(RED)
Tomorrow, ONE and (RED) will team up to join BabyCenter, BlogFrog and ABC’s Million Moms Challenge for the Baby Shower for Global Good.
Photos from ONE’s last Twitter party. It was a lot of fun!
The Baby Shower for Global Good is an 8-hour online party that will be held on Twitter (#AMillionMoms) and in the BabyCenter Community on November 8. This cross-platform party will showcase more than 10 non-profits and companies that are helping mothers and children around the world. Organizations such as World Vision, Save the Children, Every Mother Counts, UN Foundation and more will be sharing stories, giving away prizes, and providing educational information about a variety of topics from famine to health workers to children’s health.
ONE and RED will be the featured organizations from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m ET. We’ll be discussing AIDS and our upcoming World AIDS Day campaign. So, join us! We have lots of fun ONE prize packs to give away, and we promise you’ll leave inspired for what you can do to make an impact on World AIDS Day.
Retweet, join the discussion, and invite your friends!
To follow the party, follow the #AMillionMoms hashtag, @ONECampaign, @JoinRED or sign into Tweet chat and type in the hashtag.
Through my work with Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service, a service program for at-risk youth from Brooklyn, New York, I’ve seen firsthand the tragic toll that AIDS has on families and communities both in Africa and here at home.
This summer, our group of teens from three Brooklyn neighborhoods served in the poverty-stricken South African shantytowns of Diepsloot and Soweto, helping orphaned and vulnerable children and granny-led households. While some may feel like the fight against AIDS is too big to overcome, tomorrow I plan on standing on the steps of the Brooklyn Borough Hall to turn it (RED) and help raise awareness of a very real, exciting and attainable goal in the fight against this disease: virtually eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV within five years.
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To commemorate World AIDS Day, we’re launching a series of blog posts to educate, inspire and update you about the fight against HIV/AIDS. In this post, Michael Fazzino (he’s a new writer to the ONE Blog, but you may have seen him on our One Campus blog) talks about (RED)’s big World AIDS Day project!
This Wednesday is World AIDS Day, and while ONE members across the country are already championing the issue, we want to send out some exciting news from our sister organization, (RED).
On Wednesday, (RED) is illuminating the world’s most iconic landmarks to raise awareness for World AIDS Day. Last year, nearly half a million babies were born with HIV — but with access to medication, a pregnant mother can stop the transmission of HIV to her child.
With continued funding to organizations like the Global Fund, the number of babies born with HIV could be zero by 2015, creating the first AIDS-free generation in 30 years.
This World AIDS Day, cities around the world will cast red light on their most distinctive landmarks. From the Sydney Opera House to Paris’ City Hall and Fountains, from the London Eye to Cape Town’s Table Mountain, from Niagara Falls to the Seattle Space Needle, the world will turn (RED) to highlight one goal — we can have a world where virtually no child is born with HIV by 2015.
We’re asking people to meet up at their local landmark to watch and discuss how we can help create the first AIDS-free generation. Go to Meetup.com to find an event near you, and if you can’t find an existing meet-up to join, you can always create your own and help put your city on the map!
Check out our full list of participating cities across the globe below –- and no matter where you are this World AIDS Day, we hope to see you there! Read more about this spectacular event on (RED)’s blog.
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At ONE, we never ask for your money — we just ask for your voice as part of our advocacy work around poverty alleviation. But, we have to admit, it’s pretty cool when outside sources encourage donations to some of the effective programs we care deeply about.
In this month’s issue of Glamour magazine, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, our sister organization (RED) and the GAVI Alliance were mentioned in the article, “31 Days of Giving: Easy moves to make the world a better place.” The piece also features a number of ONE partner organizations, including Partners in Health, Water.org, OXFAM and Heifer International. As we enter into the busy holiday season, check it out — it’s in newsstands now!
Vida, just a few weeks ago
On Wednesday, ONE lost a friend and an inspiration.
Many of us on the ONE staff were fortunate to know Vida, a Ghanaian girl living just a short drive from Accra, in Tema.
When I saw Vida three weeks ago, she and her father showed me her straight-A report card from school. She was a smart, talented and spirited person. You didn’t need a report card to know that, but it was a physical affirmation of her delight in learning and her hope for the future. Her dream was to someday be a bank manager at the Bank of Ghana, and of course, to buy her very own car.
We were concerned for her, though, because she wasn’t looking so good. It seemed she was missing some of her usual spunk.
Vida was born with HIV. She had been taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) for several years. Since her mother died of HIV, Vida was raised by her father, who is also HIV-positive. She couldn’t start school until she was 9 years old because of complications from AIDS. But once she started ART, she got into school and quickly found she loved it -– especially science –- and excelled in most all of her classes.
During the past few years, Vida has been a friend to and spokesperson for ONE and our sister organization, (RED).
The clinic Vida went to for medical care, including ART, is at the Tema General Hospital. This clinic is run by Dr. Patricia, who is also a friend of ONE and many of our staff. Last week, Vida was admitted to the Tema General Hospital, and placed on antibiotics for a dental abscess but –- having just recently been through a battle with pneumonia –- she was simply unable to beat another strong infection. Yesterday, Dr. Patricia let us know that Vida died on Wednesday.
With your help, ONE has long been advocating for the resources to support programs like the Global Fund and PEPFAR that provide drugs to prevent to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. We often talk about the 1,000 children per day that are still born with HIV, but those numbers are sterile and can’t reflect the vibrant reality of Vida. We will all miss her.
But, just as Vida was a voice for the efforts of ONE and (RED), it is our pledge to be Vida’s ongoing voice in this absolutely winnable battle against mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Bwalya Liteta
I — along with many of my colleagues at ONE — was shocked and saddened to learn that Bwalya Liteta — the 12-year-old girl featured in the recent HBO documentary “The Lazarus Effect” — passed away on August 14th.
As many of you may have seen from our sister organization (RED)‘s website, Bwalya was an HIV-positive child who had lost both her parents. (RED) first met her in May 2009 and filmed her recovery from near death to robust health with the help of antiretroviral treatment (ARVs).
Everyone who met her in the filming process was inspired by her quiet determination, and many of us at ONE felt personally compelled by the simple joy she exuded as she was finally feeling better and able to return to school with her friends.
“The Lazarus Effect” highlighted the miracle of antiretroviral drugs in restoring the health of people living with HIV/AIDS. But even when treated, AIDS can be a physically devastating disease — especially for young children.
This year, we’ve been campaigning for the full replenishment of the Global Fund. If fully funded, the Global Fund — along with other bilateral AIDS efforts — can ensure that no child is born with HIV by 2015 and make certain that little girls like Bwalya never need to become infected in the first place.
Her story should compel us — including world leaders — to be bold in our efforts to make this goal achievable.
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We are very sorry to announce that Bwalya Liteta, the 12-year-old girl featured in HBO and (RED)’s documentary, “The Lazarus Effect,” passed away on August 14 due to complications from AIDS. We know that many ONE members have been deeply moved by her story and will remember her courage and strength. Our sympathy goes out to her family and loved ones.
Please take a moment of silence to honor Bwalya and read (RED)’s blog post.
