It has been said a day is coming when the progress of nations will not be judged by their economic power or military prowess, or by the splendor of their capital cities and public buildings. Instead, the measure of a nation's humanity, and the strength of its civilization, will be based upon the provision it made for its vulnerable and disadvantaged people and the protection that it afforded to the growing minds and bodies of its children.

Children are disproportionate casualties of all sorts of disasters. It is difficult to forget the heart-rending scenes of children swept away from their mothers by the tsunami of December 2004. But in respect to its impact on children, the HIV/AIDS disaster is different. The daily consequences of the global pandemic on millions of children that live with dying parents or have been orphaned lie under the radar of most governments and agencies. The unfolding tragedy is barely visible.

This is a story of painful loss and silent grief, and one that can only be inadequately told. No one who has not experienced the loss of their father and mother can understand its depths. And those that do know first hand are often unable to tell – because of their young age, premature death, their poverty and the insulating layers of discrimination that surround AIDS-related death and disease.