What More You Can Do for World AIDS Day

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Jamila

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On this World AIDS Day, here is some of what you can DO to help those who suffer unnecessarily from the effects of AIDS:

1)

http://www.data.org/archives/2004_worldaidsday.php


This link from DATA has a tremendous amount of excellent and current info on the AIDS pandemic in Africa.

It is a resource that anyone who wants to really keep update with what is happening with AIDS in Africa should access frequently. :up:


2)

http://www.africanwellfund.org/candle.html

Sign the African Well Fund's Virtual Candlelight Memorial for all those who have lost their lives and their futures to AIDS.

An excellent website to visit often (and to support financially). :wink:


3)


http://www.globalaidsalliance.org/cd_action.cfm


Today is the BEST day to call the White House (tollfree) and let the President know of your support of the FULL FUNDING of the Global AIDS legislation that Congress passed and that the President signed into law almost two years ago.

OUR VOICES AND OUR ACTIONS ON BEHALF OF THOSE THAT CANNOT ADVOCATE FOR THEMSELVES IS ESSENTIAL TO SAVE THEIR LIVES.

Please do what you can to help them on this World AIDS Day and EVERY DAY!

The Goal is Soul....:hug:


and remember to sign - http://www.theonecampaign.org
 
Thanks Jamila for obviously caring so much about this. You always provide this forum with fantastic information and links. You've nearly restored my faith in Texas:wink: ...but I digress, i really am appreciative of all the hard work i'm sure you do.
 
I bow to the Goodness in you, blueyed poet. :bow:

Keep up your concern for the world's poorest people.

And Texas is actually coming on board The ONE Campaign train for Africa.

God moves in mysterious ways....:angel:
 
y'know, even if that small thing is sending like $5 to one of the many wonderful organizations...we all know how much that small amount can help. I'm a broke college student, but i think even i can afford that (or a little more).
Get up off your knees Jamila. Don't waste bowing on a long-haired college idealist like me
 
Hats off to you Angel Jamila. You never fail to bring a smile to my face. Thank you for the links.


We are ONE and we're all the SAME. We have to carry each other because there is no us only them.
 
We bought a goat today to be given to a woman in Africa. Hopefully this helps provide food and some income for her so that she has options.....

Peace to all.
 
http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/finalword/2004-11-30-final-word_x.htm


A world of wisdom from a boy with AIDS
I was in a store the other day when I heard a child, perhaps 10 or 11, rattle off her Christmas wish list to her mother, who, to my surprise, actually seemed to be listening.

The list was so long it was obscene, but neither the mother nor the daughter seemed embarrassed. I sensed that the child already knew she would get everything come Christmas morning.

For some reason, this annoyed me to no end, so much so that I wanted to smack the kid on the side of the head. But I don't make it a habit to hit the children of strangers, so I just walked away instead.

The scene stuck with me, though, and I began thinking about how spoiled we all are, not just this little brat in suburban Washington. I thought about how most of us have more than we need and how Christmas only seems to exaggerate the situation. You have only to wander the stores to see how much useless stuff there is out there.

The best gifts never come from Tiffany's, anyway. Veteran ABC News correspondent Jim Wooten knows this better than anyone.

For years, Wooten, 67, has wandered the world, looking for stories. Many of them took him to Africa. It's there he met Nkosi Johnson, a Zulu boy who was born not only into abject poverty but also infected with the AIDS virus.

For some reason, one even Wooten cannot quite explain, the two clicked. "I was drawn to him. I think it was almost chemical," he said.

Wooten found himself making excuses to return to the boy, who was living in an AIDS hospice in South Africa. It was there that they bonded, where Wooten learned a few things about life and where Nkosi died at the age of 12, by then a celebrity in the war against AIDS.

It's all in Wooten's new book, We Are All the Same: A Story of a Boy's Courage and a Mother's Love.

"The most amazing thing is he understood that he was in this death grip. He knew he wouldn't live to be an old man, or even a young man. ... If I understood I had a terminal illness, I think I'd start drinking again. I'd go right downhill. He did the opposite."

Wooten said the lad also knew exactly what he was doing. "He could manipulate me no end."

The story of Nkosi Johnson is not new. For centuries, there have been tales of children being the sage ones, imparting great wisdom to the cynical elders.

Nkosi's mantra was quite simple: "Do all you can with what you have, in the time you have, in the place you are."

Despite reciting that line in countless press interviews, Wooten is still blown away by it. He repeated it to me just to be sure I got it.

"The whole purpose to me now is to pass it on. If you meet remarkable people, you have a moral obligation to pass their story along."

Wooten acknowledged that it was difficult to revisit those times he spent with Nkosi. "But once I learned to deal with his death, the memories were so good. I recognized this as a golden gift."

Today is World AIDS Day.

Maybe this holiday season we should all ask for the gift of a Nkosi Johnson in our lives.

Maybe that girl with the long, long list might think of adding Wooten's book to hers.
 
Thanks, Mrs Springsteen, for the article about Nkosi.

If anyone isn't familiar with Nkosi Johnson and his short but amazing life - PLEASE check out these links:

http://www.simplytaty.com/bios/nkosi.htm

http://allafrica.com/photoessay/nkosi/

This small boy exemplified the resilience and the courage of Africa's people as they try to cope with overwhelming difficulties brought on by AIDS and poverty. :tsk:

A truly amazing spirit lived in Nkosi Johnson. May a small part of it live within all of us. :hug:
 
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