This story from South Africa's Western Province addresses the increasing influx of orphans, and the difficulty children's centers have in keeping up.

Adding to the AIDS toll and poverty, the fact is that crime is rampant and in many places there is no shame in stealing from orphans or burning down and vandalizing facilities that care for them.

In Cape Town, they're trying to prepared for soaring numbers of orphans there, too, with some warning that the problem has moved from being merely a social problem to a socio-economic problem with ramifications long-term and wide spread, impacting everyone, including those who'll be hit only through their wallets.

With care for orphaned children getting squeezed a bit tighter every year as the numbers increase, the likelihood of increasing crime, prostitution, and so on creates a downward spiral that must be interrupted.

From Uganda a report from the Ministry of Gender saying that USAID has donated money for orphan care, and also mentions the growing number of AIDS orphans. They're expecting over two million in the next few years.

Another issue in the same country, Ugandan girls being pulled out of school in order to free them up for work at home.

Interestingly, this story reports over 200 parents were rounded up for refusing to send their children to school, although the report doesn't say what happened to them.

More than 300 children were also netted along with two drunk teachers.

For a more hopeful look at African orphans, here's a story of one young man who has made a success of his life against great odds.

Orphaned ten years ago, he now owns a printing and stationery shop in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and has plans to expand it into an Internet Cafe.

After his father died when he was 12 and his mother left to work away from home and never returned, he and two younger siblings were cared for by relatives for a few months before sending them away.

Working piecemeal, he managed to support his little family, but barely. Eventually seeking help from a British-based orphan care project, he finished his education, grew up and volunteered with the orphan project that had helped him.

"I love it because it is orphan care work. Sometimes, I help to take out the food parcels and I see families in the same situation as I was. There is a lot of problems with orphans at Ingwavuma. It is good to be able to help them."

Where there's hope, there's life. I wish it always worked the other way around, but I've seen too much of life with no hope to believe that any longer.