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June 16, 2012 - Matopos, Zimbabwe Today is sunny and we are planning on having a fabulous day at the Matopos National Park. With John driving the big LandRover, the rest of us pile into the back of the truck and take off with a picnic lunch packed. We are dressed warmly because there are no windows on the truck and while it is sunny, the breeze is still chilly at this time of the morning. About an hour into the drive, we stop to allow Aiden, Eric and AJ to sit in the top of truck. Aiden is so excited!! His eyes are shining like little olives and he [...]

June 14, 2012 – Bulawayo, Zimbabwe After a breakfast of rice and a fried egg, Jodi, Morgan, Juju and I head out to distribute fifty-six goats to beneficiaries approximately three hours away. Q takes us in a pick-up truck and what starts out as a ride on an asphalt road ends up on a narrow dirt road with small villages suddenly appearing on the side of the road. Q tells us that we should be able to spot a giraffe and that keeps us looking out the windows. While no giraffe materializes, we do see a group of baboons on the side of road and we go wild with excitement, [...]

One of the coolest success stories in the 25-year history of HIV/AIDS is the dramatic price drop of baseline antiretroviral drugs (ARV therapy, or ART) since the turn of the 21st century. These drugs are pivotal in the fight against AIDS, granting a healthy and productive life to HIV patients who adhere faithfully to a strict therapy regimen. And these drugs’ new affordability on the international market has allowed a 16-fold increase in the number of poor-country citizens receiving ARV drugs from 2003 to 2010 alone. At the end of 2010, 6.6 million people in the developing world were benefiting from them. 47% of the world’s citizens had access to [...]

I want to thank our friends at Ahnu for providing me with the absolute best boots ever. I have worn them to the top of Kilimanjaro, through the streets of Harrisburg, PA and everywhere in between. Here they are, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, looking dirtier than usual. I am resting my feet on the truck window, as we wait for help on our 11th breakdown of the trip. Ahnu has been a generous supporter of our work, giving us certificates for Kilimanjaro climbers and winners in our recent 5k. I believe we host the 5k with the absolute best prizes, thanks to sposnors like Ahnu! I've also uploaded [...]

June 12, 2012 – Johannesburg, South Africa – Bulawayo, Zimbabwe I spy them from the top of the tall escalator. I am on the third floor and they are in a terminal on the ground floor. I see her first, tall and elegant, fifteen years old, my niece Morgan. She is laughing at something one of the small ones said or did. I scan a bit and see Juju and Aiden playing in front of her, acting funny to see her laugh again. Eric is on the right of them, Jodi on the left of her. My heart beat picks up and I feel it change pace. I start walking [...]

June 10, 2012 Tonight I celebrate seven years of working with this particular program. So does Sister Veronica and Lucy. We three have been together through some hairy times and they determined that we’ll work another twenty years together. I complain that I will have no hair left by that time, the stress is too much, the fundraising so hard. With incredulous eyes, Vero says to me “don’t give up on faith, Tanya. You must keep the faith that has brought you here today – you hear me? We will do what we can together because it is not our work that we do, but God’s.” I guess that is [...]

Do you know how AIDS is treated in children? Do you know how effective it can be? For adults, the primary combatant against the one-two punch of HIV and AIDS is antiretroviral therapy. These drugs delay the onset of AIDS indefinitely by pinpointing and undermining any of numerous stages in AIDS’ development. One type of antiretroviral drugs, reverse transcriptase inhibitors, disables the ability of the HIV virus to replicate its DNA, stopping its spread within the body. Another type, protease inhibitors, prevents human cells from replicating the virus. Yet another set of drugs, fusion and entry inhibitors, protects cells from penetration by the virus. The World Health Organization recommends that [...]

June 8, 2012 – CAR – Kenya I am writing reports and catching up on my receipt record keeping this morning, while taking brief breaks to read about the history of the wars in DRC. It is a terribly complicated history and I am not sure that I understand any more now than I did previously. All I know for sure is that evil is everywhere in this world and that it has manifested itself if such violence in northeast Congo that it makes it hard to comprehend how people continue on with their lives once they’ve faced what they have witnessed and in many cases, endured. It is also [...]

June 7, 2012 – Bangui, Central African Republic After a great night sleep, I find myself with an easy-going day. I needed this day in between border crossings and the flight to Kenya because I had no idea if I’d make the crossing on time. Because I did manage to cross in time, I have an extra day, which allowed me to wash my clothes (how will I EVER get the red dirt out of my jeans?) and shop for some amoeba and parasite medicine, should I need it later on. Thelma and I went out to a nice place for lunch because I am so grateful to her for [...]

June 5, 2012 – Gemena, DRC Today starts very, very early (4:30am), thanks to a large rodent living above my room at the Elikya Center. It is so large, in fact, that I think Rachel is having trouble moving a suitcase in the next room, although the sound is coming from above, not beside me. Either way, I go to see if I can help her and she laughs. She is coming to see if she can help me with anything! No, it is neither of us…it is a large rat of sorts. No more sleep for me, thank you very much! With hours to kill before work starts [...]