at a higher risk of dropping out of school, suffering malnutrition and experiencing depression. And substandard education puts them at higher risk of HIV infection, especially adolescent girls and young men in the 15 to 24 age group.

The long-term impact of AIDS on children is not known, in part, because the world has never experienced an epidemic of this kind, Webb said.

“These children are the forgotten victims of this epidemic,” said Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS.

Orphans will often have many physical needs such as nutrition and health care, and these can often appear to be the most urgent, he said. “But they will have significant emotional needs as well, as the sickness and death of a parent is clearly a major trauma for any child. The emotional needs of the children must not be forgotten.”

For now, reaching out to those children is something Helena does in her hometown. The 18-year-old AIDS activist strives to give a voice to children affected by AIDS and address their issues and concerns through various AIDS organizations.

When asked what she thinks might happen in the future, Helena chokes up and says, “I cannot bear to think of it. But for now, life must go on.”