Question 5: How do you get more involved with (RED)?

We asked you to ask and you did! A few weeks back we went out and asked you a question: ‘What would you like to know about (RED)? Ask us and we’ll answer the top 5 questions.’

We’ve already answered four of them and all that remains is for us to say thank you for asking and for us to answer the final question: ‘How do I get more involved with (RED)?’

There are so many ways to get involved and we’ve only just begun. Here are a few:

- Buy (RED). Save Lives: when you’re shopping we hope you’ll think about choosing (RED). From the (Apple) RED iTunes card to (CONVERSE) RED shoes, there’s so many great products to choose from. We hope you’ll check them out!

- Ask (RED). Save Lives: are you celebrating a birthday or Bar Mitvah soon? When people ask you what you want, how about answering ‘Something (RED) please!’

- Friend us: whether you are hanging out at Facebook, Bebo, MySpace or Twitter (RED)’s there too. We’ll keep you in the know of all things (RED), from the latest products to (RED) events, right down to the impact of what (RED) money is doing to save lives. We’ll keep you informed so you can share with your friends and help generate even more support for (RED).

- Sign up: one of the best ways to keep up to date with how you can get involved is by signing up to get (RED) emails. You’ll get information on all the latest news and offers, what’s being done to help eliminate AIDS in Africa and how you can help.

- Give (RED): if you’re not out shopping and would like to give directly, you can make a direct contribution to the Global Fund that’s ‘Inspired by (RED)’.

- Go to a (RED)NIGHTS gig: (RED)NIGHTS is a concert series of 26 shows in the US. Fall Out Boy, Katy Perry and The All-American Rejects are just some of the artists turning their show into a (RED)NIGHT. Buy a ticket. See a great gig. And feel good that parts of the proceeds are going towards fighting AIDS in Africa.

- Create a new way! We love it when people decide and create how they want to be (RED). Some great ways have been created that way – check out http://redyoursite.com/.


Keep checking back on our Take Action page for more new ways of getting involved. We’re working on them!

Just When Africa's Luck Was Changing...

‘We need to encourage private investment….in the end, that’s what’s going to decide our future.’ Rwanda’s President, Paul Kagame

So ends an article that appeared this week in the New York Times. The global economic crisis is being felt everywhere, affecting some – but by no means all – foreign investments in Africa. The article highlights the important role foreign investment makes in job creation and overall economic growth. We enjoyed reading it and hope you do to. Find the full article here.

Join our Starbucks pledge… to do a little more good.

It’s simple. Make a pledge to stop by your nearest Starbucks this month and buy (RED). From now until August 31st, we’re asking folks to make this pledge on our Facebook page. Pledge to make one purchase – one (STARBUCKS) RED purchase – and a portion of your purchase will go directly to the Global Fund to help eliminate AIDS in Africa. If we all work together, it’ll add up to a world of good.

Sylvia - Hope Heals

This post comes in from Swaziland and tells the story of Sylvia. Thanks to your support of (RED) and the Global Fund people like Sylvia have access to lifesaving medicine. Sylvia embraces her medicine and the strength it gives her to go on helping others who are HIV positive. As a 41 year old counselor, widow, mother and support group founder she has a great attitude and an amazing story.

Photo credit c/o the Global Fund

“When I take my antiretrovirals I think of life… because they will prolong my life.”
Since discovering she was HIV positive more than ten years ago, Sylvia has dedicated her life to helping others living with HIV and to helping prevent the spread of the virus in her homeland of Swaziland, where 26% of adults are HIV positive.

Sylvia works as an expert patient/counselor and her job is all about counseling patients who have just learnt they are HIV positive and need to start antiretroviral therapy, treatment which is financed in Swaziland by the Global Fund and (RED). Sylvia also runs an HIV support group from her home called Hope Heals – and if ever there was a person who can give healing hope to people in need, it’s Sylvia.

When you visit Sylvia’s home perched on a hill outside of Mbabane in Swaziland, you can see how much her neighbors rely on her for advice and support. There are always people dropping by to seek her advice. So much so that she now has a dedicated support room built in her backyard!

Sylvia also spends hours nurturing her vegetable garden so she can give fresh vegetables to people who can’t afford them because a good diet is particularly important for people who are on antiretroviral therapy.

As Sylvia says: “I am strong and I have a passion for helping people, to see everyone getting better.”