On June 16, 1976, more than 10,000 school children in the Soweto township outside Johannesburg, South Africa, marched to protest apartheid. Police fired into the crowd, killing 23 children and setting off the Soweto Uprising that resulted in hundreds of deaths. This day has been memorialized as the International Day of the African Child. It is a day for reflecting on the challenges, opportunities, and rights of African children—particularly when it comes to education.

Today, I am thinking about Mercy, a quietly confident young woman whom I recently met in Machakos County, Kenya, a subsistence farming community about one hour outside of Nairobi. Mercy Nounge is a 17-year-old who is attending a vocational boarding school, studying to be a hairdresser. She looks forward to owning a business one day and raising two children with her future husband. This vision contrasts starkly with thoughts she had five years ago while she was bedridden and wanted only to die.

Fortunately for Mercy, she had support when she needed it most.

Orphaned by AIDS at the age of 5, Mercy grew up under the care of her grandmother and her aunt. Despite frequent illnesses and stunted physical development, she was not tested for HIV. In 2008, when Mercy was 9, she was recruited for a new project by the Africa Brotherhood Church, with the mission to support children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS-related illnesses.

The church’s Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) project ensures that enrolled children are linked to appropriate caregivers, HIV treatment, and education. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF) is a primary partner of this project, providing financial support and technical assistance. In all, the OVC project supports 1,642 children in Machakos.

Lucy Mwangangi, one of the project officers, tells me that she has known Mercy since she was a young girl, and that she immediately enrolled her in the program when it began. Lucy was concerned that Mercy’s grandmother, her primary caregiver, was overwhelmed.

“When we went on a home visit, we found that Mercy was not in school,” says Lucy. “Mercy was sick on and off; she was coughing. We had to create awareness so that her grandmother would take her for HIV testing. Then Mercy tested positive, and her grandmother did not know what to do.

“There was the issue of stigma,” Lucy continues, “So we had a support group meeting with Mercy’s grandmother and aunt. And we did a lot of follow-up, making sure that Mercy came to the clinic to get her medicine. The other issue was adherence.

This is how Mercy ended up in the hospital at the age of 12.

“No one told me why I was taking the medicine,” says Mercy. “So I just stopped.”

“In the hospital, my aunt finally told me that I am HIV-positive. She told me that both of my parents died from HIV. I felt like killing myself.”

“We had to engage the caregivers to help Mercy accept that she is HIV-positive and move on with her life,” says Lucy. At that time, Lucy also linked Mercy to a psychosocial support group through which she could meet other adolescents living with HIV and gain strength from their experiences.

“Some of the children say, ‘I am a total orphan. I’m suffering. I can’t move on in my life,’” explains Lucy. “But then someone else comes and says, ‘I, too, am a total orphan. I moved on; why not you?’

“Sometimes we bring a peer who is in the university to talk to the children,” says Lucy. “They have graduated from the OVC project and can tell the younger ones, ‘You are not dying; you can live long.’ Then adolescents like Mercy say, ‘I can walk along because I have seen one who has made it—and I can make it.’”

An important aspect of the OVC project is ensuring that the children stay in school. When Mercy earned low marks, she was unable to continue her regular studies, so Lucy helped her enroll in a vocational training program. This year, Mercy will learn in the classroom, and next year she will apprentice with a working hairdresser.

“They pay my school fees, they give money to buy food, and they care for me and make sure that I take my medicine,” says Mercy. “If it were not for this project, my life could be very different because I would not be in school… I would be giving up on my life.”

“Lucy is my friend; I like her so much,” says Mercy.

“One thing that I like about my work is how I interact with each child. I accept them the way that they are. I address each case as it is, because each child has unique potential,” says Lucy as she hugs Mercy.

“I’ve known this girl since she was very young. I have seen her when she was very sick. And I have seen her take good care of herself. This is a girl with potential.”

The Africa Brotherhood Church OVC project is supported by EGPAF, through the Pamoja Project, which is funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).