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It’s hard to believe that the Centers for Disease Control doesn’t pay for third line anti-retroviral medicine here in Uganda.  They are the CDC, for crying out loud!  They have quite a bit of money at their disposal and while I understand that third line is super expensive, THEY ARE THE CDC! Well, five kiddos cared for by our partner, Baylor-Uganda, need third line medicine in order to live.  As in, if they don’t take it, they will die.  No questions asked.  There is nothing else they can take.  So, when Baylor asked us if we’d provide the kids with the medicine, we said yes.  For two years now, we’ve [...]

Kibito Hospital is the exact opposite of when I saw it last. Betsy, Fred, Karina, and I visited the hospital two years ago and it was a thing of beauty.  Brand new construction, gorgeous floors, nice sized hallways, a large surgery room, etc.  Problem?  It was empty.  All this room and all these dreams stood empty. Next door, what remained of a small clinic was still functioning in an old building which had survived a flood.  Today, that building is still used and it looks as old as ever, but it is packed and well used.  The new construction – let me say…it is what hope looks like.  The maternity [...]

“Ma’am, I must tell you that you missed your connecting flight to Entebbe, so make sure you make arrangements to spend the night in Addis Ababa when you arrive, ok? Don’t worry, your bag will go straight to Entebbe.”, says the beautiful stewardess when asked if she thought my bag would make it all the way to Entebbe, even though I have a short connection time. Ugh. I must arrive in Uganda tonight because I have a 5-hour drive tomorrow to a city called Fortportal, from where we’ll visit a couple hospitals AFCA supports. My prayer is now that not only will my bag make it, but that I will [...]

She pushes up the sleeve of her shirt and I take in a deep, but silent sharp breath. She shows us what looks to be a specialized cancer that HIV+ people sometimes get and my heart breaks. Her baby needs to nurse, so she rolls her sleeve down and puts the baby to her breast, where the little one feeds hungrily.  My head can’t stop the thoughts – is the baby ok?  Is mom taking her medicine to keep her viral load low, hopefully suppressing the passage of the virus to her baby?  As I try to think as positively as I can, I know I am fooling myself and [...]

Mombasa. Just the word brings such memories to mind, as I’ve been coming to this city for 11 years now. Mombasa, Kenya – a city of contrasts: dust, dirt, poverty, wealth, loud music, the historic old town, horrible and smelly slums, malls, and humidity. Mombasa, I am sure, has great hotels, but right now, I am in one of the not-so-great ones. It is safe and clean, so I am not complaining. I am merely explaining the situation here: loud music fills my ears as well as the call to prayer from some nearby mosque. The fan above my head moves slowly, unable to penetrate the mosquito net above my [...]

13 security checks. Thirteen!! The Nigerians take their security seriously for people boarding planes, but not so seriously that a single person actually goes through my bags. Thirteen different people confirm that I am who my passport says I am. They actually say, “Weaver Tanya – is that you?” and I refrain from laughing as I confirm that indeed, I am Weaver Tanya. If I had a fake passport, I sure wouldn’t take this moment to reveal it! Three look at my shot record and are happy I am vaccinated against every known tropical disease. Mary, the vaccine lady here at the airport, suggests that maybe I want her to [...]

I face a crowd of 250+ K-5th grade children at the American International School of Abuja and explain how they, through a run/walk they take a part of, have helped children by giving them livestock, school supplies, and medicine.  I can’t help but smile when I see their little faces showing excitement and wonder and I can almost see them planning how they’d do more during their next walk/run.  To finish the celebration, the children’s choir dances and sings “Living Your Dream”, inciting clapping and dancing from the crowd as we watch on. Super cool! With the sun getting hotter by the minute, Linda and I head out of the [...]

10 hours is a long time to kill, especially when you killed 9 hours only 1.5 hours ago.  But that is exactly what I am doing – reading, walking, reading, walking, stretching, eating, reading, walking. I knew Heathrow Airport rather well from my visits to Africa and now, I know it EXTREMELY well.  I know where every bathroom is located and I know which food I prefer.  I know which areas are always crowded and which have extra seats for nomads like myself.  I park my body and backpack in a quiet area and finish another book.  I watch people and am amazed by the variety, the colors, the textures, [...]

The train ride to Philadelphia is uneventful. I read and think and think some more.  I let my mind go blank and I breathe deeply.  Before the ride, we ate breakfast with my parents and celebrated Juju’s birthday a little early.  It was beautiful to see her light up when she received all the books she’d been wanting and I as I sit on the train, I imagine her reading to Aiden about the Land of Fang.  I can see his eyes gleaming, listening and asking questions from time to time, absorbing all she reads to him. I meet Ity and Ottie (not making that up) at the airport as [...]

Have you ever wondered how some nonprofits get represented in a big way, like on the Jumbotron at the Super Bowl or between races at the Indy500? AFCA will be featured in the 100th running of the Indy500 at the end of May! We received a call from the company that coordinates the Jumbotron saying that they had extra slots available specifically to nonprofits. From a marketing perspective, it was a little challenging to weigh whether this was the right event for a nonprofit that benefits children with AIDS in Africa, but when we considered the demographic that attends an Indy race and value of the spots, we realized that [...]