It is estimated that 15% of the Democratic Republic of Congo's under 18 population are orphans, 770,000 of them orphaned through AIDS alone. However, most have become orphans a result of the bloody conflict there spanning decades that has taken the lives of millions of the country's citizens. We're talking about 5,000,000 orphaned children here ~ about the entire population of Scotland.

The challenges of meeting of all of these children's needs are overwhelming despite the work being undertaken in the country by non government agencies. The orphans who can't be cared for by extended families are faced with a future in institutions or for many life on the streets. This short video explores the lives of some of these children.

To get some idea of how overwhelming the orphans situation is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, imagine where you live having one out of every four of its inhabitants as an orphaned child.

Where would you even begin to address their needs, simply where would the adult carers come from when they are so poor they can't even meet their own children's needs, let alone the children of others.

Well, you can make a start by exploring child sponsor programs for the many orphans in the Democratic Republic of Congo for as little as 50p a day; the price of a daily newspaper. Make a difference.