As some of you know I used to work in the Infectious Disease clinic at Spartanburg Regional, so this is a topic near to my heart. I hope to be able to work in this area again at some point in my life. There are so many misconceptions about HIV/AIDS, and too many times people are dying because of the lack of awareness. According to the Little Travellers site the number of infected individuals grows by about 500,000 each year.
For those of us in the US this can be hard to imagine because it is not something we face daily. There are so many people in Africa who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS it is a way of life. Children are born with it, and then orphaned because their parents usually die. There is also a popular misconception in Africa among infected men that if they have sex with a virgin it will cure them. As a result so many young women and girls are raped and in turn infected only for the men to find out that they have not been cured.
It is truly a tragedy! We have made great steps to fighting this disease, the drugs have come such a long way in only the past couple of years, but we have not won the battle yet. One of the things we need to do to help fight this is be more aware of HIV/AIDS and not think of it as something that exists in another world. Knowledge is such a great weapon!
Another way you can help is by going to either the Little Traveller's site or to Leigh-Ann's site and adopting a Little Traveller of your own. Leigh-Ann currently has 29 (if others haven't already been adopted) for sale. They are $6 a piece. $5 of which goes to the women who make them and the Hillcrest AIDS centre in South Africa. The other dollar is for shipping it to you. She has already named all of the Little Travellers in this group, but if you have a special request just email her. Here is my Little Traveller
1 comment:
Thank you for your beautiful comments about our initiative, and for your support!!!
Sincerely,
Ilan,
of
The Little Travellers HIV/AIDS Initiative
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