A haven for AIDS homeless

Nkosi, 11, was "adopted" after his mother had to give him up because she was dying of AIDS

Advocate establishes South African home
for mothers, children who are HIV-positive

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN) -- From the moment of his birth, Nkosi Johnson has had to fight.

As one of Africa's millions of AIDS-stricken children, he had to battle those who didn't want to let him go to school. And when he is sick, his own body turns against him.

But Nkosi has a real advocate in Gail Johnson, the woman who adopted him from a care center where she once worked. Johnson has begun a project she calls Nkosi's Haven, a home for women and children with AIDS who have nowhere else to go.

HOMEWORK HELP AIDS economics U.N. Programme on AIDS/HIV U.N. Children's Fund International AIDS Conference More Homework Help    VIDEO CNN's Eileen O'Connor looks at a woman who offers a home to some HIV-positive mothers and children who are pariahs in their South African communities QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K    ALSO AIDS conference calls for action in Africa

Nkosi's mother had to give him up because she was dying of AIDS. Those are the types of women -- the abandoned and terminally ill -- that Johnson said she targets to help.

Women such as Feroza Mohamed are benefiting from Johnson's efforts. Mohamed is among 10 women living at Nkosi's Haven. They are able to keep their children with them during the little time they have left.

"The moment you ask her, she (Johnson) is there for you," Mohamed said. "I am dying of this disease, but I know she is making it better."

Mohamed's son, also HIV-positive, stays with her at Nkosi's Haven. Another son who was born just the week she arrived did not survive.

Mohamed is an outcast in her village, but she said she can now die in peace, knowing that Johnson will not turn her son out to fend for himself.

Johnson also has "adopted" other AIDS orphans by taking food to them in the townships and paying for their schooling.

Gail Johnson founded Nkosi's Haven, a home for women and children with AIDS who have nowhere else to go

"Yesterday, Nkosi was asking me what my dream was," Johnson said. "I'd love to see Nkosi's Haven Project caring for 15,000 women in two years' time."

Forty-four women are on the waiting list for moving into the home, and the need is growing.

"It's beg, borrow and steal at the moment," Johnson said. "I need to raise a lot."

Another dream Johnson has is to raise $2 million in the United States. With the favorable exchange rate, she said she believes she could easily open and fund three more care centers.

"I need to know that I am offering comfort and ... a life of substance to people who've been rejected," Johnson said. "I'd like to think I've given them some hope -- and a reason for just carrying on."