Wearing tie-dyed, beaded vestments crafted by Africans, the Rev. Dr. Angelo D'Agostino told the congregation of St. Clare of Assisi Church in Clairton about the plight of AIDS orphans in Africa.

Father D'Agostino, 80, a Jesuit priest, and a physician, officiated at the 8:30 a.m. Mass on Sept. 17. He visited at the invitation of the parish apostolate committee.

During the homily, he spoke of the three Nyumbani (Swahili for "home") programs he founded in Kenya: Nyumbani Children's Home, Lea Toto Community Outreach and the Nyumbani Village.

There are 1¹/₂ million orphans in Kenya, he said, and 25 million orphans in Africa.

To dramatize the tragedy of HIV-infected children and the triumph of children raised in his orphanage, he told this anecdote:

A newborn boy was half-buried in the ground by, it was assumed, his HIV-positive mother, who feared her baby was certain to succumb to AIDS. The baby was found three days later and brought to the Nyumbani Children's Home in Nairobi.

The home, founded in 1992, provides nutritional, medical, psychological, and spiritual care to abandoned children who inherited the HIV virus from their mothers.

The boy, who initially tested positive for the virus, later tested negative, and was adopted by a travel guide, who has taken the child on trips all around the world.

Since 2003, there have been no deaths at the orphanage, and Father D'Agostino credited medication and nourishment. The medicine keeps the disease under control, he said, reducing it from a fatal disease to a chronic disease, such as is diabetes.

Today, there are 96 HIV-positive children at the home, with 11 of those needing no medication.

"Maybe I can help other kids and get the Nobel Prize," the priest said

Food, clothing and medical care is provided through the Lea Tota Community Outreach.

His one-day Clairton stop was part of his limited U.S. visit to churches to raise awareness, donations and prayers for his programs.

The programs receive funds through philanthropic relief efforts, government agencies of the United States and other countries, and worldwide donations.

In the United States, it is supported by the nonprofit Children of God Relief Fund.

The success of the orphanage necessitated a place for the children to live as older teens. That led to the soon-to-open Nyumbani Village, a 1,000-acre site in the Kitui District for orphans to live with their grandparents in a self-sustaining environment.

After Mass, Father D'Agostino addressed the grade one through five religious classes, parents and visitors.

In attendance was Jocelyn Malik, 34, of the South Side, who is the manager of Corporate and Foundation Giving of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. She flew to Kenya twice at her own expense to volunteer at the orphanage.

During her three-month stay in 1998, children were dying because of the lack of drugs. But that is no longer the case, she said.

"There is so much beauty and hope there," she said.

To donate or volunteer, visit www.Nyumbani.org, email info@nyumbani.org, or call 202-342-8488.