Recent reports confirm that since 1981, HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has killed more than 25 million people and infected 40 million others. It has left a legacy of unspeakable loss, hardship, fear and despair around the world. While advances in medicine and prevention in the developed world have made the disease manageable, the undeveloped nations face a bleak future.

Sub-Saharan Africa has been the region most devastated by the AIDS epidemic. In a recent report, researchers have said that the toll could reach 100 million by 2025. There are currently in excess of 13 million children in sub-Saharan Africa orphaned by AIDS.

Extended family can no longer cope with these numbers and social prejudice and lack of resources means that these children are left to fend for themselves. 50% of those orphaned are under the age of 10 years. They have little or no community or government support.

The traditional safety nets of families and communities can no longer provide support as they struggle to fend for themselves.

In January 2006, a fortuitous meeting occurred between some of the founding members of Committee Assist in a small village at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro in Northern Tanzania.

They met with 68 children and a few carers in a small 4 bedroom house. They lived with no running water, no kitchen, no stove, and often nothing to eat by maize cooked on a dirt fire.

They had no local, government or foreign support and no education. In a very short period, many positive steps were taken which saw a dramatic improvement in the lives of these children.

From this small beginning, the seeds were sown for the inspiration which has become Committee Assist.