Dumbo Art Show at BoConcept

The Brooklyn location of BoConcept will be featuring an art display from May 7 - June 7 to support the work of Keep a Child Alive. 8 tiles created by Coral Bourgeois (amongst other work) will be featured in the store. These tiles are part of a set of 22 tiles Coral created for Keep a Child Alive - and all imagery used on the tiles were inspired by KCA and our work in Africa. A portion of the proceeds from art sales will be donated to Keep a Child Alive to provide life saving medicine and care to children.

If you'd like to stop by, BoConcept is located at 9 Front Street (Between Main & Washington Streets) Brooklyn, NY. Store hours are 10 am to 7 pm Monday - Friday. 12 pm to 6 pm Saturday and Sunday.

Thank you to BoConcept and all the artists invovled!

AIDS Walk NYC: Team KCA Update

May 17, 2009, marks AIDS Walk NYC. Keep a Child Alive has the opportunity to participate in the walk, and as an HIV/AIDS organization, we will keep a majority of the funds raised by our team.

Currently we have 89 members for Team KCA who have raised over $17,000, and we'd like you to join us. Our goal of $25,000 is within reach, but we still need your help! Please visit http://www.aidswalk.net/newyork/index.html to sign up! There are just over 2 weeks before the event, and you still sign up to walk, raise funds, or even donate. Follow the link and register with team "Keep a Child Alive - 9872" to participate. Even if you are unable to walk during the day, you can still raise funds for Keep a Child Alive. If you have any questions, please call Danielle Spitzer at 718-965-1111.

Letter from Alive Medical Services

The following letter is from Dr. Pasquine Ogunsanya, Medical Director of Alive Medical Services (AMS) in Kampala, Uganda. Not just an HIV/AIDS clinic, AMS also provides infection treatment, transport, nutritional support, lab services and general care. Through the help of Keep a Child Alive, AMS currently provides comprehensive care to over 750 people in their community.

I believe that as KCA, our focus is to provide children and families with life saving comprehensive HIV and AIDS care and support as well as prevention. For so long, children have been neglected, especially when they have HIV, and yet they have the right to enjoy their childhood, to be loved, protected...etc.

One time Leigh sent me a questionnaire and one of the questions was: what can we do to reach more children? That set me thinking for some time and seeing the miracle of how KCA's more than one hundred children on ARVs, nutrition, and care are doing very well, I knew we had to do something special for our kids.

Our intention was to start something special for the kids, something that will give them quality of life and hope as soon as possible; but you know we are also just learning, and setting up AMS took much of our time and the fact that the work is growing so rapidly.

So we decided to start having the last Friday of every month as "Child's Day."

This is a day when all our HIV positive children (over 150 on ARVs) from 0 to 18 years and mothers/fathers come to the clinic and we carry out various exciting, interactive and educative activities focused on them.

We use this opportunity to get to know them personally, to know how they are doing at home, in school, health monitoring, with medication etc. We show them we love them and value them and they will grow up and be great people in future.

We talk about adherence, we make them know they are a point of HIV prevention, we allow them to ask questions about things that bother them etc. We have also drawn topics on primary health care, reproductive health, etc.

27th February was our day of getting to interact and ask questions/games/fun

27th March we talked about hygiene and sanitation/games/fun

24th April we talked about Nutrition/fun etc

In all the sessions, we have 4 groups:

1st group are 0 to 2 years and their mothers. We discuss with the mothers on child health and also the topic of the day.

2nd group are age 3 to 8 years

3rd group are age 9 to 15

4th group are age 16 to 18.

We have fun activities in each group like singing, dancing, games, competition etc

Each time also we pay for an after noon at the next door football field for games, sports etc.

Note that all the children in the pictures are HIV positive

In Feb we had 130 children, 17 mothers and 3 fathers

In march over 150 children, 20 mothers and 4 fathers.

All staff are actively involved and each time we have about 10 volunteers come to join us.

Thank you,

Dr. Pasquine Ogunsanya

Pictures below are from the April Child's Day that focused on nutrition.

Community Members at Alive Medical Services

Age group 3 - 8

Parents and children in the 0 - 2 age group

Age group 9 - 15 in the back shade at AMS

Keep a Child Alive at Bentley University/TIME Magazine Leadership Forum

At the 5th annual Bentley University/TIME Leadership Forum, held Thursday, April 16, 2009, local progressive leaders discussed issues like fair trade, health care, charitable giving and diversity in business ownership. (From left): Kate Otto, Keep a Child Alive; Priya Haji, co-founder and CEO, World of Good; Gloria Cordes Larson, president, Bentley University; Milton J. Benjamin, president and CEO, Initiative for a New Economy. (Photo courtesy of Bentley University.) Watch the presentations here.

MARKUS & INDRANI’S ICONS EXHIBITION

Brilliant photography duo Markus Klinko and Indrani, represent all that is sensational, powerful and extraordinary in the high intensity world of glamorous photography. Their meteoric rise in the photography industry will be lauded as they announce their first exhibition, ICONS, to be presented by the Lucie Foundation in concert with Month of Photography Los Angeles (MOPLA) and the Farmani Gallery at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles opening on April http://www.monthofphotography.com. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of the exhibited photographs will benefit Keep A Child Alive.

"Alicia in Africa" is an Official Honoree at the 13th Webby Awards

The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences has recognized www.aliciainafrica.com as an Official Honoree alongside this year's Nominees and Winners at the 13th Webby Awards. The Official Honoree distinction is awarded to the top 15% of all work entered that exhibits remarkable achievement. With nearly 10,000 entries received from all 50 states and over 60 countries, this is considered an outstanding accomplishment for Keep a Child Alive

The Webby Awards are hailed as the "Internet's highest honor" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. The 13th Annual Webby Awards Gala will be held in New York City on June 8 at Cipriani Wall Street.

Click here to view our official selection: http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current_honorees.php?media_id=97&category_id=140&season=13

University of Texas at Austin Gives a Buck

The KCA College chapter at University of Texas at Austin is in the midst of their Who Gives a Buck campaign - and getting noticed! This story in The Daily Texan is great exposure for KCA on UT's campus and way for the KCA College chapter to be more recognized.

"Who Gives a Buck?" is a signature Keep a Child Alive campaign asking everyone to give a buck to help keep a child alive. The goal is to raise $180,000 to support Keep a Child Alive clinics and orphan care sites in Africa and India. College chapters worldwide will execute the campaign during the month of April using their own unique fundraising methods along with a "KCA Roadblock" each chapter will hold on campus.

Silent Auction: Trash to Treasure for KCA

The New York State Division for Historic Preservation sponsors an annual silent auction to benefit Keep a Child Alive. Everyone involved raids their closets and attics for items they no longer need, and local businesses are asked to donate goods and services to the auction. Many of the auction items are of actual value, yet some of the most prized pieces are those which would normally would have been thrown away! As the New York State Division for Historic Preservation has adopted KCA as their annual benefactor, the fundraiser has grown considerably each year. In fact, this year's auction raised over $1,600 – an all time high.

Thank you to the New York State Division for Historic Preservation for their continuing support!

AIDS Walk NYC: Team KCA Update

May 17, 2009, marks AIDS Walk NYC. Keep a Child Alive has the opportunity to participate in the walk, and as an HIV/AIDS organization, we will keep a majority of the funds raised by our team.

Currently we have 60 members for Team KCA who have raised over $9,000, and we'd like you to join us. Please visit http://www.aidswalk.net/newyork/index.html to sign up! Follow the link and register with team "Keep a Child Alive - 9872" to participate. Even if you are unable to walk during the day, you can still raise funds for Keep a Child Alive. If you have any questions, please call Danielle Spitzer at 718-965-1111.

Art and Theatre at Washington University St. Louis

The KCA College Chapter at Washington University St. Louis is hosting a a benefit tomorrow, Friday April 3, to raise funds for KCA! The event runs from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the Danforth University Center, Tisch Commons at the university. Youth Expressions will be the featured performance, along with poetry, dance and more. Click here for more information.