Journey Back to South Africa Blog | KCA

Thoughts from Ashunta...

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:32:00 -0400

My journey to South Africa with KCA was truly a wonderful experience. I learned so much from the townships, Blue Roof Clinic and the people of South Africa. Some people were facing obstacles I could never imagine. No matter how difficult they had wide open hearts and warm smiles for us all. The word faith comes to mind because growing up in a “ghetto” in New York City I have never seen a bond so strong between children and adults (some orphaned from the AIDS pandemic). They pushed each other to have hope and to know that somehow everything would be fine no matter what circumstance they were dealt. I came home with a new perspective and a deeper faith that we can truly alter any obstacle if we just remain faithful to our God a new beginning and a new chapter of life will begin.

xo Ashunta

Ubuntu, Sanyog, We are all the Same...from Sonya

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 11:56:00 -0400

Before I stepped onto South African soil for the first time, I mistakenly thought I would be entering unaccustomed earth: a culture, people, and priorities distant to the world I called home in northern India and the United States. Little did I realize that the native spiritual philosophies of ubuntu (an African ethic meaning “shared humanity”) and sanyog (a Hindi concept translated as “oneness”) that were taught to me on different corners of the earth simply and yet profoundly validated to me everything I needed to understand about the global HIV/AIDS crisis, about Keep A Child Alive’s efforts, and about our identity as humanitarians and as human beings. I began to understand that as our unique personal narratives and histories travel with us, we become intertwined with others in such a way that their problems become our urgent callings, that their bright destinies become our greatest hopes, that we are all the same. While traveling back and forth between the developed and developing worlds throughout my life, I inherently understood our interdependence on each other, but the connection I made between both spheres was rooted in our shared darkness. Doctors Without Borders physician Fady Joudah once said that more than 33 million individuals living with HIV/AIDS is a “number that cannot be ignored. These are people who define the other face of the mirror, the dark side that does not reflect us, or so we think.” Before this trip, I understood this to mean that we reflected each other with the darkness of poverty and despair on one side of the mirror and the darkness in our failure to respond to their suffering adequately on the other side. I also naively believed that among developing countries, we united by sharing an understanding of darkness stemming from government corruption, impoverishment, human rights abuses, and endless disease. Thus, I thought the greatest point of commonality between South Africa and my country of India was the notorious label of being among the most inequitable countries in the world. Just as South Africa’s makeshift townships comprised the backyard of the wealthiest city in Africa, Johannesburg, India was home to both the largest number of billionaires in Asia and also the highest number of malnourished children in the world. Just as South Africans experienced imperialism, enslavement, and apartheid due to British forces, so too had my people of India suffered under British power. I soon came to experience that the people of South Africa would dispel this notion and teach me that we are not connected by the shared darkness we have experienced, but by our communal light. The healing tree in Durban that Operation Bobbi Bear convenes, sings, dances, and prays under every Wednesday grows in the toughest of conditions and can only die when each one of its roots are destroyed. In the same symbolic truth, the national flower of India, the lotus, only grows its aromatic, stunning petals in muddy, shallow, murky waters. As Operation Bobbi Bear’s “child rights and HIV warriors” battled South Africa’s HIV/AIDS and child abuse epidemics with their inspiring words and peaceful resistance to police and local government apathy, I was immediately reminded of my country’s Satyagraha (“holding firmly to truth”) movement, as Gandhi and his freedom fighters equally risked imprisonment and harm in order to fight against exploitation and social injustice. The spiritual richness, the dreams recited by the children, and the unbound resilience despite the physical poverty in Soweto’s townships made me feel as if I was standing in the very slums and villages of my ancestral lands halfway across the globe. I soon learned that Keep A Child Alive’s efforts in India and Africa may reach different populations and address HIV/AIDS in a different sociopolitical context, but seek the same truth and push the world to answer the same question: How do we want future generations to look back on us, with awe or in shame? Two weeks before we journeyed to South Africa, the country’s president, Jacob Zuma, led a South African delegation on a state visit to India in order to explore the “vast untapped potential” between the two countries in terms of economic trade. Why should we stop at commercial markets? Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Zuma, as Keep A Child Alive has demonstrated, India and South Africa are not only bound to each other by their fiscal futures, but by our shared vision in breaking down stigma due to HIV/AIDS, increasing access to ART treatment and care, and building sustainable, grassroots solutions to prevention and education. Too many times in the non-profit world, philanthropists sit in their air-conditioned offices in Geneva and Washington D.C., striving to solve the people’s problems in Africa and India. The most freeing element of this journey for me was witnessing how Keep A Child Alive breaks apart this model, and empowers local leaders such as Mum Carol and Rhona Buckley, as well as community-based institutions such as Ikageng Itireleng AIDS Ministry, to voice their needs and provide us with the solutions. This was another lesson for me in how we are all the same: on this journey, we all were teachers of service, students struggling with frustrating questions, and mentors to each other. It was a beautiful symphony of voices engaging in the struggle, the doctors of Blue Roof Clinic and the dreamers of justice, the rockstar and the researchers of truth, and the victims of HIV/AIDS and their families. Even deeper, we discovered that we were not the donors, they were. They donated their hearts, their minds, their time, and whatever little resources they had to us, the recipients of spiritual aid. They proved to us that the true donors were individuals such as a girl whose home we visited in a Soweto township. Her mother, who was HIV-positive and whose lungs were filled with TB, told us that chocolate was her daughter’s most prized possession. As we gave her a bag filled with chocolates, she immediately ran to her friends and judiciously distributed it to all the other children in the township, spreading smiles with her selflessness. In another instance, the two adolescent girls I befriended at Ikageng Itireleng AIDS Ministry, both of whom were HIV orphans, were more concerned as to why I was not already married and how to overcome my shyness of boys, and denied me of even worrying about their lives for a moment. At that moment, I realized that it is most often those with so much less who make the first move to offer something of themselves.

Khalil Gibran once said, “Poverty is a veil that obscures the face of greatness.” This veil has not only obscured the faces who witness impoverishment and disease each day, but obscures our faces as well, because we are all the same. Whether mentoring high-risk female sex workers on the gritty streets of Southcentral Los Angeles, or listening to the stories of abandoned HIV-positive wives in the villages of central India, or now befriending HIV-affected orphans in South Africa, I have learned that a fight for the lives and dignity of HIV-infected individuals in one pocket of the globe is felt on the other side just as strongly. We must endow ourselves with the aspiration that we are superior to circumstance, that learning how to build the ideal HIV center, such as the Blue Roof Clinic, is not based on the expertise knowledge we possess, but on the questions we dare to ask of the local community, global village, and most importantly, of ourselves. We should only be so proud as to possess the same ancestral genome, same unrelenting hopes, and shared moral makeup as our brother in South Africa’s Agape Childcare Center or our sister receiving care from KCA’s Aanchal Care Home in Rajasthan, India. As the millennial generation, we are the most well-informed, multicultural, and visionary generation in human history, and also the most compassionate and ethical. Let us rise to our label. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” Let us restructure these edifices one by one until entire communities are founded on empowerment, justice, and dignity, rather than on charity and paternalism. Isaac, one of the most inspiring young men I met at Ikageng Itireleng AIDS Ministry in Soweto, emailed me some of his thoughts the other day, which I thought perfectly encompassed the encouragement we need in order to rise to our generation’s highest calling, internalizing the notion that our suffering is their suffering, and theirs ours: “The time is on our side, meaning we are running a race from God’s perspective and He is able to give us courage to keep the race of fulfilling our purpose. I’m a good student, I am God’s product, and therefore I am an optimistic being of God. For us to have a positive attitude we have to focus on what makes us happy, and when we are happy we feel good, and when we feel good we feel God in our midst.”

Love & blessings, Your African and Indian sister, Sonya

The Paradox of South Africa...from Aaron

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 13:12:00 -0400

All good adventures begin with some definitive moment that sets all the events to follow into motion. Entering the Text Alive contest definitely was the beginning. Following through with the essays and the video was the continuation, but there was a moment the morning I woke up in New York City in which I believed I didn’t deserve to be one of the five. I chose to rise to the occasion though, to, as my junior year AP English teacher and Henry David Thoreau said, suck all the marrow out of life and see if I couldn’t learn what the experience had to teach.

I found something incredibly paradoxical about the whole of South Africa and its people. In places like the township we visited in Soweto, one of the poorest places in the area, where I expected to find sorrow, we found hope, joy, vibrance. In the midst of squalor, there was community and love. The youth we spoke with at Ikageng Ministries shared their experiences with us. These young people have endured more than any young person should ever have to. Despite all that, the first thing you will notice about them is the radiance in their eyes, emanating hope, joy, faith, and love that comes from having known true sadness, but choosing to embrace goodness instead.

The Blue Roof Wellness Center, a place so beautiful, so necessary thrives in a place where nothing like it existed before. In the midst of a terrible HIV/AIDS infection zone, there there is now a well of resources, hope, and love for the people that need to come to drink. And if there are people who need to drink that cannot make it to this well, there are people who will carry the life water to them.

At the tree where Operation Bobbi Bear was founded, there was dancing, music, chanting…pure, unbridled passion for all that is good and holy in the world, all that is sacred was protected there.

The paradox is that light sprouts up from within the dark. Somewhere along the line, we began to believe that where darkness lived, the goodness could not go. Where there was poverty, there was nothing we could do about it. Where there were people dying of a disease, there was nothing to be done but quarantine and hope it didn’t affect us. If I’m honest, before I left, this is how I saw the world. There were problems that needed to be addressed, but what could anyone really do about it? What agency does anyone really have to affect change on the scale that it’s needed?

In order to be a good person to the world, for the world, one need only see the necessity, bear the desire, and take the bold step of choosing goodness over anything else. That choice created the paradox. All the people who are involved in this beautiful organization, Mum Carol, Rhona Buckley, Jackie Branfield, Leigh Blake, Alicia Keys have seen the need in the world, in this HIV/AIDS pandemic, and all of them have shown us that positive change is possible, both in the world and in our own lives. It’s fantastic work, really, and the lives of KCA staff have been enriched by it. You can see it. The patients we got to talk to even said they wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for the work of KCA. Beautiful is really the only way to describe it.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in his last speech about having been to the mountaintop and seeing the promised land of equality and justice, peace and brotherhood. I believe we too have been to the mountaintop. We , the 5 “contestants,” have been shown that we can make a difference in the world if we only care enough to do so and have the solidarity to see it through.

So thank you to everyone who was involved with this trip. Words cannot express how profoundly changed I have been, and what a good path I believe this has put me on. Anyone can be a force of good in the world, I see that now. All we need to do is choose.

Peace be with you,
Aaron Tyler “Sizwe” McCoy

Getting Rich in South Africa.....from Talaina

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:43:00 -0400

June 30th 2010

WEALTH…

When I entered this contest, I knew the odds against my winning were tremendous. (Who actually WINS these things?!) However, given the cause, the $5 texting donation was easy. Now, as I reflect, it was the BEST investment I could have ever made because it was the seed money to fund the riches I acquired in South Africa…

From the village in Soweto, I gained the strength of endurance from people who make so much of their lives with so little resources; from Mum Carol and Ikageng, I received the fortune of wisdom from children who shoulder burdens too heavy for their years, but who do it with such a determined faith; from Rhona and the Blue Roof wellness center, I collected a new appreciation for a healthy life as I watched the tenderness with which they worked to treat and heal the “wholes” of their patients; from the incredible souls of Operation Bobbi Bear, where my heart profited from the strength and selflessness of Jackie and the rest of the warriors who are committed to fighting for the innocent…I truly experienced wealth beyond all imaginable measures, and I intend to multiply my newfound wealth by sharing it with everyone I meet

STARS…

Though winning this contest was a long shot, an even greater improbability was that I would find myself thoroughly surrounded with such beautiful people. From the other contestants to the staff, the native South Africans (my other new family), the film crew, and so on, EVERY SINGLE PERSON involved in this endeavor acknowledged the beauty of this experience and radiated positivity throughout our circle.

The other four of “the 5 contestants” (*inside joke*) shared so much! Rachel’s emotion, Aaron’s humor, Sonya’s passionate altruism, and my K-D’s free spirit…we truly complement each other and are family for life!

Louise and Noelle are extraordinary beings; Earle is a genius; Leigh is an explosive force for mankind. I wish I could name everyone, but KCA has the amazing problem of being overrun with talented, caring, phenomenal people! Let’s just say this: every person involved with KCA has become my hero.

Okay, I can’t pretend that there isn’t the “superstar” factor in this experience; EVERYONE I know has genuinely inquired about my experiences in South Africa, asking all types of polite versions of “How was it?” But the burning question that seems to loom is: “WHAT WAS ALICIA KEYS REEEEAAAALLLLY LIKE?” I can’t blame anyone, because I would ask the same thing!:) Here goes:

-YES, Alicia actually spent time with us.

-YES, I actually had REAL conversations with her.

-YES, she’s THAT beautiful in person.

This woman is a walking ray of light. She lives, breathes, and emanates love. I honestly never felt like a stranger to her during a single moment of our time. She surrounds herself with a loving family and staff (THAT doesn’t happen by accident;)). Above anything: she’s real; she lends her hands, heart, and time into Keep a Child Alive and one forgets, momentarily, that she’s an international superstar. She asks a question and then listens to your answer, takes a few moments to think about what you said, then looks you dead in the eye as she thoughtfully responds. You don’t remember that she’s a celebrity because she makes you feel like a “V.I.P.” Alicia Keys is a beautiful human…my new friend;).

With this trip to South Africa, I inherited an immense wealth of spirit and basked in the company of the stars of humanity. When people ask, “How was Africa?” I simply reply: “I GOT RICH and hung out with STARS"

Love,

Talaina

Seeing is different than being told....from Rachel

Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:11:00 -0400

“Seeing is different than being told” - proverb from Kenya

This past week, our trip to South Africa exposed us to a world that we had previously only been “told” about. We had read though the KCA website and watched the documentaries, “Alicia in Africa” and “Rough Aunties” (the latter following the work of the heroic staff at Operation Bobbi Bear). Some of us had even studied in school about the AIDS pandemic in Africa. We had done our intellectual homework. But within 24 hours of landing in Johannesburg, we were standing in one of the poorest townships in Soweto, and all that we had been told - and much, much more - was staring us square in the face. The reality hit us hard. Yes, seeing is different than being told.

But this trip to South Africa did more than confirm harsh realities. Yes, we saw firsthand the devastating effects of the AIDS pandemic in South Africa, which you have already read about in the moving and often poetic words of many of those on the trip. However, we also continued to be educated about the KCA organization and we saw for ourselves some of the results of their hard work and dedication. As a result, over the span of eight days, our minds were stimulated, our souls were invigorated, and our humanitarian spirits were further moved to action. Additionally, this trip facilitated a bonding experience like no other. Whether we were experiencing sadness or joy, we were experiencing it side by side. There was always a hand offered, or a hug, or comforting words, when needed. And so, another byproduct of this trip was a group of very special people coming into our lives.

Leigh, President and co-founder of KCA with Alicia, was someone I was so looking forward to meeting. In preparation for the trip I had read articles about her and I had watched some of her interviews. She turned out to be everything I had imagined she would be…and much more. There is SO MUCH wisdom, love, compassion, humor, zest for life, generosity, spirituality, love, love, love, more humor, beauty, yet more humor, and soul all wrapped up into this one woman. On the trip, she made everyone feel like one of her own from the moment we met her. And her son, India, only 11 years old, already possesses a sense of humor and a sophistication that can be hard to find even in grown men. Like Leigh, he is a force to be reckoned with.

Alicia is one of the most gentle, peaceful spirits I’ve ever come across. I don’t like using the word “grounded,” because I think it’s overused but she is SO grounded! She’s present, in the moment (a few more cliches, if you don’t mind). If you’ve met her, you know what I’m talking about. And the people she surrounds herself with are a reflection of who she is and the family she comes from. They are all quality individuals, and you could see they were all very moved by this experience as well. It was wonderful to get to know them, especially on a trip like this.

Earle, the director of the documentary – I’ve met a true creative genius! I could literally see the wheels turning in his head during the shoots. I know the film about the trip is going to be gorgeous and powerful because Earle cares deeply about everything KCA is fighting for. I think the world will truly have a better understanding and appreciation for what is going on in South Africa once they have seen Earle’s vision come to life.

Louise, Mama Lou…Louise O'Shea is the communications manager for KCA. And, as you can see from her nickname, she was like a mother to us on the trip. In fact, from the very day we found out we were going to South Africa, she has been there for the five of us, sending emails, answering questions, preparing us thoughtfully and thoroughly. Finally meeting her was a big moment! Getting to know her during the ten days we were all together was a pleasure. She is one of the most intelligent, beautiful-on-the-inside-and-out, young women I have ever met.

Noelle, the programs manager at KCA. We all so wish we had had more time to spend with her in South Africa. Whenever she came around, she made us smile or laugh. But she was literally running around for the entire trip (she was even in SA doing her job for a couple weeks before we arrived) - we always wondered if the girl ever slept! It was a pleasure to meet her and spend the time that we did get to spend with her. Another beautiful spirit that is truly KCA.

The rest of KCA staff on the trip - Andres, Steve, Ellie, Brian our wonderful photographer, and the entire film crew (an extraordinary crew!), too many to name…Each and every one of them went above and beyond in making us feel comfortable, happy, loved, and supported. I cannot thank them enough for all their kindness and hard work.

EVERYONE from the KCA office we met at dinner the first night in NYC was a joy to meet. They made up a welcoming and remarkable group - and all are clearly a perfect fit for a welcoming and remarkable group such as KCA.

You’ve heard, as well, about some of the incredible leading ladies that inspired us on our visits to KCA-funded sites, such as Ikageng, the Blue Roof Clinic, and Operation Bobbi Bear - Mum Carol, Rhona, Jackie, and more. We can only hope to someday be able to make the kind of difference for others in the world that they do, and to display the courage and character that these heroes display in their daily life and work.

As many of my co-winners have expressed in their blogs, traveling to South Africa with KCA has been the impetus for a huge amount of personal growth for all of us. In addition to the memories we hold in our hearts that we’ll cherish forever, South Africa’s people have left a permanent imprint upon our souls. We may have won a contest, but we clearly all became winners in far more important ways than we ever could have imagined. Thank you KCA and South Africa.

LOTS OF LOVE,

Rachel

Thoughts from Back Home...from Kristen

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 14:18:00 -0400

(written on Friday, June 18th 2010)

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others - Ghandi

I can honestly say that this trip included some of the best days of my life, and I’ve lived a small but significant 20 years. I am on my flight back to San Francisco getting ready to reconnect with my world and all I can think about is how badly I don’t want to forget a single thing I experienced. The people I met within the KCA family will never leave my heart. If you throw in all the people I met in the villages and clinics of South Africa as well, this is one exhausted heart. Many would probably presume that the feeling I have right now is overwhelming sadness. I thought so too. What surprises me though, is how at peace I am within myself. Every single person I came in contact with this past week (feels like a whole month) whether that contact was by a smile, a look, a zulu prayer, a dance, a chat, a hug… every single person gave me a piece of their spirit. I was given pieces of joy… resilience… strength… loss… shame… pride… and I was able to lose myself in each one of these people. They gave me exactly what I needed to look deep inside myself and find where I needed those pieces so that I could find myself in order to be who I want to be. And at the end of every day, while sitting so small in front of the magnificent Indian Ocean, peace consumed me, not sadness. Many may say this trip isn’t about you, but that it’s about the people you saw. Don’t listen to them, my fellow KCA South Africa team. As much as the whole goal of this trip with Keep a Child Alive was to touch people and help them in the most unique of ways, they touched us more than we ever expected them to. They taught us lessons that no parent or guardian could possibly teach us. They helped me to find and love myself so that I could have the skills to touch the world just like they touched me. Because if you don’t love yourself first, how can you go into the world again to step up and fight for those without a voice if you don’t have the guts to find your own? I know that I have the power to contribute to this world as I have dreamed to. I have had this power, even before my trip to South Africa, but I needed those pieces of the powerless and their unconditional love. I needed to find my voice from the child victims at Bobbi Bear and their bears that don’t even speak, so that I can go into the world and speak for them. My photography may not speak either, but I can guarantee you it has a voice. And one day the world will hear that voice. I don’t know how or when, but it will.

Thank you to the film crew that worked with us on this incredible journey. Thank you to the producers and sponsor (P&G) and to Noelle for all of your running around for everyone but yourself every minute of every day.

Thank you to Louise for being there for everyone at all moments and for being the selfless, beautiful person that you are.

Thank you, Leigh, for always inspiring us by your determination every day and for sharing your birthday with us.

Thank you, Earle, for deeply challenging us in our interviews and always encouraging us to let go of anything that is holding us back.

Thank you Alicia for sharing with us your goals and your spirit in every move that you make and for showing incredible love to people you don’t even know.

And thank you to everyone else that contributed to this journey, I can’t thank everyone enough or this will become a book. But my final thanks has to go to the people of Soweto, Johannesburg and of Durban who helped us pull it together inside, especially Rhona, Jackie, and Mum Carol and everyone at these sites that make it possible for KCA to be as great as it is.

I send my love to Talaina, Aaron, Sonya, and Rachel in all of your future endeavors and can’t wait to be reunited with you all when this amazing film is finished. We experienced incredible joy and sorrow together, and even though we live n different parts of the world, our Zulu names that we were given will always hold us together.

Mine can definitely seal the promise of that.

My name: “Zandile” (Zawn-dee-lay)

Meaning: “endless”

All my love, Monkey.

(Kristen)

Blue Roof Pride....from Alicia

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:32:00 -0400

(written on June 14th, 2010) Today is one of the most exciting days of the journey for me! I’ve been looking forward to this part of the trip with great anticipation. About 4 years ago in 2006, the last time I came to Africa, I’d helped to purchase a building called “The Blue Roof” that used to be an old night club/sports bar in an area called Wentworth, Durban, where the prevalence of HIV infection was said to be at almost 50%. This area did not have a place where people who were infected and affected could go to get tested or treated or anything! A place one could go to was extremely far away and even if one could make it, it was pretty much a guarantee that the service would be sub par at best. Also, because of the separation that the Apartheid demanded, there were a lot of residual racial barriers and people still categorized themselves and each other by color or race. This meant that if you’re “Black” you wouldn’t go to a “White” facility. Or if you were “African,” you wouldn’t go to an “Indian” facility. Not because it was against the law, but because that was the mentality. Deeeeeeep! It’s a sad thing to see someone who desperately needs to receive treatment NOT go to a location that is outside of their racial description and risk death because of it. Identifying this issue was a very powerful reason why we wanted to obtain the building. BUT we also had BIG dreams of building a world class facility that would provide the BEST FREE treatment and care to ANYONE who walked through its doors—no matter where they were from or what “color” they were! We also dreamed of providing meals, short stay beds, therapy & counseling, testing, treatment, and courses & classes that would educate and empower all who came to The Blue Roof. I remember vividly (just a few years ago) walking into a totally EMPTY shell of a building with my arms outstretched, rattling off all of these dreams and ideas Leigh and I had for this space! So today, you can see why I’m so excited. Fast forward 4 years and I’m about to see all of these once-upon-a-time-dreams come to life right in front of me! As we pulled up to the Blue Roof—I can feel the energy build. It is already surrounded by so much love. A gorgeous, healthy garden is right outside and is the place where much of the food that is served is grown and the patients themselves actually help to grow.

As I walk around towards the front door, I felt my heart race as I opened the door to find this phenomenally colorful place, with people singing with hope, life and possibility. And running through the center of the structure were tall, beautiful, REAL trees representing oxygen, air, strength, and life! I took one look at all of those people, REAL people, of all different backgrounds, there that morning to receive their treatment. Alive, well and strong because of it, singing with the voices of angels and I couldn’t take it! It all welled up inside of me and tears of joy ran down my face…. It took me awhile to get myself together. Just the thought alone that THIS is what can happen when we all care enough to work together and build something that never existed before, gave me such an indescribable chill. I was a bit in a daze, in awe….walking around what was once an empty shell and what is now, the only wellness center of its kind! I walked around the entire facility with Mama Rhona, the Director and heart of the clinic; I met the doctor, Dr. Smith, a young, vibrant, brilliant woman who cares for every being who walks through the front doors. Auntie Audrey, who’s one of the warmest and most encouraging women I’ve ever met. Veronica, in the kitchen, who has lost 4 of her 5 kids to HIV/AIDS and now works in this kitchen to help nourish those beautiful bodies that need love and nutrition; who understands the situation like no other, and Gina, who was so moved by what The Blue Roof was, she packed some belongings and sold everything in her native home of Mexico to move here to South Africa to volunteer with this mission. Every single person in The Blue Roof building is a loving and caring beautiful HERO! I was so moved by every one of them and proud that when people come here, they will be treated with Respect, Dignity, Love and Compassion! That is more than I can say for most medical facilities I’VE seen anywhere around the world. And everything was there. The free treatment, the counseling rooms, the testing rooms, the short stay beds, a class room where you go with a buddy to learn all about HIV, the regimen for treatment and how to live a long life with it, a beautiful kitchen with food cooking, and rooms upstairs filled with donated clothes for men, women and children (for anyone who comes in and needs to be cleaned up). They get tremendous love. There is an empowerment room where different people in the community come and help to teach a specific trade to those at the wellness center along with a computer room where you can learn computer skills. Everything I dreamed of was there….. This is what can happen when there is a vision, the drive and the support of some unbelievable everyday souls!! My heart is FULL! Alicia

The Journey Through Images.

Sun, 20 Jun 2010 19:06:00 -0400

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Photo Credit: Brian Braff

Social Justice, Spirituality, & the Subversive...from Sonya

Sat, 19 Jun 2010 21:37:00 -0400

History says, Don’t Hope

On this side of the grave,

But then, once in a lifetime

The longed-for tidal wave

Of justice can rise up

And hope ad history rhyme.

~Seamus Heaney

On this momentous day, June 16, 2010, Operation Bobbi Bear revealed to me that efforts focusing on HIV/AIDS, child protection, and global health in general are just as spiritual as they are scientific, and that meaning over measurement must be the way, that it is the only sustainable way. As we entered the Durban town of Amanzimtoti, meaning “sweet waters,” I kept thinking to myself, how does a non-profit institution unbreak a child’s spirit that is stripped of dignity and self-worth? How can a community reteach victimized children the concept of innocence, a prized childhood jewel that is no longer natural or familiar to its deserving owners? How can trust in the goodness in the world and in others be revealed to a child, possibly for the first time since they left their mother’s womb? These questions of mine soon transformed from seemingly insolvable philosophical puzzles to real answers that were deeply rooted in and practiced by the Toti community. This day was focused on visiting and honoring Operation Bobbi Bear, a child rights-centered non-profit organization that rescues, rehabilitates, and empowers youth who have been sexually abused or sodomized by the individuals whom they have trusted the most: fathers, uncles, neighbors, school teachers, and pastors. The organization was founded in 1992 by the divine Jackie Branfield, and its mission has been sustained by the tireless commitment of dozens of staff members, who call themselves “child rights and HIV warriors.” The designation “warrior” is an understatement; Jackie and her team members have sacrificed their own lives for their cause, regardless of threats of imprisonment and physical harm by the local government, police unit, and perpetrators. Operation Bobbi Bear follows the child rape victim from the beginning of despair to the end of retribution, from the very moment a child is sexually assaulted in their homes to the medical evaluation process in the local hospital to the collaboration with the criminal justice system in seeking justice for the shattering of these children’s bodies and souls. However, the most salient goal is mobilizing and organizing the Toti community, once voiceless and disempowered, to hold local government and courts accountable for their apathy. Volunteers from the community are trained to serve as child advocates and demand that law enforcement upholds the child protection statutes listed in the South African Charter of the Constitution. The organization emphasizes that HIV/AIDS and child abuse work is not an act of charity, but a call for social justice, because these societal diseases are a result of structural violence: government inaction and police corruption that have perpetuated rather than ceased child depravity in Durban and the rest of South Africa.

Today, we walked up to a multigenerational sea of women, men, and children singing in resilient, joyous Zulu harmonies, despite inhabiting a town drenched in the hardships of HIV/AIDS and child exploitation. Never had I witnessed a space that had embraced the African spiritual concept of ubuntu, or shared humanity, as deeply as this community of women as its unwavering leaders and children as its keepers of justice. Never had I tangibly felt the inextricable link between between health and human rights as profoundly as today, symbolized by the community’s main source of emotional and spiritual refuge, their ethereal tree. Nelson Henderson once said, “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” Although Operation Bobbi Bear planted the tree into the community’s hearts, it was Keep A Child Alive’s volunteers and funders who sat in its shade, while child victims and community members planted the seeds of empowerment and led the day’s celebrations in honoring Bobbi Bear’s heroic work. We were immediately embraced by the community, confirming for us that there was no distinction between us and them, as they clothed us, danced with us, blessed us, and prayed with us. Bobbi Bear volunteers dressed us into gorgeous patterned fabrics, traditional Zulu jewelry, and colorful head wraps, and taught us a Zulu dance that we performed in front of a crowd filled with both laughter and cheers, alongside ancestral drumbeats and children chanting. Then, the naming ritual began. There are moments in the world when humanity’s beauty and purity are revealed to you, where you realize heaven is nowhere but here on earth. Sometimes you meet people in life that affect you so viscerally that you are forever changed, even unto your name. This was the moment and here was this individual. One of the town’s most respected spiritual women placed her hand on each of our hearts, surveyed our souls, and spoke to higher spirits with her eyes tightly closed, in order to gift us with a Zulu name that summarized what we meant to humanity. Our names ranged from “builder of the nation” to “endless,” and the woman broke down in tears as she understood the powerful spirit-to-spirit connection she felt amongst strangers who came from around the world to love her people and to be equally loved in return.

We then sat in a circle, children amongst KCA volunteers amongst Bobbi Bear staff amongst community members. We asked Jackie and her staff about the challenges they faced, the triumphs, the fears, and the stories that both haunted and inspired them. They told us about the sometimes self-defeating nature of child protection, since many of the children they rescue have no families to return to and are taken in by staff members themselves. They told us about Angel, an infant who was sexually abused at eight months, whose eyes revealed no desire to live and passed away in a staff member’s arms shortly thereafter. They reminded us how we, the global health community, who possess the resources and voice to enact change, are responsible for some of the worst moral failings that occur in HIV/AIDS and child health efforts. For example, Jackie described to us how only a few years ago, post-exposure prophylaxis, a high dosage of antiretroviral drugs administered within 72 hours of exposure to the HIV virus in order to significantly reduce the risk of contracting the disease, was accessible to doctors and nurses in South Africa, but not child rape victims. This both angered and confused me to my core: how can my own medical community, a community I was once proud to be a member of, readily take a pill that was unavailable to those who needed it the most? We were then taken to Operation Bobbi Bear’s rescue center, where we were shown the rape bag that staff members prepared, which provided resources such as sanitary napkins and tissues for each victim. Next, we held a purple teddy bear in both disgust and despair, the stuffed animal that became these children’s saving grace. Before Operation Bobbi Bear was founded, many child rape victims were too traumatized to recollect the exact details of their assault in court, and their stories were constantly retranslated by authorities to the point that they were stripped of their essential truth. As a result, the teddy bear was implemented as a tool that served both as standard forensic evidence in South Africa’s courts, as well as transcended sociocultural taboos in talking about one’s own body. The teddy bear visually represents exactly where one was violated, physically and emotionally. The children communicate their experiences and emotions with plaster where they are physically penetrated; elastic bands to show where they were tied; and permanent markers to draw tears, wounds, and words, such as “put skin in bottle.”

Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore once stated, “Children are living proof that God has not given up on the world.” Then why have we as an international community given up on the orphaned and abused children of South Africa? Imagine if we saw God in each child as a solution to abuse and HIV/AIDS transmission, because then, who would want to harm God?

I cannot even fathom the countless number of sexually victimized children that go unreported; the overwhelming number of children that Operation Bobbi Bear has discovered are only the lucky ones, the cream of the crop. We must change our myopic viewpoint of the devastating situation: these abused children are not products of their environment, but products of the expectations Jackie and the rest of the world set for them. We must set the seemingly most wildly impossible expectations for their lives at the same level as children in affluent countries, so that we can shift our focus from these children merely surviving to thriving. We must not settle for Operation Bobbi as a best practices model, but as a standard model that should be institutionalized all over the world. We must not be paralyzed by fear in failing to achieve the most idealistic dreams we set for vulnerable communities, because the lower we fall, the higher we will want to soar, and that at the end of the day, we are just imperfect beings called to a perfect mission. When we first came to Johannesburg, we visited Soweto’s apartheid museum; one day, it is my dream that we will return to visit child abuse and HIV/AIDS museums, and equally wonder how these societal ills actually once existed and infiltrated real lives. After surrounding myself among moral giants all week long, from Mum Carol to Jackie to Alicia and Leigh, I learned that our generation can no longer rest safely on the shoulders of today’s heroes because there is simply too much work to be done. Let us celebrate the community health worker who is faceless to the rest of the world but a savior to her patients; let us remember the child rape victim who does not even have a birth certificate unto to her name but dreams that one day she will be remembered by her community for the beauty she represented; let us celebrate our generation which possesses the means to transform power, prestige, and self-indulgence into collective hope, divine love, and sustained peace.

Love, peace, & blessings,

Sonya

Tag Team...From Alicia

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 10:06:00 -0400

All through the night, after leaving Soweto we could barely sleep—talking and wondering what was happening at that very moment in the places we’d just left. We woke up early in the morning with so many things to do! I had to pack and prepare for the flight to Durban and had an extremely important meeting with the MMC CIR Mr. Monareng, also known as, Mr. Tekere to the community.

The goal of the meeting was to KNOW we had the support of the city to assist us in identifying, and turning over the land that we will need to build the children’s village. I met Mr. Monareng, a man born in Soweto, who is well aware of the needs of the community and in a position to truly help us. He looked me in the eyes and ASSURED me that he would help us find the land and make sure the city gave it to us to OWN. There was also a wonderful woman named Mpho Sechoaro, Mr. Monareng’s office manager, who was very moved by the project and they both promised to make it come through. They saw my passion for the project and knew it was something that must be supported and made to happen. Mama Carol was at the meeting as well and all of their information was exchanged. I feel very hopeful that I have received their word and that they will honestly follow through.

As I was doing that, Swizz couldn’t get Ezimbuzini, the slum we visited in Soweto, out of his mind. He got up early the next morning and immediately went out and bought clothes for the ENTIRE village!!! Wooooowwww! He had promised he would go back and when he did, everyone was SO excited to see him! “SWIZZYYYY!!!!” They yelled!!! With the help of the beautiful residents and the people he brought with him to deliver the gifts, everything was perfectly organized and everyone got something new to wear! The whole village was ecstatic and grateful that he showed them so much love and his presence proved to them that our support wasn’t just temporary.

Kenzu, the gentleman I told you about in my last blog, relayed to the village residents the message that Swizz wanted to convey: “If we can come together on something small like this, there are SO MANY things that we can accomplish together!”

The direct contact with the people and building for their future—what an AMAZING day to be able to achieve both of those things simultaneously!!!

We both felt very proud, encouraged and motivated to do everything we can!

We boarded the plane and took off to Durban. Sometime during the flight the pilot announced, “We lost an engine but not to worry, we have 3 others left.” I guess he meant it as a joke, but it didn’t bother me because I KNOW we’re protected! There’s too much greatness to be done!

Thank u for your support! That means so much to me! To us!
Believe me, I will be calling on you for your thoughts, your time, your expertise, your love.

Sending love to you,

Alicia

Welcome to Durban...from Aaron

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 23:20:00 -0400

Nestled in the hills of Durban are colorful homes with steep driveways and gravel paths. The wind blew briskly today, it was cold unlike previous days. Clouds hung overhead, overcast enough to make the pink, blue, and orange houses seem to glow amongst the green-yellow-brown growth surrounding them. It was tranquil there in those hills, silent and peaceful. At least it was on the surface. In this community, we met a woman by the name of Dorothy living with her daughter. Dorothy is HIV positive.

The rest of the community doesn’t know about Dorothy’s status. She doesn’t want them to, she says people talk too much. They know she’s sick, and for now, that’s all they’ll ever know. Luckily for Dorothy, the love and compassion of the Blue Roof Wellness Center finds its way to her regularly. The Center conducts home-based care visits in order to provide Dorothy with the medicine, care, and support she needs to live.

Dorothy’s sickness makes it hard for her to walk, her legs were terribly skinny, her feet awfully stiff. Usually, the home-based care nurse will massage her feet to relieve the pain so that she may regain sensation in her legs, stimulating her muscles, reminding them how to function properly. It is a beautiful thing to watch her receive this treatment and to watch another give it to her.

I sat next to Dorothy, spoke with her for a time, prior to her treatments. She was very small, but very beautiful. Her smile shone brightly, though she was demure. She told us she likes slow jams, Chris Brown, Alicia Keys, Whitney Houston, and Adele in particular. It makes her happy to be able to walk around the house, to experience the love and compassion of the Blue Roof staff, without whom she wouldn’t be here today.

It was so humbling to see her smile in the midst of what I expected to be pain and sorrow. Yes, the hardship was there, it would be awfully foolish to believe it wasn’t. But there was something more alongside it, there was beauty in her smile, in her voice, in her embrace of love and compassion from others. In a very powerful way, we can learn a lot from Dorothy about living.

The Blue Roof Wellness Center officially opened its doors today, and it was apparent the joy and health this center has injected back into the community. Just as in Dorothy’s life, this center, Keep A Child Alive on the whole, has produced a new model of care and outreach that is both effective and beautiful. It’s really art at its highest form, engaging those who look upon it, growing those who participate in it, illuminating out the goodness of everything it surrounds.

The 5 of us on this journey have been touched in ways we’ve yet to really be able to realize in words, beautiful things are happening for us, just as beautiful things are being done for this community in Durban thanks to KCA.

Aaron.

On the Indian Ocean...from Rachel

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 15:55:00 -0400

It’s after midnight here in Durban, South Africa. I’m here literally laying on my back on the beach outside my hotel next to a bonfire surrounded by new friends. (Yes, I’m on my blackberry!) The Indian ocean is a few feet away from us, the sound of the waves crashing is almost hypnotizing. Its wintertime here in Durban, and some of us are out here in t-shirts. Life ain’t so bad…

And after the few days we’ve had so far on this trip, and after visiting the Blue Roof Clinic today, laying here under the millions of glittering stars, one can’t help but get to thinking about how truly blessed and fortunate they are to have the health, financial stability, housing etc that so many people live without.

Touring with KCA over the past few days has been eye-opening to say the least. It has been heart, spirit, mind and soul-opening as well. The first days of “site”-seeing, after visiting the slums of Soweto, I was literally shocked to the core –- I had to tell our Director to stop filming me for one of my interviews – I literally could not answer him. I needed some time for it to process. The day had not yet been digested. The heaviness, the gravity of the experience had not had the chance to sink in. It was strange though because I loved being there. I adored the people, having truly wonderful conversations and I absolutely loved plaing with the children. But these people lived in the poorest of conditions anyone could possibly live in. And I have never in my life been in an environment like it.

Being here is so REAL. It’s not like I didn’t know it would be…it just truly changes you when you come to places like this. Like today, for example, we went to the Blue Roof Clinic. The Blue Roof Clinic is a place of hope and promise. It shows the world that change, positive change, is possible. People in Wentworth and surrounding areas with HIV/AIDS have access to all kinds of medical support and care for free at the Blue Roof Clinic – they cover it ALL the time there. Not just the physical, but the mental, spiritual, and emotional being. All in the most calming, un-clinic like atmosphere. Its open, light, and full of color and nature. It smells fresh and clean – no smell of alcohol or antiseptic here. It’s absolutely beautiful and feels inspiring just to stand inside this place. It was an honor to be there with Alicia and experience her first time back to the Blue Roof since it was an empty space. She was welcomed back with song and praise and lots of love. It was very moving. You could see she was beyond impressed and pleased with the way everything turned out. It was also an honor to be given a very thorough tour by Rhona, the Clinic Director. She is warm, funny and gives the most incredible “energy” hugs (as she calls them). It was yet another unforgettable day that we will all carry with us for the rest of our lives thanks to Keep a Child Alive and the beautiful people of South Africa who have welcomed us with open arms and smiles everywhere we go.

- Rachel

Wait til You See Their Smiles...from Talaina

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 04:41:00 -0400

“…When your head is in a certain place

Nobody around to make you safe

Stand strong and you will grow…

Wait ‘til they see your smile…”

-Alicia Keys, “Wait ‘Til You See My Smile”

Imagine having a room the size of your utility closet…and calling it “home” for a family of five; Imagine having to carry buckets to the center of the village to fill them with water from the lone faucet in the area; Imagine the walls of your home being no sturdier than an old tool shed; Imagine being in the cold and the dark on a winter night in South Africa because you have no electricity…hard to imagine, isn’t it? For the people in the village we visited today, this is no image; this is their reality.

Alicia Keys and I had the honor of interviewing fifteen-year-old Zanele and her mother, Elizabeth. Zanele’s mother had been diagnosed with HIV only a couple of years ago and Zanele, only 13 at the time, had to drop out of school to take care of her then-ailing mother, along with two little sisters. When we first met Zanele, we were told that she doesn’t smile and that she works hard to hold in her emotions. During the interview, we learned about the pain this family endured and how young Zanele has had to grow up so fast to take on the role of “mother” for the home, doing the cooking, cleaning, and caretaking for her whole family. When asked what made her happy, she said that seeing her mother well again was the happiest she has been and that nothing could compare to that. At that point, she let her smile break through an otherwise stoic face, and we could see her pain peeling away in that moment, and the true spirit of this young girl burst through. Sensing her newfound willingness to open up, I asked Zanele to sing for us. To my surprise, the girl who started off hiding any emotions she had, opened up and sang us the most beautiful song in her native language. A shy, sweet smile crept across her face, punctuating her song.

In the afternoon we visited Ikageng, where Mum Carol is the mother figure to over a thousand orphans living in child-headed households. One may question how this woman can hold the strength to provide the support for these children, but after spending a single minute in the Ikageng center, all questions fade. To see Mum Carol’s face light up as a child approaches her for a hug or to hear her recall the story of any one of the children she mothers, one immediately witnesses the constant, circulating energy of love that propels this amazing woman into action.

The older children were broken up into support groups and each of us was able to take part in a group to learn about these children’s lives. I didn’t know what to expect when we sat in a circle to talk, so I decided to clear my mind and not expect anything. The stories I heard were so heartbreaking! A thirteen-year-old girl had lost her mother to AIDS and was living on her own. It was hard for her to be on her own, but she was determined to get an education. She talked about how Mum Carol helped her get into a school that would accept her, and then shared that she didn’t want people to feel sorry for her or sympathize with her; she was proud of what she had been through and she believes firmly that she will become great because she is overcoming it…I agree completely! As I continued to hear the stories from these children and we talked and learned more about each other, one consistent theme was clear: these children see hope; they see a life beyond the pain they’ve experienced and they don’t want pity—they want a life! They all declare with convincing pride that they will deal with the pressure of raising their siblings and losing their parents and make a better future for themselves. They laughed with me and with each other and they sang the praises of Mum Carol, who not only works hard to help provide them food and basic necessities, but also (maybe even more importantly) works hard to help provide them hope!

When the day was over, despite the fact that my heart was aching for all of these children and their families, I was not overcome with sadness. Is it infuriating that the village we saw overlooks a beautiful neighborhood of well-light homes and a new multi-million dollar stadium? DEFINITELY! Is it painful to watch a sixteen-year-old boy shed tears as he talks about going without food so that his younger siblings could have a full stomach? ABSOLUTELY! But beyond the anger and pain, I feel admiration. I admire these children for living through the most abhorrent circumstances, yet having the endurance of spirit to believe in the possibility of a better future.

Don’t get me wrong, the reality is agonizing to witness, and it is painfully clear that more should be done to fund sites like Ikageng. However, it is important for people to understand that donating to Keep a Child Alive is doing more than only funding food, medicine, and clothing; it is funding the futures of these children, who, with hope, see them so bright.

Love, Talaina

Day Two: WE MUST BUILD THE VILLAGE!!!! ...from Alicia Keys

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 04:11:00 -0400

As I sit down to write this—I don’t even know how to, really… Where to begin? What to say? How to project all that we have seen, felt and experienced?

Today we saw the work, support and necessity that Ikageng Ministries and Mama Carol do, provide and are. It is so extensively wide and deep. Yet the NEED runs even wider and deeper….We started the day at 9am in a township in Soweto called Ezimbuzini Squatter Camp.

During the Apartheid Era (that only ended in 1994) Blacks were evicted from properties that were in areas designated as “white only” and forced to move into Townships. These Townships are where many still live in the poorest conditions.

Where we were today the people live in small one room tin shacks. There was ONE source of water for the whole village, no electricity, no toilets, no sewer system. Children who are lucky enough to be able to go to school must do their work before nightfall, otherwise there is no light. Meals are cooked on a small propane gas stove (if one can afford it), outside over a hand made fire, or not at all.

We met a woman name Fifi (HIV positive) and her daughter Lele (HIV negative). I was told Fifi, just 2 months before, was laid down on newspaper floors in her small home, which are now taped to the wall as wallpaper to perhaps provide color. But, to me, it showed all the things they needed but will most likely never have. Though I digress… Just 2 months before, Fifi was placed on the floor of her tiny home, unable to move sick with HIV and Tuberculosis. They NEVER thought she would be the woman that I met today—sitting up, strong, healthy, with access to ARV’s and a new lease on LIFE! All because of Mama Carol, Ikageng Ministries and the support they receive from Keep a Child Alive.

I walked into her home, furnished with 2 small beds, a few pots in the corner, one dresser with a Bible on top. It was possibly the cleanest place I’ve ever seen. As we spoke I realized more and more how important Ikageng is in helping Fifi receive the medicine and food she needs to live. What would this woman do without them? Living on 200 Rands per month, which is something like 28 US dollars… And what would her 6 year old daughter be subjected to if her mother did not receive this support and was left to die?

After our deep and painful, yet triumphant conversation (it was so moving to see this woman able and still living) I walked out of her home searching for fresh air to breathe. The air was full of the scent of burning fires.

I stood there, trying to find my equilibrium.

To my left were a group of young men all around an abandoned car. They could have been any men on any street in the world. As we walked toward them, Gerry, the comedian of the crew, made some jokes, asked me to sing and take pictures with him. Instead tried to make him sing for me and somehow Bob Marley’s “3 little birds” began.

“Don’t worry about a thing
Cause every little thing
It’s gonna be alright”

Then one of the men stood out and said “Is that what you think? Don’t worry?”
I said, “I believe we have to have faith to get through.”

Then we started the most incredible conversation where he asked me how I felt about seeing people living in tin houses, if what they showed in the movies about American ghettos is true, how does Africa compare to America, what I plan to leave behind to help them generate their own income? Boooom!!! His name is Kenzu and he’s a born leader and doesn’t even know it yet!

KCA is in the process of building a children’s village—a village for all these kids who are the heads of their own households at 14, 16, 19 years old and for mothers, children and families who are in the most vulnerable situations. We plan to do this using refurbished shipping containers (many of which you will find on the side of the roads abandoned after their purpose has been complete) that will have electricity, sewage systems and all the makings of a functioning home in place.

After meeting all of these incredible people at Ezimbuzini I am more determined than EVER to ensure this VILLAGE IS BUILT!! And this young man Kenzu made me see just how much he and the young men in the neighborhood (the MEN of the neighborhood even though they themselves are maybe 20/21 years old) desperately want to find their purpose, properly learn a trade and have the opportunity at generate income. That ignited me even further as these men can help to BUILD the village, support the village, and protect the village. Whoa!!

WE MUST BUILD THE VILLAGE!! WE WILL BUILD THE VILLAGE!!!

After we left there we went to the Ikageng Ministries Headquarters. This was MAJOR for me as I was returning there after 4 years and was extremely excited to see the faces I met then: Sandile, Cecy, Promise, Simphiwe Thembisile & Thomas and the new ones I would meet now. We had a beautiful meal together there! All of those young people, some who may not always have a meal, were able to eat well and I saw the youngest of them finishing up with colorful ice cream—allowed to be just kids, it was beautiful.

We joined together in a welcome circle and did silly dances and songs to bring together the visitors and regulars. Heard an extremely motivating speech from Mama Carol about greatness within and then broke off into healing circles under the trees where we could share our stories. The last time I was there we did this same kind of thing and it affected me beyond belief. The amazing spirit and resiliency of them all! They are anywhere between 4 and 22 years old—it was so inspiring to me and I KNEW I was seeing a POWERFUL part of my generation developing!

This time was no different. Again, I was affected and moved by the maturity and wisdom forced-upon-them, that I encountered. The pain and tears in their eyes as they shared their often unbelievably HARSH and heartbreaking stories yet, the strength and COURAGE to RISE that they possess is something else.

Again I found myself searching for my equilibrium, lost somewhere between pain and progress…

As it became dark a fly group of dancers that one of the most promising young men named Thomas put together, danced for us in a “better-than-America’s- best-dance-crew” style and all of us felt incredibly festive and happy to have each other.

You see, on a daily basis Mama Carol cares for 1200 kids who have lost their parents to the devastation of AIDS and now are forced to become parents to their younger siblings at such a young age…14, 16, 19????? And many times the number of kids they care for is augmented by their siblings’ children when they pass away. These young people who just DREAM of being able to go to school to get an education that will help their circumstance…are often left having to sacrifice school and forced to become parents after witnessing very awful deaths of their own parents. They’re then forced into God knows what to get food for their families. So to have a woman like Mama Carol who becomes the ONLY source of motherly love and attention they know is not just a kind gesture, but an ABSOLUTE NECESSITY!!!!

And that is why WE MUST BUILD THE VILLAGE!!!!!!WE WILL BUILD THE VILLAGE!!!!

After an incredibly moving day we made our way back to the hotel to have a meeting about what needs to happen to create the logistics of this village and put it all together. We made plans to meet Mr. Tekere, a Member of Mayoral Committee (MMC) the following morning to get the support for the land we need to build on and make this project happen and allow this project to grow wings!!!

I MUST do this! I’ve promised too many people, I’ve looked into too many desperate eyes and gave my word and I MEAN what I say! This is my mission!

I’m going to need your help!

ARE YOU WITH ME??

Love,

Alicia

Our First Day in Africa...from Kristen

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:38:00 -0400

You would not believe the day we had today. We literally walked off the plane into this proud, alive, spirited nation that has been cheering on their country nonstop since we got here for the world cup. This morning the pride was displayed through loud blow horns ringing through the airports and the streets and through playing soccer through the airport baggage claim areas with supporters from every country. Even now, after South Africa’s game against Mexico, the pride and celebration is still going on outside my window, loud and alive, I love it. Besides the initial initiation to South Africa, we had the opportunity to finally meet some of these amazing and inspiring people we’ve heard about today. We were able to sit down to breakfast with the lovely Leigh, her son India (quite the entertainer), and the director for the UK side of KCA, Ellie. After this, we headed straight for the Apartheid Museum that was featuring a Nelson Mandela exhibit. I literally had to walk through the exhibit twice to be able to take it all in. I would read a bit as I walked through and see so many powerful images that broke my heart and inspired me at the same time that I had to walk away and process. It was great to realize just how possible it is to make a difference in this world. After lunch at the Apartheid museum, we were met by surprise with a meeting with Mum Carol and Alicia Keys. We stood there like a little family getting ready for the trip of our lives and we just talked and listened to Mum Carol’s stories about what we are to encounter tomorrow. She went from taking care of 900 kids 4 years ago to about double that today, and the greatest thing is that she knows all these kids’ names and loves them all so deeply, so I cannot wait to see it all in person tomorrow. Alicia turned out to be exactly how I thought she would be. She is so sweet and I am very excited to be able to spend more time with her and to get a grand tour of the work she, Leigh, and the crew have been working on for so long. I have a feeling that my shock isn’t going to end anytime soon.

-Kristen

In an African State of Mind...from Alicia Keys

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 15:54:00 -0400

Today was the beginning of our pilgrimage. I call it that because to me it has such purpose.

The work I do with KCA is by far home to some of the most meaningful moments of my LIFE!

The excitement is wafting through the air like cooked food in Johannesburg and the surrounding area. As we made our way to the Apartheid museum in Soweto, everyone is BUZZING! Traffic was bumper to bumper and every car filled to the brim. Horns honking and vuvuzelas blowing with the excitement of the World Cup! But my excitement revolved around an event a bit different as today was the beginning of my return to Africa!

We pulled up to the museum and met the most spectacular Mama Carol who is surely one of the most giving and generous beings on the planet. Being the head of Ikageng Ministries and caring for LITERALLY 1100 young people who have lost their parents due to the AIDS pandemic is a display of such courage and compassion, but more about that tomorrow….

We toured the Museum and what a place it is!!! WOW!!! I was blown away! Not only by the history, the pain, the unfairness, the fight, the struggle and the resiliency but the desire to come back every DAY and uncover the details of such a recent part of history.

Afterward, Mama Carol and I walked out of that powerful museum to meet our 5 winners of the text alive contest who are now, for their first time, coming to Africa to experience this pilgrimage with me. VERY emotional! Mama Carol gave them hugs and suddenly tears flowed unstoppable. I mean how could it not? This journey, this important moment in history, for so many reason feels extremely powerful and I felt that our 5 winners Talaina, Rachel, Kristen, Aaron and Sonya felt the gravity and energy of this moment as I did.

We talked and shared stories for awhile and I instantly felt a distinct special quality from each of them.

Before we left the museum I got my copy of “The Long Walk To Freedom” Madiba’s autobiography. I’ve always wanted to read it and now more than ever is the time!

Then we went to witness a bit of the excitement of the World Cup and watched as the South African team made the first triumphant goal. The ENTIRE stadium rose in celebration and screams. I was proud to see with my own two eyes the glory of this beautiful country we are in.

I haven’t seen many soccer games *oops Football* but I suddenly felt like this was the perfect one to witness.

We left before it got to crazy with everyone leaving, and barely made it out of the mayhem of people, police cars and electricity. Off we zoomed to Soweto where already a street party was starting and the celebration continued. Music pulsated and vibrated and filled the streets. These are Streets that feel ALIVE!

We had dinner with everyone on this momentous pilgrimage with us and even ran into the phenomenal Femi Kuti, Son of the Great Fela Kuti!!! If you can only feel the magic through these words….

The Food is AMAZING!! (especially the steamed bread whoa!) And the energy of everyone is so kind, gentle, joyous. It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of

Before we left we danced in the street party and felt Soweto’s passion for dance and music just like ours…..is there even a better language???

I strongly doubt it.

Love,
Alicia

The winners in New York, before they leave to Africa!

Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:39:00 -0400

The winners in New York, before they leave to Africa!

Come with us back to Africa

Tue, 08 Jun 2010 19:18:00 -0400

Our winners arrive in New York City tomorrow, our office is buzzing with energy and we’re so close to being on a plane to South Africa!

Over the past 3 months since our Text ALIVE for 5 Contest ended we’ve been getting our 5 winners - Talaina, Rachel, Sonya, Kristen and Aaron ready for our trip with Alicia to South Africa and now the time is finally here.

Alicia will be speaking at a press conference in Johannesburg this week presented by glaceau/vitaminwater launching Keep a Child Alive’s Africa vs. AIDS Campaign. It involves images of high-profile African footballers with educational messages targeting men, which it hopes will lead to a change in their behavior in the spread of HIV. To see the images and read more about Africa vs. AIDS please visit: www.africavsaids.com

Over the next 10 days the Keep a Child Alive crew, Alicia and 5 winners will visit KCA-funded sites in Durban and Johannesburg to witness the life-changing work on the ground to the children and families we support. Alicia has not been to South Africa since 2006 and during the last 4 years, Keep a Child Alive has made incredible progress, to date serving over 250,000. On her last trip, Alicia purchased a building in Durban, which has now been transformed into a fully functioning HIV/AIDS Clinic. The recently completed Blue Roof Wellness Center provides comprehensive AIDS care to more than 1500 patients and has become an integral part of the district’s response to HIV/AIDS. We can’t wait for her to see it!

We are so excited to visit all the KCA-funded sites in South Africa and can’t wait for the winners to finally meet Alicia! Stay tuned here at www.keepachildalive.org/textalive and follow us on Twitter @keepachildalive for more blogs, photos and sneak video footage!

We have to thank our sponsor Procter & Gamble (P&G) for sponsoring this journey back to Africa with Alicia Keys!

So come with us back to Africa…

xo Louise