Turn It Red

Today is World AIDS Day. Most of you have probably heard me talk about my job at Blood:Water Mission and how we work to empower Africans to have clean water in their communities. What you don't hear about as often is the equally important work we do in the fight against the HIV/AIDS crisis.

For the past month, we've shared stories of our friends who are living with HIV/AIDS and inspire us and others in their communities to join in the fight against this horrible disease.  And today, on World AIDS Day, you can join us as we Turn It Red. Learn more here.  You can also see how the ONE Campaign is joining in these efforts against the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Maybe you know someone who has HIV/AIDS. If you don't, or even if you do, I encourage you to watch this video of Leah, who is living positively with HIV/AIDS.

Today, I'm wearing red for Leah and countless others who have been affected by this disease.  Will you join me?

Steps

Two years ago today, I stepped on a plane bound for Africa. It was a step that changed my life.  As I look back on that day, I’m amazed at how that one step had such a powerful and direct impact on the steps I take today.

When I walked into training for my upcoming Africa trip, I had just finished my final presentation for my bachelor’s degree in Public Relations.  I spent three days meeting my teammates, learning about Africa, and preparing for a month in rural Kenya.  In the month between that training and the actual trip, I returned to Austin to walk across the stage and receive my diploma, walked down the aisle at four weddings of close friends, and walked along the beach as my now husband asked for my hand in marriage.  No doubt, these were all pretty big steps in my life.  But I had no idea that stepping onto that plane to another continent would be equally as big.

I spent the next month in Kenya hosting summer camp for hundreds of kids in a rural village close to the Tanzanian border.  Many mornings, I went for a walk with a friend, watching the sunrise over the Chyulu Hills.  I walked down many dirt roads visiting schools and homes of the people in the community. I ran (ok, I jogged) up and down the fields attempting to play soccer with the Africans- not an easy task. I had the profound privilege of walking alongside these people I hardly knew and I fell I love. I walked away with a desire to know more. More walking, more steps toward a life I never imagined for myself.

I got back to the states, went to one more wedding, and spent the next day driving to Nashville to pursue a career in the music business.  A few months later, I found myself walking into Blood:Water Mission, not as a publicist, but as a finance assistant. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but here I am, still walking alongside some incredible people, both here in America, and across the world in Africa.  We are all walking together toward the same goal and it’s a beautiful thing.

So I continue to take steps, not always knowing where I’m going or what lies in front of me. But I know I can’t stop, because wherever I go, I have to believe there is a reason, not only for the destination, but for the journey itself.

Blog Action Day 2010

Today is Blog Action Day 2010.  Bloggers all over the world are dedicating their posts today to one world issue.  This year, the focus is WATER.


A little over a year ago, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to a tiny rural village in Kenya near the Tanzanian border.  I spent four weeks bringing Sky Ranch Summer Camp to kids in the area.  It was hands down the most wonderful experience of my life (aside from getting married- but can you really compare the two?)  Anyway, I fell in love with these people and when I got back, I knew I wanted to find a way to continue serving and loving these people.  Little did I know I would soon find a job that lets me do that every day.

If you read this blog, you probably know that I work for a non-profit organization called Blood:Water Mission. Our mission is to empower communities to work together against the HIV/AIDS and water crises in Africa.


Water- clean water- is a human right.  The fact that MILLIONS of people lack access to this basic necessity is an injustice.  Children can't go to school because they spend their days walking to the nearest water source (which really isn't near at all) to get water that usually isn't clean.  They drink the water and then contract diseases that are easily preventable and curable with clean water.  Their lives are cut short because they don't have water.  Can you imagine?  I can't.  Even when I was in Africa, the school we stayed at had two rain catchment tanks.  Water was never in short supply despite the record-breaking drought in Kenya. That school was one in a very small minority. 

I recently read a book called The Fabric of Faithfulness by Steven Garber.  In the introduction, he quotes the late Erik Erikson, a Harvard professor emeritus.


"In clinical work (as in economics and politics) crisis has increasingly taken on half of its meaning, the catastrophic half, while in medicine a crisis once meant a turning point for better or for worse, a crucial period in which a decisive turn one way or another is unavoidable."

We have a crisis here.  We have reached a turning point.  A decisive turn one way or another is unavoidable.  Let's decide to turn to the BETTER.  If you blog, join me in writing a post about water today.  Register your blog at Blog Action Day 2010.  Learn more about this issue.  Hear the facts, meet the people.  Do something big, do something small.  Make a difference.