Help an AIDS Orphan in South Africa

While this site is not intended for commercial or soliciting purposes, sometimes exceptions are definitely in order. I share with you a little information about an organization very close to my heart. I have been involved with this particular group of amazing individuals since 2003 as an activist, volunteer and fundraiser.

There are more than 1 million AIDS orphans in South Africa today, more than in any other country in the world. These children often face a hard life on the streets if their extended families cannot take them in to care for them. The problem being that most families are already spread so thin, they simply cannot care for any additional children.

Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA) is a non-profit organization based in West Los Angeles. Established in the 1980s to raise awareness and mobilize against apartheid, the organization turned its attention to HIV/AIDS following the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994. From ANSA's website: "ANSA strategically mobilizes the participation of well-known actors and performing artists to raise public awareness, mobilize increased action and advocate for just government and corporate HIV/AIDS policies and programs. ANSA works in partnership with a wide range of organizations on advocacy efforts on the Global AIDS pandemic and AIDS in South Africa."

Photo: Danny Glover visiting with locals in a township in South Africa, courtesy of www.ansafrica.org

ANSA's AIDS work includes raising awareness about the disease, advocating for access to proper treatments, fundraising, and the provision of essential services such as water. Some of their most recent collaborations and projects include the close partnership with the South African advocacy NGO, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), who is committed to lobbying the South African government and private companies to provide access to much-needed medication to all HIV/AIDS sufferers. Through "It Takes a Village" (ITV) ANSA works with a dedicated team of child welfare organizations, community development experts, health care professionals, educators and activists to address the issue of AIDS orphans in South Africa. From ANSA's website:

"ITV is a groundbreaking collaboration providing comprehensive services to orphaned children in South Africa who have fallen through society’s safety net: those living in child-run households, where the eldest child is raising his or her siblings; orphans taken in by neighborhood families or elderly relatives with scant resources; and vulnerable children whose parents are dying. ITV was developed to ensure that the physical, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual needs of these children are met in meaningful and long-lasting ways.

ITV is implemented by local community-based organizations and overseen by the highly respected AIDS Foundation of South Africa (AFSA). ANSA provides the funding and resources and AFSA provides the training and oversight to build local capacity to provide vital services to orphans, their caregivers, and community. "

And now, to my shout-out to you. ANSA's AIDS orphan project is currently in the top 50 projects, out of 7,018 original submissions in the American Express Members Project. If you are an American Express card holder and are moved by the story of the AIDS orphans in South Africa, please consider voting for ANSA's project. They are in the running for $5 million to help these children.

To visit the Members Project and vote for ANSA's Orphan Project, go to: www.membersproject.com

and vote for ANSA's project:

#6841 "Help African Children Orphaned by AIDS"