Behind every statistic is a real young person, with real memories, real pain and real dreams. When you accept our help, you become part of the Laughter Africa family, not just another statistic.

Here are just some of the young people we've walked alongside since 2015, in their own words.

Every photo and story on this website is shared with permission. We ask the child and their parent or guardian first, and explain how it will be used. We change names where needed, never say where a child lives or goes to school, and will take down any photo or story if a child or family asks.

"One day I would like to be a doctor. I want to help kids who have HIV like I do. I want to show them that having HIV is not a death sentence and we can lead a normal life."A boy who used to live on the streets, Freetown

"We don't want to ask anything from you again. We want to do it for ourselves."A young man who used to live on the streets, Freetown