By Deb Baker
© 2003 Kathy Vanderpool, AIDS Orphans and Street Children
They were almost at the State House, where tonight's vigil for African AIDS orphans would be. Mom's friend Anne waved as they pulled up. Her daughter Amy clung to Anne's long skirt, trying to take a few steps. Great, thought Jared, I'll get stuck babysitting, too!
Mom parked and they walked over to Anne and Amy.
"Hey, Jared, I didn't know you were coming along. Look, Amy, it's Jared!" Anne said. Amy pointed at him and declared, "Rared!"
"You could at least say hi back," Mom whispered. "Hi guys, looks like a good turnout," she continued out loud.
"Hi," Jared mumbled, looking around.
He was surprised to see so many people gathered beyond them on the lawn. A teenager walked up and handed each of them a candle.
"We'll light them when the vigil begins," she said, smiling at Amy.
Amy grinned and waved. Jared scowled. Why did everyone have to be so cheerful, anyway? Shouldn't they be sad about these orphans? He looked at the flier that was wrapped around the candle. "By 2005, UNICEF estimates that 16,255,000 African children will be orphaned by AIDS." Wow, thought Jared, that's too many orphans. He looked up, saw Mom watching him, and stuffed the paper in his pocket.
A man wearing a t-shirt with a map of Africa on it stepped up to a microphone near the crowd. Little flames flickered as each person turned to light the next one's candle. The man read from the flier, and said that American aid money could help solve the epidemic.
Man, thought Jared, it's not even our country. What about our own poor people! As if he could read Jared's mind, the speaker continued, "but isn't this an African problem? Why should we care?"
A murmur went through the audience.
"We must be compassionate," the man shouted, spreading his arms wide. "We are all one global family. Ignoring problems won't make them go away."
People cheered and clapped. Jared shifted his feet, thinking Mom's meetings all sounded the same. Someone always needed help. What could a few people do? Over sixteen million orphans! He couldn't even think of something that big.
Across the lawn, he saw a boy walking his way. In the fading light it was hard to see if it was anyone he knew. The speaker finished, and someone began singing. Everyone joined in, singing, We Shall Overcome. Jared slipped away as Mom reached out to put her arm around him. He saw her and Anne exchange glances. Too bad, Jared thought, I'm not singing that dumb old song. He backed up a few steps and bumped into someone.
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