Taking a stand

I wanted to take a moment and provide links to some organizations and causes that I feel strongly about. These are not directly related to our adoption, however, I feel that they are relevant. We are adopting from a country that is ravished by HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and poverty. I urge you to take a look at their websites and see what the organizations stand for, what their goals are, and what you can do to help. There are so many people in this world that need us to stand together and unite. We all have strong voices and we CAN make a difference.

The first website I found recently is Join Red. It has a very exciting and much needed goal of providing antiretroviral drugs and HIV/AIDS education and prevention to people in Africa. The proceeds from the sale of "red" products (see website for more details... you can buy "red" products from places like Gap, Armani, Motorola, Apple (iPod!), Converse, etc.) go towards the purchase of antiretroviral drugs and HIV/AIDS prevention education to people in Africa. This is a really exciting opportunity for consumers to purchase products that spread awareness of the need in Africa for help at fighting the AIDS pandemic. It's so easy to help and by having "red" products not only means that proceeds from your purchase help the cause, but you also help by showing your support and spreading the word.

Join Red's website is: http://www.joinred.com.
For those of you on myspace, their page is: http://www.myspace.com/joinred.


The next group that I really like is called "ONE." Their campaign is to make poverty history. ONE aims to help Americans raise their voice as ONE against the emergency of AIDS and extreme poverty, so that decision makers will do more to save millions of lives in the poorest countries. They have a number of ways you can help. You can sign the ONE declaration, wear the white ONE bands, and do many other things to show your support of the ONE campaign. ONE is about using our voices to start create a change. They are not asking for donations, just your voice. For more details please see their website.

ONE's website is: http://www.one.org.

Another exciting adventure that is about to begin is a 4,000 mile run across the Sahara desert. Three men will run 50 miles per day for 80 days, crossing 6 countries during their run. The goal is to raise awareness about the poverty in Africa and the lack of access to clean water. They hope that through this charitable campaign they will raise money to provide clean water so that one day everyone will have access to clean water since this is a direct cause of malnutrishment, starvation, unsanitary conditions, and crippling poverty. For more information and to follow the race as it progresses, please see their website.

Running the Sahara's website is: http://www.runningthesahara.com.

There is also a website that is raising money and gathering supporters for the AIDS pandemic, malaria, and tuberculosis in Africa. On their website you can add your name to the map of people who support "The Global Fund." From their map you can see statistics on the number of men/women, ages, locations of people that support The Global Fund. This is another organization which enables YOU to make a difference. For more info, or to add your name to the map, please see their website.

The Global Fund's website is: http://www.jointheglobalfund.org.

Well, that's all for now. When you have a moment, please take the time to look over the sites and see what they're about. It's too quick and easy to sign the declarations, add yourself to the map, or buy red products to tell yourself you don't have the time or whatever. We can all stand together and make a difference.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you all for reading this and hope to have more adoption updates soon!