Dear friends,
One of the photos taken by the American Foundation for Children with AIDS (AFCA) has been selected as a finalist in a contest hosted by Global Giving. Here is the link where you can vote for our photo http://www.globalgiving.org/poll/vote/?pollOptionId=21/. I took this photo while in Zimbabwe during a goat distribution to grandmothers who are raising AIDS orphans.
The photo which receives the most votes by noon on August 15th will win $1000 for the organization from GG, plus $3000 extra in matching grants we've been pledged AND it will be highlighted on the Global Giving home page, which opens us up to many more donations. Voting starts on August 1 at noon EST, so we must get ready to vote and to ask others to vote as well.
Only one vote will be accepted per email address, so voting more than once from the same email address does not count.
Please send out emails and post on social media as soon as you can. Think creatively, too. You can take your laptop to a café and you can ask people to vote for us right then and there. Or, take your smartphone to work and ask all of your colleagues to vote.
On behalf of the kids,
tanya
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Mary Engelking, director of AFCA's board, visited the programs we support in Uganda - Cooley Clinic, Kilembe Mines Hospital and Mulago Hospital. What did she find? She found that they are incredibly grateful for the contributions made by AFCA, whether it be in the form of medicine, volunteers or medical supplies. She also found that they are growing, taking care of more and more people, expanding their work, and still in need for the partnerships we have with them.
All our partners have gaps which must be met and AFCA helps meet as many as we can. Sometimes, the gaps come in the form of medicine - maybe their government provides ARV's, but doesn't provide medicine to combat opportunistic infections. Or, maybe they have medicine for children aged 1-15, but not for those who are over 15, but under the adult age requirement (18 or 25, depending on donors and programs). Those are the types of gaps we try to fill in an effort to make sure that all children who need medicine will receive it. This is a big undertaking!
We have filled the last huge request from Mulago Hospital and have provided medicine for thousands of children throughout Uganda. The next request is on its way to us, I am sure. Will you help us by spreading the word to many about our work and how they can be part of it? Together, we can keep helping these children -we certainly can't do it alone.
With gratitude,
tanya
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Wow! We have received a huge request for meds! It is for 3 months, for 10,000 children throughout Uganda. Quite the request, but we are going to try to fill it. Would you mind helping us spread the word? Maybe one of you (and some of your friends) would like to make a donation to honor your mom or grandmother on Mother's Day and you want her to receive a card that lets her know how much you love her AND that your gift to her is to save the lives of some precious children?
If you'd like to do that for your mom (as a mom, I know your mom will love this gift!), just select the third giving option, “gift or in honor of,” under the orange donate button on the project page. GlobalGiving will send the gift recipient an email, print-at-home, or physical card. GG offers several fun card designs and they give you the option to choose a design customized for our project. Pretty cool!
So, why not celebrate your loved one while helping us reach our goal of sending medicine for 10,000 Ugandan children for three whole months? Come on...you know your mom will love it!
~ tanya
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People with healthy immune systems can be exposed to certain viruses, bacteria, or parasites and have no reaction to them—but people living with HIV/AIDS can face serious health threats from what are known as “opportunistic” infections (OIs). These infections are called “opportunistic” because they take advantage of your weakened immune system, and they can cause devastating illnesses. OIs are the most common cause of death for people with HIV/AIDS.
The Center for Disease Control developed a list of more than 20 OIs that are considered AIDS-defining conditions—if you have HIV and one or more of these OIs, you will be diagnosed with AIDS, no matter what your CD4 count happens to be:
One of AFCA's goals for the children in our programs is to lower the risk of getting OIs. Antiretroviral therapy can help by increasing your number of CD4 cells, which will help protect them from OIs. AFCA also provides medications used to prevent disease from occurring - known as prophylaxis.
Thanks to donors like you, we are able to provide medicine for children seen in 75 clinics throughout Uganda. It is life-saving, to say the least!
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Dear friends,
I just received this email from one of our Ugandan partners today. As you can see, our work is making a difference in the lives of many children. Thank you for being part of our work!
"Tanya, I am very sorry for the delayed response. I have been out of the station for the last 3 weeks carrying field activities in supported health facilities and I have been experiencing very poor internet access. Hence, I could not access my emails.
The wonderful news is that we received 474,000 tablets of the balance that was procured for us in 2011 in December. We also received 1,025,000 tablets in January 2012. With the above Cotrimoxazole supplies, we will be able to buffer 71 of the supported district facilities for the next 3 months. We are indeed very grateful.
Attached you'll find our receiving form (GRN) and supplier's invoice (acknowledged by us) for the two supplies. As you know, these medicines mean life to so many children.
God richly bless you.
Thanks,
William Mutabaazi | Pharmacy Services Manager"
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