World AIDS Day is coming up on December 1st. If you are adopting from Ethiopia, chances are that your child's life has somehow been touched by HIV/AIDS. After hearing many personal stories and reading several books about this devastating crisis in Africa I cannot ignore it. Millions are dying of a disease that is so treatable. Moms and dads are dying leaving their children behind. Children are being forced to be parents. Parents are watching helplessly as their children die before them. I feel so small and inadequate in the face of such an enormous crisis, yet I am compelled to act.
It is so easy to just sit back, do nothing and say this is too overwhelming for me to even think about let alone to make a difference; but I believe we can make a difference, even if we only reach out and touch the life of a single person we are making a difference. For some ideas on how you can help take a look at this blog of an adoptive parent and choose one of the 5 things she mentions to get started. I highly recommend the books There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Her Country's Children by Melissa Fay Greene and 28: Stories of AIDS in Africa by Stephanie Nolan, though be warned, they may change your life. Here in the United States we have been blessed beyond belief, will you share just a little of what you have been given and take a step toward action in honor of World AIDS Day?
"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
Luke 12:48
1 comment:
Hello Lisa,
I came across your blog after a Google search of such blogs because I was looking for people who have interest in living in/traveling to Ethiopia.I am trying to connect all such people through a forum I recently set up (http://www.expatethiopia.com/) so that it would be easier for all foreigners to easily access information about traveling to or living in Ethiopia. I wish you could register at our forum and also invite others you know to help us expand the community. I also wish you can post at any section of the forum once registered and leave a link to your blog at the end of your post so other people can find you if they want to know more about you or your experiences in Ethiopia.
Thanks for the help and look forward to have you as a member!
Seifu
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