Avonbourne School

A Business & Enterprise College

Avonbourne School

HIV & AIDS awareness

Raising money & making a difference for communities affected by HIV AIDS

Many congratulations to girls in year 9 and 10 who sold animals and other items (made from recycled metals) to help HIV positive people in Zimbabwe. Molly Brown, Lydia Sheehan, Latoyah King, Darianne Bolson, Molly Curran-French (Year 10), Gemma Masterman and Kezia Navey (year 9) all gave up their own time after school to sell the products. The money raised has been for Arthouse Zimbabwe, a group of people living In Zimbabwe, mainly living with HIV and AIDS. They make many different arts and artifacts from recycled materials, such as, empty drink cans, scrap metal, wire, tin, beads, wood and sacks etc. Staff and students bought these amazing items from lizards and elephants to Christmas decorations to help to raise the £500.
 
What has been done to help?
The year 9 and 10 girls have come together to form a mini company, selling different arts and artifacts around school, to pupils, teachers and visitors! So far £500 has been raised! The money has been banked and sent back to Zimbabwe, to help the people suffering from HIV and AIDS. The money will help pay for medical care, set-up new jobs and pay for food.  It is also being put towards building rooms onto a house to provide a place to stay for victims of the deadly virus.
 
Facts about AIDS and the HIV virus
AIDS is a massive killer, 4 in 10 people have AIDS and 1 person dies from AIDS every minute! As a result, in 2010 more than 1 in 5 children will be orphaned. Click here to view a slide show that introduced the topic to students.
 
Comments
“I have really enjoyed helping out and selling all the different artifacts to people around school. It is great to know that we are making a big difference to people who are not as lucky and as fortunate as we are! We have only been selling them for a week and raised over £500 already, so in the future we should be able to raise a lot more money and continue to help the people in Zimbabwe living with HIV and AIDS! By raising this money we will be making a big difference to people’s lives, who are not as fortunate as we are and we hope to continue raising lots more money in the future!¿
Molly Brown (year 10).
 
The future for Arthouse Zimbabwe
Coming soon – Avonbourne AIDS Awareness Day – We will be selling beaded ribbons made by the Arthouse group in Zimbabwe. Each ribbon will cost £1. The money raised will go to pay the hospital bill of an 8 year old girl in Zimbabwe who is HIV positive. Her Mum, Dad and brothers have all sadly died from the disease. Therefore the money raised will make a huge difference and help save lives!
 
We plan on continuing to raise money and sell the products from Zimbabwe for this excellent cause. If you feel that you can help or support, or have a company or event where we can sell our items please contact Mrs. Pannell (Geography department). Many thanks!