On this day December 1st, every year since 1988, people around the world are encouraged to raise their level of awareness by getting tested, donating to charities, reading, writing and listening to stories, basically encouraging the world to be united for this day to fight against this epidemic.
It's great to see such amazing response! It has been great to see people get up and run/walk a variety of races around the world and donating their time & monies raised to fight against this disease.
On this day I choose to acknowledge and remember mothers. Why mothers? Because I am a mother. I am a healthy mother with a healthy child and I couldn't imagine having go through what so many women who have been either infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS to have gone through or are currently going through. Highlighting their strength and positive force is important because we know that is what is causing profound change.
According to The World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2011/hiv_20111130/en/index.html
"Global progress in both preventing and treating HIV emphasizes the benefits of sustaining investment in HIV/AIDS over the longer term. The latest report by the WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS Report on the global HIV/AIDS response indicates that increased access to HIV services resulted in a 15% reduction of new infections over the past decade and a 22% decline in AIDS-related deaths in the last five years.
Their are so many women that I wanted to highlight here, but one that has stayed with me since the moment I heard her story and had the pleasure of finally meeting her.
This women/mother's name is Thembi. I had the pleasure of meeting her at a local entertainment venue in Chicago. She was traveling from South Africa with/for a public radio show called "Radio Diaries." She was a young fashion forward powerhouse. She had a smile that lit up the room and her laugh...so sweet. You would never know this young woman had contracted the virus that eventually took her life.
Thembi was a fighter. She was not afraid to let people know about her HIV positive status. She did this so she could educate and empower and make a difference. Her fight brought awareness. Her story was like so many young girls, she contracted it from a boyfriend. She found out that a boy she dated had died from the virus. She started dating another young man who she unknowingly infected, but despite his diagnosis, he stayed with her and they had a child together.
In her short 24 years of life, she made sure that the virus that infected her did not defeat her. She met with world leaders and fearlessly addressed South African Parliament to challenge their way of dealing with this epidemic that was crippling their country.
Please take some time out of your day to read a little more about this wonderful angel or listen to her radio diary. Thembi will inspire you to be your best self and stand up for something you believe in.
It's great to see such amazing response! It has been great to see people get up and run/walk a variety of races around the world and donating their time & monies raised to fight against this disease.
On this day I choose to acknowledge and remember mothers. Why mothers? Because I am a mother. I am a healthy mother with a healthy child and I couldn't imagine having go through what so many women who have been either infected and/or affected by HIV/AIDS to have gone through or are currently going through. Highlighting their strength and positive force is important because we know that is what is causing profound change.
According to The World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2011/hiv_20111130/en/index.html
"Global progress in both preventing and treating HIV emphasizes the benefits of sustaining investment in HIV/AIDS over the longer term. The latest report by the WHO, UNICEF and UNAIDS Report on the global HIV/AIDS response indicates that increased access to HIV services resulted in a 15% reduction of new infections over the past decade and a 22% decline in AIDS-related deaths in the last five years.
"It has taken the world ten years to achieve this level of momentum," says Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of WHO's HIV Department. "There is now a very real possibility of getting ahead of the epidemic.
This women/mother's name is Thembi. I had the pleasure of meeting her at a local entertainment venue in Chicago. She was traveling from South Africa with/for a public radio show called "Radio Diaries." She was a young fashion forward powerhouse. She had a smile that lit up the room and her laugh...so sweet. You would never know this young woman had contracted the virus that eventually took her life.
Thembi was a fighter. She was not afraid to let people know about her HIV positive status. She did this so she could educate and empower and make a difference. Her fight brought awareness. Her story was like so many young girls, she contracted it from a boyfriend. She found out that a boy she dated had died from the virus. She started dating another young man who she unknowingly infected, but despite his diagnosis, he stayed with her and they had a child together.
In her short 24 years of life, she made sure that the virus that infected her did not defeat her. She met with world leaders and fearlessly addressed South African Parliament to challenge their way of dealing with this epidemic that was crippling their country.
"Accept that AIDS is here," she told the country's leaders. The Sunday Independent reported that Thembi's presentation was "compelling" and a "step in the right direction" for a country that has been "grappling for years with institutional silence on AIDS."
Her fight began the moment that she was infected, but her vision and momentum picked up when she became a mother. She wanted her daughter to experience a different kind of world than the one she did. She wanted to leave a legacy not of defeat, but triumph.
Please take some time out of your day to read a little more about this wonderful angel or listen to her radio diary. Thembi will inspire you to be your best self and stand up for something you believe in.
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