Upgrade Your Karma with KCA

InStyle Magazine's January 2009 issue features Keep A Child Alive's Text Alive campaign as the #1 way to Upgrade Your Karma. Keep A Child Alive was alerted to this by MGive's blog. The Text Alive Campaign is powered by MGive, and has had great success so far - raising over $40,000!

Text ALIVE to 90999 and contribute $5 to Keep A Child Alive. It will automatically show up on your next phone bill.



Be on the lookout for InStyle's January issue and check out the article on page 119.

Facebook Event for Operation Bobbi Bear!

Ian Jopson, a supporter of KCA, is currently hosting a Facebook event to raise awareness and money for Operation Bobbi Bear. This program works in a unique way to console and support victims of child abuse to determine if they have been sexually assaulted. Operation Bobbi Bear provides them with a blank teddy bear, markers and band aids and the children draw and place band aids on the bear to describe what happened to them. This allows Operation Bobbi Bear to determine the extent of the abuse and whether the children should be tested and treated for HIV.

Click on the following link to help make Ian's event a huge success. He has provided several ways to assist Operation Bobbi Bear, as well as photos and videos about Operation Bobbi Bear.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=37786783620&ref=mf

Alicia Keys on CNN's "A Night for Heroes"

Alicia Keys appeared on Larry King and spoke about the work she does with Keep A Child Alive. She spoke of the important medicine and care KCA provides to children and families, as well as her own personal heroes.

World AIDS Day 2008

Today is World AIDS Day. A day to remember, reflect and respond.

Remember our work is not done. There are still many, many people in the impoverished world without access to these life-saving drugs.

Reflect on those that have died because of lack of medicine but also on our accomplishments everyone of you at Keep a Child Alive have helped to achieve.

Respond to the desperate need of all of those unfortunate. To those of you that have responded to our call, we thank you from our hearts.

This year's journey to our sites in Africa brought us such joy and sorrow. There is still so much to do in one of the most beautiful continents in the world. I have written a diary of my journey - come and read about all of our accomplishments on World AIDS Day.

Please go here - READ MY JOURNAL - see what your support has done for those in Africa and remember that our work is not done.

Peace,
Leigh Blake
President

John Liechty Middle School raises $100 for KCA!

Former KCA intern Cristina Johnson teaches 8th grade at John Liechty Middle School in Los Angeles now. Her Africana Studies class spent three weeks learning about HIV/AIDS, and turned their awareness into action by raising money for Keep a Child Alive! Her students worked hard to organize a penny drive and a bake sale for the cause, and the class raised $100 for KCA! Now that's KCA Kid Power!

The Children's School in Brooklyn, NY raises 3K for KCA!

The Children's School in Brooklyn, NY recently raised $3,862 for Keep a Child Alive! Mr. Joe and Miss Elena organized the fundraiser around lesson plans for their class that focused on "social issues. Mr. Joe and Miss Elena saw it as a great opportunity for their class to teach the rest of the school about HIV/AIDS in Africa. Four of their students visited each classroom to talk about Keep a Child Alive and screen a video clip of Alicia in Africa. They posted a giant bar graph in the school cafeteria to track how much money each class collected. The class that raised the most money won the choice to have a pizza or ice cream party. The fundraiser was a HUGE SUCCESS. Keep a Child Alive is inspired by how these children worked together to help keep our children in Africa and India alive and well.

KCA College UK at the Freshers' Fair!

KCA College kick-started the school year in the UK at the Freshers' Fair at the University of London. The Freshers' Fair is an opportunity for students as they begin the school year to learn about the different services and facilities available in their city or town, as well or clubs or societies they can join on campus. Dita Patel is spearheading the KCA College initiative in the UK, and spread the word about KCA at the Freshers' Fair to students attending 19 different universities. WorleyParsons in the UK sponsored the KCA UK stall at the event - and we are very grateful for their support! Dita recognizes that "there are keen young supporters out there wanting to make a difference." She hopes to continue to engage these students to take action and expand the KCA College network in the UK!

Site Update: Hope Center Clinic

The new Hope Center Clinic in Sikoro, Mali officially opened in June 2008. The incredible Dr. Annie De Groot oversees the KCA-funded clinic, and recently sent us her latest update from the field:

"A very thin woman in a yellow headscarf, who is 28 years old and who waited for over two hours to have her turn in his office today. A small child sits quietly in her lap. The doctor asks her some questions. She speaks softly, coughing as she is answering. A medical student looks at her lab results. She has 20 T cells. He asks her if she had ever been given medication before, and she says yes, but it was a long time ago, and the medicine had run out. The doctor pauses, considering what to do. Her life is in danger, but she has no money to pay for emergency treatment, and the hospital is far away...

This is a place where one in three to four children dies before the age of five, where [in our small clinic] one hundred babies are born every month, where mothers die in labor without so much as uttering a sound. This is a place where, too, a small tree of hope can take root, where green leaves can shine on slender branches, and where hope and dreams can eventually bear fruit...

We built [our clinic] to ease access to care for the hundreds of HIV seropositive patients who are living in this village of 35,000 people. We planted the clinic here at an arm's reach for the patients, like the one we saw today, because we know she will not wish to travel far for her care. We planned the clinic here for our patients because they prefer to see doctors they know will care for them. Those are the doctors who will pause for a moment when confronted with a young woman they know well, and think about her HIV infection in the context of her whole life. What would it mean for this woman, if the doctor made the decision to send her to the hospital far away on the top of the hill? Would she go there? How would she pay for her care? Who would take care of her small child? And what of the family members who would have to travel there to feed her and pay for her care? This is the context of HIV care in West Africa. These are the real barriers to good health.

Our new clinic has an infirmary where she will be able to get care. Our new clinic has a new laboratory, where we will be able to see if she has tuberculosis, and a new conference room where we will be able to plan her return to her home [only a few streets away], where we'll map out her directly observed TB treatment therapy visits, and her follow up care.

The need is great, and the cost is small. For less than $35,000, we have created a space where patients can receive the care they need right near their home. The number of HIV patients in our care has increased from less than 20 a year ago to 120 today...

Because of our work [together], a young woman, 28 years old, who has a small child to take care of, will be here tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. She will get better. This is no small thing to achieve, in a clinic that sits at the farthest corner of this Earth."

Picture Your Child - Save Another

Celebrated photographer Anna Campanelli held her second photography fundraiser to benefit Keep a Child Alive this weekend. Anna specializes in portraits of children and families, and this was an exciting opportunity for her clients to support the KCA cause.

NYC's Industria Studios generously donated their space and equipment for the event, and close friends pitched in to help on-set during the day. Fifteen families participated this year. It was very interesting to see how some of the returning families had changed!

Anna is donating 100% of the purchase price of each gorgeous, keepsake 12x16 print ordered. Cost: $150 for a single print; $275 for 2; $375 for 3; $50 for each additional print. Anna is offering a bonus for Cookie Magazine readers: buy 3 or more images and get a disc complete with all of your images! Last year, the event raised $10,000 for KCA!

Delta GEMS Party for a Purpose!

The Delta GEMS of northeastern North Carolina recently organizd a fundraising dance for Keep a Child Alive! Delta GEMS is an initiative by the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, empowering at-risk adolescent girls to follow their dreams. With the support of school administrators, parents, and the surrounding community, the Delta GEMS made their dream for KCA a reality. Three local high schools joined together to party for a purpose, and raised $1,000 for Keep a Child Alive!

Alicia Keys speaks at ServiceNation Summit

KCA Global Ambassador Alicia Keys spoke at the ServiceNation Summit in New York City, last Thursday, September 12th. Check out the video below to hear her shout out for Keep a Child Alive!

Save the Date: KCA Black Ball 2008

Keep a Child Alive's fifth annual Black Ball Gala, hosted by Ambassadors Alicia Keys and Iman, will honor the global AIDS work of three remarkable humanitarians. This legendary evening will take place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on Thursday, November 13th, 2008.

Our humanitarian honorees are an incredible group of people who have used their will, fame and courage to change the lives devastated by this pandemic. This year, we are thrilled to honor Jackie Branfield, founder of Operation Bobbi Bear in South Africa, Simon Fuller and Queen Latifah.

The Black Ball will begin with a cocktail party followed by a seated dinner with extraordinary live performances by Alicia Keys, Justin Timberlake, Joni Mitchell, Jack White and other extraordinary artists to be announced.

Please help make a difference by joining us at The Black Ball! For more information, call 718.965.1111.

Register for the KCA Student AIDS Summit!

Keep a Child Alive is thrilled to invite you to our 2nd annual KCA Student AIDS Summit 2008! The Summit will be a legendary meeting of 400 creative minds and compassionate hearts, welcoming student AIDS activists from around the nation who are actively and measurably committed to progressing an agenda of AIDS relief on their college campuses. The two-day Student AIDS Summit will take place at New York University from November 14-15, 2008, and participants will also attend the exclusive Keep a Child Alive Black Ball Gala hosted by Alicia Keys on the evening of November 13.

PLEASE REGISTER FOR THE SUMMIT HERE: http://summit.kcacollege.com

Registration will be confirmed on a first-come first-serve basis, and is open to all student AIDS activists.

Priority will be given to KCA College Leaders and Members registered on www.kcacollege.com. Those who are not registered on www.kcacollege.com will not be given priority in Summit participation.

Please contact Kim (kim@keepachildalive.org) if you have any questions about Summit Registration.

We look forward to seeing you in November. Thank you for your energy and commitment!

University of Central Arkansas Gives a Buck!

The KCA College Chapter at the University of Central Arkansas recently challenged their student body to give a buck about AIDS with their "Who Gives a Buck?" fundraising event.

Our UCA team of activists set up a station in their Student Center, and encouraged their professors and fellow students to donate a dollar to the cause. Everyone who donated was photographed to recognize their life-saving contribution.

In a matter of hours, the Chapter raised more than $150 for Keep a Child Alive!

Take action with Keep a Child Alive on your campus. To learn more about the KCA College Program, visit www.kcacollege.com.

Nyamila Video!

KCA College Regional Leader Jennifer Salazar spent this summer volunteering in Kenya, and organized a visit to the Nyamila Community Center in Siaya!

Nyamila Community Center provides clean water, food, school materials and access to medical services to 137 children and their surviving caregivers in 47 households. Nyamila is also working to generate more conversation about AIDS in the community, by empowering several HIV+ individuals to openly talk about the disease, something that was unheard of in this area until now!

Jennifer visited the site with her fellow students from the University of Oklahoma and representatives from the Maisha International Orphanage. Her friend, Mark Nehrenz, created a fantastic video documenting their trip to Nyamila this summer. Check it out!

Meet Noah

Meet Noah. He is 15 years old and HIV positive. Noah lives in Rwanda and raps in his community to educate people about HIV prevention. He is a patient at the Icyuzuzo Clinic in Kigali, funded by Keep a Child Alive.

Click here to meet Noah.

Anti-retroviral medication has made it possible for Noah to be alive today. Help keep Noah and children like him alive.

Vote for Keep a Child Alive to win $2.5 million from the American Express Members Project.

If you do not have an AMEX card, you MUST vote by Monday, September 1st!

Voting only takes a minute - so CLICK HERE to NOMINATE NOW!

Once you have Voted, email or call at least 5 friends and make sure they Vote too! Help us start a virus to end a virus and share this video with everyone you know!

KCA College on Youtube!

Keep a Child Alive is thrilled to start posting video content by our dedicated Keep a Child Alive College Chapter Leaders! Chapter Leaders have raised over $40,000 on campuses nationwide for Keep a Child Alive, and a new series of "How To" videos will instruct and inspire fellow and future Chapter Leaders to do the same!

Check out Jennifer Salazar of University of Oklahoma!

Nominate Keep a Child Alive for $2.5 million!

Dear friends of Keep a Child Alive,

Please nominate Keep a Child Alive for the American Express Members Project award! Your vote online now will help us become one of the Top 25 nominated projects to win $2.5 million in funding. Voting takes one minute and you do not have to be an Amex card member to vote.
How to Vote:

1. Log on to: www.membersproject.com/project/view/23E7H1
2. Click "Nominate This Project." - If you are an AMEX Card Member, click "Log-in"

- If you are not an AMEX Card Member, click "Guest Member Sign-Up"
3. Click "Nominate" to vote for "Keep a child with AIDS alive for just $1 a day."
4. Forward this information to EVERYONE you know, and spread the word via text, blog, website, Facebook, Myspace and YouTube!

Thank you for using your voice to support the work of Keep a Child Alive!

Bomu Medical Centre

The KCA team recently visited the Bomu Medical Centre, based on the outskirts of Mombasa, Kenya. Mombasa is a small town on the East African seaboard, which operates largely as a trading center for much of the African continent.

Bomu Medical Centre is putting life back into communities that have been devastated by the AIDS pandemic. Bomu specializes in providing treatment and surrounding care to the poor affected and infected with HIV. When Keep A Child Alive started funding Bomu, they were treating 157 patients on ARV’s. Today, the hospital receives more than 250 new patients every month and currently has 1500 children on treatment. In the last two years, Bomu has treated 10,000 patients for HIV infection!

Click here to see Bomu’s warm welcome to our KCA team’s arrival:

These highly energized women are patients of ours that first came to Bomu on the brink of death. Since they began receiving treatment, they have become positive role models in their community, working to help change the face of AIDS.

All of these women are valuable players in Bomu’s new community outreach program that gets people talking about AIDS in an effort to break down the stigma that surrounds the disease. They are also working with the HIV-positive children in their community to ensure that they continue to receive the medication they need on a regular basis.

Sakia Mohamed is a Community Health Worker at Bomu. Click here to hear more from Sakia:

01:03:04 Most of the clients that we have, they are below poverty level. And they live in a slum, at the average of 36,000 people. And they are really poor. They cannot take their medicine on an empty stomach. So, what we do, sometimes we assist them or we help them. We take their cards, get the medicine for them, and give it to them. But you cannot do that all the time. Because they cannot get transport, or they cannot afford even half a dollar in a day. And most of them are mothers, with kids. Some mothers have 3-4 kids who are positive. 01:06:22 That's why you find, most of the people will not come forward to be tested. They are scared. And that is stigma and discrimination. And some of them have accepted that they are HIV positive, but there is discrimination and stigma. 01:06:50 And HIV does not kill, stigma kills. Because nobody will take care of you, nobody will protect you, will talk to you. You will always eat by yourself. You will always sit at the corner on your own. You don't have anybody to talk to. Nobody is there, nobody is interested. So this is why, most of the African community, this is what is happening in between them. 01:14:02 Bomu is a beautiful clinic. Bomu is doing a lot. Bomu is helping a lot of people. Bomu is helping a lot of men, women, just name it! Bomu is doing a lot with Keep a Child Alive. So, whoever is there, please assist Keep a Child Alive. Please, please, I beg you.

Bomu continues to expand to address the growing need for treatment in its community. Dr. Zahir Alavi is the Medical Director at Bomu. According to Dr. Alavi, the HIV prevalence rate in the area has risen from 5.9% to 8% within the last year. The hospital is currently undergoing construction to accommodate more patients.

Click here to hear more from Dr. Alavi:

19:30 So it began as a very small project, but over time, because of the scale of the problem, it's really really blossomed into a full institution that now provides outpatient facilities to those infected. And especially from the slum areas – as you may see when you go around Bomu – surrounded by a lot of slums, and all the poor that live here, have absolutely no other way of getting assistance towards their treatment of the HIV infection. Even though the government and institutions are there, and they have programs that are providing these services, they're just overwhelmed. There are not enough institutions, there are not enough doctors, there are not enough health care providers, and there are not enough drugs. 23:50 We just have to get up more clinics, we just have to get in more labs, and more support facilities so that these patients can get the right care, can get the right access, and can get all the drugs and all the tests that are required with keeping these people on this kind of care. This is the way we are, this is the help we need.

Pan African Student Organization of UC DAVIS

The incredible students of the Pan African Student Organization at UC DAVIS organized a seated benefit dinner with proceeds to benefit Keep a Child Alive. It was an intimate night of poetry, music, dance & fashion. The students sold tickets to the African inspired fashion show for $10 each and added a auction & raffle as another fundraising component. We applaud raising an incredible $2,000 for KCA's work!

You can see a clip from their evening show at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1V8bWnc5Tc&feature=related

Change for a Change!

145 students from Western Christian Junior High School in Claremont, California were inspired by stories told by their Bible teacher, Mr. Letherer. He traveled to Africa to help children and families in need. Each day Mr. Letherer shared stories about his life-changing trip. The students collected change in their classes for 2 weeks and raised $4,364.47 for Keep a Child Alive!

Beatrice's Story, Kampala, Uganda

UGANDA - Beatrice knows firsthand the fear and uncertainty of women left widowed by AIDS. Her husband died, leaving her without any means to care for their tiny baby girl and young daughter. Her health began to fail, confirming what she had already suspected: she too was sick with HIV. Then she learned that both her little girls had HIV. Sick, poor, and completely alone, Beatrice was living every parent’s worst nightmare. She could not care for herself or her children, and because of her HIV, they inherited her terrible fate at birth.

Keep A Child Alive’s funding of a new free clinic, near her home gave Beatrice a chance to hope for the first time since her husband became sick. There, she was able to start on ARV treatment and begin treatment for her daughters. She was able to get food to feed her family and encouragement, love and support for their recovery. Soon, she was able to see a transformation taking place in their health, and her new strength led to optimism.

Today, Beatrice owns a small retail shop and is able to provide for her family. Her daughters continue to do well on their medication and now can enjoy the simple joys of being children. As leader of a support group for people with HIV, she uses her own story to show that there is a way out of despair and an open hand to gently guide the way.