Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
BBC News - Tuesday, 15 October, 2002
Suwilanji Nachiwezya, 14, was born with the disease which has since claimed the lives of her parents.
Her story was told in our weekly Real Time series in August by an English couple who have taken her under their wing.
Ian Godfrey and Julie Baldwin, who run a guest house in Kitwe, told how Su's health had started to deteriorate. The girl needed to start on antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) - drugs she would have to take for the rest of her life.
But ARVs cost about ú80 a month. Su's family cannot afford the medical treatment required; and the couple told of their difficulties fundraising in a country suffering from famine and recession.
Many readers e-mailed messages of support, and two sizable donations came in from the United States.
So far more than $1,000 (ú650) has been raised, enough to fund Su's ARVs for 18 months. She started on the drugs on 13 September, her 14th birthday.
Ms Baldwin says: "She spent that weekend with us and we baked a birthday cake for her. She ate all her meals and even came back for more, had a smile on her face and much more energy. Within that couple of days she looked and acted like a different girl."
Happy and healthier
One month on, Su is making good progress. The head sores that have so plagued her have almost healed and her hair has started to grow back.
"Su spent this last weekend with us and she looked even better. She was running - something we have never seen her do before - and she was also swinging arm-over-arm on a climbing frame.
"Her energy seems boundless now. She is eating well and has a lovely sparkle in her eyes."
In addition to the US donors, several Britons have been looking at ways to make monthly contributions without being hit by steep bank fees. And a Los Angeles-based charity plans to take up the case of Su and other HIV-positive orphans in Kitwe.
The couple expressed their thanks - and Su's - to those BBC News Online readers who pledged support. "It has achieved wonders."
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