(EMASOTJA) RED

I was reading about the Swazi national flag today and the symbolism of the flag takes on new meaning as the country battles HIV/AIDS…

The shield and spear on the national flag are symbols to protect Swaziland from its enemies while the black and white coloring represents black and white people living together peacefully in this beautiful land.

The yellow is for the country’s natural resources and the blue stands for peace and stability. The red stands for the battles this tiny nation has fought in the past.

After the past few days here, that band of red, or perhaps (RED) in this instance, along with the protection of the Swazi shield and spear seem particularly apt right now as Swaziland fights perhaps its most sinister enemy yet in HIV/AIDS. As Tamsin said the other day, 39% of the population here is HIV-positive and this is the highest prevalence rate in the world.

This latest "war" for the Swazi people has long and daunting battle lines but hopefully our visit here helps reminds them that they are not fighting alone.

We caught up again with Sylvia today at the clinic where she is a counselor and she explained how, when talking with newly diagnosed clients, she calls the CD4 cells that help our bodies fight off disease and infections EMASOTJA or "soldiers."

As we spend time witnessing (RED) money in action helping to save lives here, it occurs to me that we are all (EMASOTJA) RED now.

--Greta

Abnormal Normal

Orphans in Esitjeni watching their peers enact an anti-HIV transmission play

Emailed by Tamsin Smith from Swaziland
We spent the morning with Derek von Wissell, Director of NERCHA, the entity responsible for implementing Swaziland’s response to the HIV/AIDS crisis and administering the (RED) Global Fund-financed programs on the ground. Derek had just finished a comprehensive report on big picture data sets and key economic, social and health indicators. There is no question that Swaziland’s AIDS epidemic is a humanitarian disaster. Unlike short-term, sudden emergencies brought on by natural disasters like earthquakes, the HIV/AIDS picture in Swaziland looks more like a slow on-set emergency that’s systematically reduced resources and human capacity for planning and response. Because of the high number of deaths due to AIDS, a generation is vanishing, leaving behind orphans and escalating poverty.

This is the trend that (RED) and the Global Fund are trying to break in partnership with Derek and others committed to beat back suffering and loss. They are literally fighting to change the perception of a population in which death at age 30 or so is the expectation, rather than the exception. When the abnormal becomes normal, hope is a tall order. And this is what’s so striking about the leadership of many of the individuals with whom we have met. They are warriors for the will to live, trying to seed it everywhere they go and in every person they meet.

If children are our future then it’s right that NERCHA puts such an emphasis on orphan care. There are an estimated 130,000 orphans and vulnerable children in Swaziland – roughly 31 percent of all kids. In the United States, that would net out to 18.7 million kids; in the United Kingdom, 3.3 million. Imagine the mobilization needed to address a crisis of that scale. In Swaziland, they are doing it the best way they know how, relying on surviving relatives and strong underlying social structures… the Granny network. We went back to the Esitjeni, where Inkhosikati greeted us again and this trip welcomed us inside the Big Tent. The children under her care looked healthier and many recognizable smiles seemed brighter and stronger than on our last visit. It’s clear from her comments and from their faces that Global Fund monies are making a material difference. She is one of the warriors battling to make “normal” feel as comforting as possible in circumstances that are anything but. Another of Swaziland’s amazing women.

Revisiting Mbabane and Baylor

Sylvia and me outside her newly-finished counseling office

Sylvia, me and Nana at Mbabane ART center

Emailed by Tamsin Smith in Swaziland

Spent the morning at the Mbabane ART center with Dr. Patrick and Sylvia, who we met back in May (click here to read blogs from May). Sylvia's finished construction on the structure in her backyard that she was building to serve as a mini-counseling room and sewing space for the neighbors and friends that visit her at the Hope Heals group that she formed to give others with HIV a comfortable space to talk and share. After reporting on this good news, I asked after her health. Sylvia is glowing. She's wearing glasses and sporting dreadlocks these days. She looks beautiful – ten years younger and full of sparkle. But, she tells me, she's been quite ill with a concern completely unrelated to her HIV-positive status. She needs tests and possibly an operation and ongoing treatment. The doctors at the public hospital where she counsels clients have offered her care. She is grateful yet worried that if any of her clients see her getting treatment, they will worry that AIDS is the cause and could give up hope. Such is her influence as a source of strength for this community, that sadly, she's probably right. No easy answer here. If St. Francis walks among us, he's wearing Sylvia's shoes...

At the Baylor pediatric AIDS clinic, we see more familiar faces – Sibonelo, Lulu, Thembe, and several of the American doctors, two of whom are married and expecting their first child any day. The dad to be, David from Texas, tells us he's just returned from a weekly site visit to a rural clinic, where he and local doctors are counseling HIV-positive women on how to prevent transmission of the disease to their children both during childbirth and through nursing. In a short time, transmission rates have dropped from over 50 percent to roughly 10 percent. A big success and a testament to what the availability of medicine and information can yield.

Lulu's doing wonderfully well. We've been showing off a box of cards from the newest (RED) partner Hallmark, and I can report that (RED)'s shareholders in Swaziland – Lulu, Sylvia and the tens of thousands of families impacted by HIV in this small country – approve.

We see progress all around us, but this remains the nation with the highest HIV infection rate in the world. Thirty-nine percent infected. It's a staggering number for a population of 1.1 million. Being back here, I think how powerful a notion it is that someone sending a Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED card from Cleveland to Boston connects an individual in Swaziland with the medicine he or she needs to stay alive. How powerful, how urgent, and how important.

Tamsin

Under Rocky's Spell

Many thanks to AFRO FUNKE LIVE, Rocky Dawuni and DJ Jeremy Sole for hosting (RED)'s anniversary celebration on Thursday night. I'm not sure words can convey what a beautiful and inspiring night it was -- here are some of my photos instead so you can see for yourself what a captivating performer Rocky is. --bn

(RED)'s table at AFRO FUNKE

The crowd at AFRO FUNKE

DJ Jeremy Sole introduces "(RED) IN GHANA," the short film featuring Rocky Dawuni and Elle Macpherson, who traveled with (RED) in Ghana last June to learn about how (RED) money works on the ground.

Rocky on the big screen in "(RED) IN GHANA" at the Wisdom Association, which provides psycho-social and economic support to people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, including income-generating activities such as the pineapple farm pictured here.

Rocky Dawuni performing with his band

Second that Emotion

The (RED) team broke bread with Global Fund Executive Director Michel Kazatchkine in Los Angeles yesterday. It was yet another special event to mark the anniversary of our US launch. Michel gave a wonderful toast in retelling a story he’d just heard from woman who works at a (RED) partner company. The story involved the great excitement that the woman and her colleague felt over hearing that an HIV positive worker at a factory in Southern Africa -- where some of the company’s (RED) products are sourced -- had just given birth to a healthy baby after receiving medicine to prevent mother to child transmission of the disease. Michel called this joy a kind of “globalized emotion,” and noted that (RED) consumers, like the (RED) company employees, make these personal connections when they purchase (RED) products and hear about individuals benefiting from the Global Fund (RED) grants in Africa. It’s a timely thought for me, as I pack my bags for a return trip to Swaziland. I’m very much looking forward to catching up with Lulu, Sibonelo, Sylvia and other (RED) shareholders. Maybe, I’ll even hear Comfortable and his choir sing again. Watch this space. Xo Tamsin

Converse (PRODUCT) RED introduces MAKE MINE RED Premiere One Stars

The latest MAKE MINE RED shoe is ready for you to design!

Converse (PRODUCT) RED's fifth MAKE MINE RED shoe is the Premiere One Star, and it's online now! Go to MAKEMINERED.COM to design your own shoes and fight AIDS in Africa at the same time.

I just designed my own -- show us yours!

--bn

From Daydream to Reality: The Making of the Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED mudcloth bag

Our friends at Hallmark visited Mali three times this year to work with bogolan (mudcloth) artisans to create the Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED Mali mudcloth bag (available at Hallmark Gold Crown stores).

Erin Dennis, an art director at Hallmark who went on two of these trips, shared her stories and photos with us to let us know how the bag was created and sent over here from Africa. Many thanks to Erin!

To see more of the Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED collection, go to HALLMARK.COM/RED. --bn

There’s so much to say about the two trips to Mali that I was part of... I hardly know where to start. This field might be as good a place as any:


This field was as close to a desert as I’ve been. It was acres of finely raked rows, and I was told it would be full of green as soon as the rains came in a few weeks. I couldn’t really imagine it as a farmer’s field, on a dry 100-degree day in June!

In September’s rainy season, the transformation was amazing:


Beautiful, green grasses and crops everywhere. They grew – like so many parts of our project have – quickly and in surprising and beautiful ways.

We met many warm friends and wonderful souls while in Mali. We told each of them along the way that they were going to be introduced to Americans through their hard work and beautiful craftsmanship.



Here are some pictures of people we worked with and some that just smiled and said hello. I know that’s not enough to really introduce you, so we’re doing the next best thing. We have made Mali mudcloth bags together, handmade by some of these fantastic people, and telling you the story of how they came to be.




Bogolan, or mudcloth, is a time-honored craft that started simply as a way to decorate a hunter’s garment. Women, already powerful in their roles within the village, created a visual language through the patterns. Each element has a meaning, and tells a story –usually about connection and family or village life… and isn’t that what Hallmark is about too?

A highlight was to meet Boubacar Doumbia, a well-known bogolan artist and expert. He was one of many who taught us about meanings in the patterns, which you see on our packaging.

One thing I thought was unique is how each one has a positive twist that is very Mali. For example, the crossroads – an X – where you and I might bump into each other, is a place to meet and have a conversation, and a place to honor spirits. The one that represents an alligator is surprisingly defined as “good neighbors,” because when you build your village next to a river, you need to figure out how to get along with your new neighbors!



Another expert was Samuel Sidibé from the National Museum of Mali, in Bamako. An elegant man, whose fabulous display of textiles at the museum is worth a trip!


I could go on for days about all I learned about the production steps. Here’s the quick notes: Each and every bag was:

woven of Malian cotton, one of Mali’s major exports,

dyed with n’galama leaves to a yellow ochre,

stenciled with a bleach mixture to create the designs,

stained with clay from the Niger River,

THEN:
cut,

sewn,

finished with labels,

and quality checked.

…all by Malian people proudly growing their businesses. We had a ton of help from the West Africa Trade Hub in Ghana, and local Peace Corps volunteers in Bamako and Mopti; this project would never have been successful without them. Lots and lots of discussion in English, French and Bambara had to take place to clarify and communicate ideas. It was a learning process all the way round. The artisans and entrepreneurs we worked with developed new ways of working and gained experience and confidence to potentially do more with other companies.

Above and beyond the work, they were also proud and excited to be participating in an important movement like (RED). They know that this project means good things for Africa, and for their communities and families. We also learned a lot about the resourcefulness of the Malian people – did you notice in the photo they re-use old x-ray films as stencils! Their inventiveness and artisanal craft is one key to joining in the global economy, and making the elimination of AIDS a reality.

And we were continually astounded by this group’s ability to pool resources and tackle a challenge like creating bags for Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED. I’d say I spent half the time, in spite of the heat, covered in goose bumps – proud of our team, our new relationships, and proud of the benefits of this work. Over the course of this adventure we made friends, shared many smiles, and are all proud – together – to bring a project with so many possibilities from daydream to reality.

Like one of our new cards says: “Believe in a thousand impossible things you never believed before!”

:^) erin

INSPI(RED) at Hallmark

Here’s a little background on our guest blogger Sarah Mueller. She works at Hallmark as an editorial director, and you might just say she’s bursting with (RED) spirit. At Hallmark, she became inspired by (RED) and pushed the idea internally until it caught on and became what you see in the stores today. We hope you enjoy her story, and don't forget to check out HALLMARK.COM/RED! --bn

I just spent the day driving around to Hallmark Gold Crown stores looking at our first Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED preview offering. It was so much fun to see the products we’d been dreaming about for so long out on shelves. One store had just gotten their shipment in. An employee brought me back to the back and started ripping open boxes so I could see it. “I love this wrapping paper!” she exclaimed! “I know! Me, too!” I squealed. We were like the proverbial little kids in a candy store, and these were powerful sweets – every product takes us one step closer to the end of AIDS in Africa.

I first started learning about the AIDS crisis in Africa in 2004. I was in a band, and we had a vague idea of doing something “good” while on the road, but didn’t know quite what. I was a big U2 fan and had heard a little about Bono’s DATA, so I called up their office and asked if there was anything a tiny indie band could do. “Sure,” they said. “Take our new ONE Campaign pledge around and sign people up!”

So we did. And we learned a lot. I was shocked by how much I didn’t know: 5,800 people die every day from HIV/AIDS in Africa alone, and it only costs 40 cents a day to keep an HIV-positive person alive! Such a small cost… such big consequences: 13 million African children who have lost at least one parent to the disease; a continent with a huge shortage of healthy teachers, doctors, civil servants; countries devastated.

Well, the tour didn’t go so great, but the ONE pledge signing up did! The band broke up amicably, but I kept on volunteering for ONE, and brought that interest into my new job at Hallmark. I worked with an incredible group of writers called the Collaboratory, and we started kicking around the idea of a new card line that would give a portion of the proceeds to the Global Fund. We started talking it up around the building, trying to find the idea a good home.

You can imagine then how excited we were when we heard about (RED) when it launched in the UK in January of ’06. We rewrote our proposals to suggest a partnership with (RED) and kept on talking. More and more Hallmarkers heard about the idea and started supporting it. Lots of them had either been to Africa or had family and friends who had spent time there – and they all wanted to help!

When the time was right, art director Erin Dennis and I led a prototype project to dream up what Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED could look and sound like. More than 150 Hallmarkers contributed ideas, writing, illustrations, photography, and designs. At first we thought we’d have a few cards to show (RED) what we could do – we ended up with 200+ prototypes that filled an art gallery on the top floor of our headquarters. That show was the beginning of the products you see in stores today – and those coming when our full line rolls out in January 2008.

We can’t wait to see how far these cards will go.

--Sarah

Introducing Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED

Join us in welcoming Hallmark as the newest member of the (RED) family!

Just in time for the holidays, there is a (RED) way to wrap all of your gift items and connect with your friends and family using Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED cards and flowers.

We’ve seen your comments and messages -- we know that you love to send (RED) gifts, and want to be able to choose (RED) more often, so we thought Hallmark would be a perfect new partner. Now, when sending a card or gift, you can also help eliminate AIDS in Africa and spread the (RED) message to people you love!

The Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED collection includes new Cards With Sound, note cards, holiday greeting cards, customizable photo cards, easy-to-use e-cards, gift wrap, flowers and artisan-made gifts like the Mali mudcloth bag.

To view the Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED collection, go to HALLMARK.COM/RED.

Psst... there's more Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED to come in January, too. We’ll keep you posted.

--bn

Wrapping up with Common

Our "Geico Team" in Virginia Beach.
For more photos, check out our Flickr photo page for Common.

Our team just wrapped up a whirlwind tour with Common that took us through the Midwest, southeast and northeast. In the process, we got thousands of fans educated and informed about Converse (RED) and the steps they could take to fight AIDS in Africa.

As always, we had amazing volunteers joining us along the way. We had Jennifer, a long time ONE Campaign supporter eager to also join us with (RED), help us in Orlando. In Virginia Beach, we were joined by what I coined my “Geico Team" – Andrew, Jamie and Shanaya, co-workers who knew each other from their job at, go figure, Geico Insurance. They were very into what (RED) was doing, and were a stellar volunteer crew, giving us one of our best nights on the tour! Jennifer and Mollie in Charlotte, who volunteer for both (RED) and ONE, also helped us on another big night as well.

We were constantly amazed at how many people we met during this tour whom had been to and done work directly in Africa. I met a Berkelee Music student at the Worcester show who had just returned from Kenya, where she was doing music therapy with youth there. We met social workers in New York who had just returned from Nigeria. We met even more people who were in the process of planning volunteer trips – it was pretty incredible to meet so many people every night whom were doing amazing things day in and day out to fight poverty and AIDS in Africa.

A big thanks to Common and his team for bringing us out – we had a blast and can’t wait to catch up with the tour again next time it comes through the U.S.! In the meantime, be sure to check out MAKEMINERED.COM – design your own Chuck Taylors, and fight AIDS in Africa as well!

--Brande

Celebrate one year of (RED) with Rocky Dawuni

Join us at AFRO FUNKE LIVE on October 18! Our friend Rocky Dawuni will perform with his full band to mark the one-year anniversary of (RED), and we’d love to celebrate with you that night!

You may know Rocky from his (RED) adventures earlier this year, when he accompanied us on a trip to his homeland Ghana to learn more about how (RED) money works on the ground.

Check out his posts on (BLOG) RED from the trip, and be sure to listen to his music at www.myspace.com/rockydawunimusic and rockydawuni.com.

Here are the details on the show:

AFRO FUNKE LIVE
presents
ROCKY DAWUNI

October 18, 2007
9 PM / $10 / 21+

RESIDENT DEEJAY
DJ JEREMY SOLE’S MUSAICS

LIVE VIDEO MIX BY
MEKANIX

AFRO FUNKE AT ZANZIBAR
1301 5th St.
Santa Monica, CA 90401

P.S. Wear (RED) and bring your friends! The first 10 people who bring a friend AND wear (RED) will get in for free -- that's two for the price of one :)

Last Nights with the Dave Matthews Band

Our San Diego volunteer crew.
For more photos, check out our Flickr page for the tour!

Here’s a recap of our busy final week on the road with the Dave Matthews Band:

Our team rolled in to Phoenix ready to work! One of our volunteers, Judy, joined us after having a root canal earlier in the morning – we think she wins the “hard core” volunteer award of the summer! She has traveled to Kenya in the past and explained to us the level of crisis that people face there that she saw firsthand. She was very up-to-date on issues, and also works for Motorola, so is on the frontlines of the (RED) effort! Hassan joined us after only a few hours of sleep, and still had to go into work this evening at midnight. This didn't stop him from staying until the very end, even working the concourse while we were breaking down the booth! Anita and her husband John drove over an hour to volunteer with us, and were also very excited to be part of the campaign. We had a shorter night than normal in Phoenix, as we had to break down early to make it to California the next day, but that didn’t stop us from getting thousands of Dave fans involved with (RED) and ONE!

The next day we were in Orange County and were joined by another great team of volunteers: Veronica, Debbie, Julie and my friend Kris, all of whom had come from all over Southern California to volunteer for the first time. Our team that night consisted of an ER nurse, a financial planner, an emergency dispatcher and entertainment lawyer – just goes to show you that our volunteer base is quite diverse! We had a lot of fun – Irvine is always one of our favorite shows.

We saw more people with (RED) gear than we normally do (and we normally see a lot of it!) including the very first “(RED) tattoos” of the tour! We talked to lots of people who are active with (RED) and ONE in Southern California, and got tons of people new to the work involved as well.

Next up was San Diego. During set up, a certain bass player nearly wiped out on his skateboard in front of our booth, but luckily tragedy was averted and the show still went on! Our volunteers came out in full force: Thomas joined us for the second time in a week – he drove all the way to downtown LA from Camp Pendleton, where he is a Marine, to help at Global Mala the weekend before, so I had invited him to come back out to something that was at least a little closer. We were also joined by Lynniece and Cynthia, first time volunteers who did a great job. A big thanks to that team for staying around to help us break down at the end of the night as well!

We were in the bay area the next day for the Mountain View show. We really like doing shows at the venue there – it has a great layout, the staff is super nice and it’s always cooler than other summer shows. We had a massive team join us tonight – 9 great volunteers that helped us get hundreds of DMB fans involved in making poverty history and fighting AIDS in Africa. Volunteer veteran Lori joined us again – it’s always great to see her! – along with Jamie, Dave, Raquel, Jean, Ginny, Deepika, Melanie and Trina. They were a super fun team to work with, asking great questions during our training and hitting the ground with full force once the doors opened. In particular, we were amazed by Melanie and Trina. They both had reported to work at 4:45am that day, and in fact barely made it to volunteer because they also finished work late, but they were somehow going full force ALL NIGHT – even staying long after the show ended, selling white ONE bands like crazy people. We discovered that their secret lie in the fact that they work for Starbucks and were sort of permanently caffeinated and peppy, which worked out great for us! They even helped us load our stuff out at the end of the night!

Los Angeles was where we finished up the tour. We had two great nights at the Hollywood Bowl, working with amazing volunteers yet again. We were joined by Drea, Megan, Carol and her son Chris on the first night, and on Sunday Beth, who had volunteered with us at a U2 show in Hawaii last year, joined us, along with Walt, Rachel, Jacqueline, Brooke and Amanda. Our crews did a great job at ending the tour on a high note, talking to thousands of fans over the two nights we were in town.

A big thanks to all of the volunteers and the DMB crew for their help this summer. Their hard work and support got tens of thousands of Dave fans involved with (RED) and ONE. Keep on the lookout for more events soon!

--Brande

Get your Gap (2 WEEKS) t-shirt today

Exciting news today:

The (2 WEEKS) t-shirt is out now! Have you ordered yours? (I put in my order at 8 AM. :)

The latest Gap (PRODUCT) RED t-shirt is a great conversation starter, with its compelling message about the direct impact that you can make on a person's life with your purchase.

Gap's contribution to the Global Fund from the sale of each (2 WEEKS) t-shirt is equivalent to the average cost of 2 weeks of antiretroviral medicine in Africa, which, along with appropriate nutrition and care, enables people living with HIV to lead healthy, normal lives.

The limited-edition (2 WEEKS) t-shirt is available at GAP.COM starting today and will be available in select Gap stores nationwide later this month.

Click to GAP's site to buy your own (2 WEEKS) shirt now! And of course, send us photos of you wearing your (2 WEEKS) shirt at moblog@joinred.com!

bn

Stories about Sipho, Part 2

Left to right: Dr. Helga Loeffler, Dr. Julia Kim, Busi Bhembe (Director of the Baylor Clinic), Christy Turlington, Dr. Ryan Phelps, and Dr. Carrie Golitko, with two young clients of the Baylor pediatric AIDS clinic in Mbabane, Swaziland

Last week, (RED) posted Stories about Sipho, Part 1, a blog by Dr. Ryan Phelps about a Swazi boy named Sipho who is regaining his health due to the antiretroviral treatment that (RED) money is helping to pay for, through the Global Fund.

Here is part 2 of Dr. Ryan’s post:

I looked at the weary, diminished child, hoping that the letters after my name would give me the knowledge that I needed to help him, wishing that I spoke SiSwati (the local language) so that I could say something to try to make the child smile.

Sipho had traveled from Nlangano because, without medicines, his death would be imminent. If he had arrived in Mbabane, Swaziland a few years ago in search of HIV treatment, he would probably have returned home empty-handed, and shortly thereafter there would have been yet another funeral. Now, thanks to the Global Fund-supported national ARV program, through which (RED) money flows, and the growing conscience of the global community, there were pediatric ARVs right down the hall from me, neatly stacked in a cool, white room. If those shelves were empty, there would be no hope for this child’s recovery.

I asked the mother how the child was doing, and, after my words were translated, the mother said, "Not good, doctor." She then gave an abridged account of the above.

I asked if the child could take off his shirt so that I could examine him. He did, and I gave another accidental sigh. I tried to hide it by closing my mouth but the air hissed as it escaped my nose.

Sipho's shallow ribs encircled his frail trunk like the legs of a spider. His skin was more like a tight, fitted t-shirt than real skin. With each heart beat, the skin and bone of his left chest jumped forward slightly. The low-lying afternoon sunlight that flooded the exam room made him look even more wasted. His arms were like tree vines. His lungs made the sound of distant thunder and bubble wrap when he breathed. He had raisin-sized lymph nodes around his neck, armpit, and groin. As he sat there in his shrink-wrap birthday suit, there was nothing anonymous about Sipho.

As the child put his sweatshirt back on, I told his mother that he was still very sick, and that I wanted her to come back immediately if he was getting worse in any way, or if he was not gaining weight. I explained to her that, during the first couple months after starting ARVs, as the immune system gets stronger and begins fighting ongoing infections, her child could begin to have new symptoms, or even get temporarily worse before getting better, because the body’s first reaction to ARVs is an apparent but shortlived weakening of the immune system.

After answering the mother's questions, I asked Sipho if he had any questions. He shook his head a few times, his eyes swaying back and forth as they remained glued to mine.
There was no accusation in his face, just the subjugated, worn-out look of chronic disease.

I reached for my prescription pad and started writing. I gave him two medicines for pneumonia and iron supplements for his blood. I gave him a month’s supply of ARVs and a return appointment.

I then pulled the prescription from the pad, taking care not to rip it. (Keeping the tear along the perforated edge can be a bit tricky sometimes, but I have been practicing.) I handed the small blue piece of paper to Sipho's mom.

Without ARVs, I would not have a job and Sipho would not see his ninth birthday. What a marvel they are, these antiretrovirals. What good fortune to have a job that allows me to help distribute them. I looked up at Sipho, smiled, and told him, "We are going to work hard to make you feel better."

The translator repeated my words, but in SiSwati.

For a second, I thought I saw his eyes widen, but looking back I am not sure.

The frail child made his way to the Baylor COE pharmacy, leaning gently against his mother's outstretched arm.

TO BE CONTINUED…

ABOUT THE BAYLOR CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
In southern Africa, 40 to 60 percent of all deaths of children under age five years are caused by HIV/AIDS. Despite this fact, in almost every resource-limited setting worldwide where HIV/AIDS treatment has been initiated, children are grossly underrepresented among its recipients. The Swaziland Center of Excellence is helping to address this discrepancy. The COE is part of a global network of clinical centers created by the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative (BIPAI) at Baylor College of Medicine. These clinics are modeled after two landmark HIV/AIDS care and treatment centers that BIPAI constructed and opened in Constanta, Romania and Gaborone, Botswana. The purpose of this network is to build critical infrastructure and human capacity to catalyze access of children worldwide to HIV/AIDS care and treatment.

These clinics are staffed by local health care workers and members of the Pediatric AIDS Corps, a group of over fifty health professionals that are linked to one of the Baylor Children's Clinical Centers of Excellence for purposes of professional development and training, continuing education and clinical consultation. In collaboration with local health professionals, we spend our time here building local capacity through one-on-one clinical mentorship and didactic trainings. We also provide high-quality pediatric HIV care for children like Sipho.

For more on Dr Ryan Phelps’ experiences in Swaziland, go to pediatrician-in-swaziland.blogspot.com.