Résumé : Before AIDS, the number of orphans in most developing countries was decreasing due to improvements in life expectancy. Orphans were likely to be older than age five years and have lost a father. It was uncommon for a child to have lost both parents. This scenario no longer prevails. As growing numbers of young adults die, sibling- and grandmother-headed households are becoming increasingly common. A 1991 survey in Zimbabwe found that less than 0.5% of orphans were being cared for in orphanages. Once a grandmother dies who may have taken in her orphaned grandchildren, many older siblings opt to raise the family. Many children prefer to stay together as a family unit despite the inevitable hardship and obstacles they will encounter to survival. These families are weak, but surviving. The AIDS pandemic will likely cause a ten-fold rise in the number of maternal orphans. In Zimbabwe alone, it is possible that 40% of children may have lost their parents within a decade.
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