Want to do some good with change?

How much money did you spend today? Maybe you got a cup of coffee for $3.50, bought lunch for $11.34 and then picked up a new pair of shoes on the way home for $58.60. What if you could round up each of those purcahses to the nearest dollar, and donate the spare change to American Foundation for Children with AIDS?


Well, our newest partner SwipeGood allows you to do just that: maximize your loose change for a good cause, like bringing safe drinking water to people around the world. And while the resulting $1.56 from today might now sound like a little, it actually adds up to over $20 in donations over the course of the month - without any extra work on your part.

But don't take our word for it - go ahead and take SwipeGoodf or a test drive. All you have to do is go to our page on SwipeGood and sign up your credit or debit card. SwipeGood rounds up your purchases to the next dollar, and lets you donate the change to American Foundation for Children with AIDS. You can even cap your monthly donations, so your are in complete control of the amount of money you donate each month.

How good will it feel to go about your every day shopping knowing that each purchase you make helps to bring life saving medicine, food, school supplies, medical equpment, and training to children in Africa? I can tell you it feels great - like you have a warm halo over your head.

So what are you waiting for? Learn more, enroll your credit or debit card today and change the world around you, one purchase at a time.

Beth and Al in Mombasa, Kenya

Beth (Nike) and Al (Board of Directors, AFCA) arrived in Mombasa, Kenya on Saturday. They are working at the Mikindani slum -painting the clinic AFCA supports. They are also spending some time with the children in the program, playing and getting acquainted.

Here's some photos sent by Beth today.

Our Kids Still Need Us, and We Still Need You

All of our hearts are breaking for Haiti, and rightfully so. But please don't forget our own children who equally need all the help they can get, just to survive, every single day. Please keep your hearts open and continue to help children with AIDS to receive life-saving medicine and emergency supplies.

American Foundation for Children with AIDS has been blessed by the generous donations, large and small, by so many of you over the years. We, especially the kids, are so grateful and hope that you will continue to give what you can to help us keep these children alive and healthy. Without you, we couldn't do what we do.



You can make a donation online to give toward getting medical supplies where they're most needed. Or, if you have other items you wish to donate, you can bring them to us. We always need:

• wheelchairs - pediatric and adult
• blankets and sheets
• toys for the kids are always appreciated

A full list of medical supplies and other things we need is available on our website.

On behalf of the kids, THANK YOU!

Food for Zimbabwe

Times are desperate in Zimbabwe, where AFCA works. You can see what is happening by clicking here. If you'd like to be part of the solution and to help girls like these, please go to our Global Giving page and make a donation. Any amount will help!

Help Children with AIDS by Climbing the Highest Mountain in Africa

The American Foundation for Children with AIDS only has five spots left in their first-ever fundraising trek up Mount Kilimanjaro.

The climb is scheduled for September 13–24, 2009, and will raise life-saving funds to provide medication and medical supplies for children with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. AFCA’s programs provide anti-retrovirals and other medicine, medical supplies and food to HIV/AIDS children and their caregivers living in Kenya, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

AFCA has received tremendous support from the climbing community around the world. We think the challenge of climbing to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro is an appropriate symbol for the uphill battle HIV/AIDS children face.

The total team will consist of 12 climbers, each of whom will commit to raising funds for AFCA. There are currently seven participants from across the U.S.

Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest peak in Africa, with a summit of 19,340 feet. The trip is 10 days: the first two days participants arrive and get acclimated; the trek is seven days; participants are free to relax and explore the area the last day. The trek will be led by Summit Expeditions and Nomadic Experience. Though challenging, Mount Kilimanjaro is successfully climbed by thousands of fit people from 12 to some even in their 80s.

For more details, please go to www.climbupsokidscangrowup.com or call AFCA at 888-683-8323.

Author Commends American Foundation for Children with AIDS

Book by best-selling author David Elliot Cohen recognizes the American Foundation for Children with AIDS as a salutary organization

The American Foundation for Children with AIDS has been included in best-selling author David Elliot Cohen’s new book, What Matters, as a noteworthy organization in the struggle against AIDS. Using alluring photographs and stimulating essays, the book has brought a spotlight on the continuous battle against AIDS in Africa. Sterling Publishing, a division of Barnes & Noble, will publish the book on September 2, 2008.

“The purpose of the What Matters project is to provoke discussion of essential global issues in various media, to inspire social action, and to provide readers with resources they can utilize to help create social change,” said Rose Whitmore, editorial assistant of What Matters.

The book and website contain a “What You Can Do” section in order to inspire the readers to become involved. Within the topic of the AIDS epidemic, the American Foundation for Children with AIDS has been acknowledged as a leading organization to stop the spread of AIDS and HIV in Africa. The public can view the complete contents of the book online at http://www.whatmattersonline.com.

“The idea, of course, is to get these very visceral photographs and poignant essays in front of as many people as possible and then translate the resulting interest into donations and actions through organizations,” stated Rose Whitmore.

The American Foundation for Children with AIDS continues to grow with notoriety from publications such as What Matters. A contribution of $30 provides a full month's worth of life-saving medication to an HIV positive child. With $7,000, AFCA can provide a 40-foot container of much-needed food, hygiene kits, milk, and medical supplies to partner hospitals.

To learn more about AFCA, become involved or make a contribution, please visit http://www.helpchildrenwithaids.org. All donations are tax-deductible.

About American Foundation for Children with AIDS
American Foundation for Children with AIDS is an independent international humanitarian aid organization established in 2004. AFCA is a 501(c)(3) not–for-profit organization incorporated in the state of Florida, USA. It has been certified Best in America by the Independent Charities of America. AFCA’s mission is to improve the lives of children and youth struggling with the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We provide cost-effective relief, services, medical and social support, education and advocacy to help these individuals achieve their full life potential.

AFCA believes that true success is achieved through collaboration with qualified local professionals. To this end, we partner with the following agencies to deliver quality, donated anti-retroviral medications and supplies to HIV-positive children and their caretakers: Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda; Community Based Health Care Program in Mombasa, Kenya; Voi Children’s Health Program in Voi, Kenya; ZOE in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, St. Theresa’s Home of Hope in Elementita, Kenya; and St. Mary’s Mission Hospitals in Nairobi and Elementita, Kenya.

American Foundation for Children with AIDS Referenced in What Matters by David Elliot Cohen

We were so thrilled to be informed that the American Foundation for Children with AIDS will be listed as reference in the "What You Can Do" section of David Elliot Cohen's new book titled What Matters. We are absolutely honored and grateful to be included in this book, and we look forward to many more kids having life because of the inclusion.

David Elliot Cohen is the author of The Day in the Life and America 24/7 photo book series. His new book What Matters will be published by the Sterling Publishing division of Barnes & Noble on September 2nd, 2008.

What Matters contains 18 searing, socially conscious photo essays by the great photojournalists of our generation including James Nachtwey and Sebastiao Salgado. These essays, shot over the course of years, address the essential issues of our time. Each photo-essay is accompanied by a passionate, polemical essay written by such well known experts such as Jeffrey Sachs (The End of Poverty), Samantha Power (Pulitzer Prize winner for A Problem From Hell: America in the Age of Genocide), and Bill McKibben (The End of Nature). The purpose of the What Matters project is:

• to use superior photography and prose to highlight and provoke discussion of essential global issues in various media,
• to inspire social action; and
• to provide readers with resources they can utilize to help create social change.

We encourage all of you to visit the book's website.
You can also download the book at http://whatmatters.blog.com.

Africa: Day 2 (Kampala, Uganda)

Who am I? Who am I to be given this task of providing ARVs and medicine to children in East and Southern Africa? Who am I to be allowed to be a part of something like this, where I get to meet brave people who every day fight for the rights of children to have adequate care and a hope of life? Who am I to fit into this large puzzle as a little piece, adding a bit of color, a bit of character in what could really quite a bleak picture if not for the people here on the ground in Africa and in other parts of the world who toil day in and day out to provide the kids with what they need? They are the ones who are the main characters in the puzzle… the picture would be impossible without them.

I am always humbled when I see what ordinary people can do with a little elbow grease, hard work, some donations, and lots of prayer. I am amazed that I, little Tanya, am a part of the work done by Mulago Hospital, which provides care for 25% of the children who receive ART in Uganda. There are so many others who need help…so many who could use some medicine…we have a lot more to do! Food, counseling, medicine, testing, PMTCT, community development, and so many other steps are needed in order to do a complete job. When I see it all coming together, as I did in Mulago today, I get overjoyed that we are a little sliver in the big pie which constitutes ART (anti-retroviral therapy).

The Pediatric Infectious Disease Center of Mulago Hospital is overflowing…children, babies, and parents wait patiently for hours, waiting to be seen…on an average day, 175 children are seen at this Center. Waiting rooms are full to capacity, hallways have become a place of gathering, with nurses and doctors having to squeeze their way through. Two doctors share each of the consulting rooms because they have run out of space. Yet, patients keep coming and they literally overflow to the outer walls of the Center, finding shade as they know the wait could be long. Yet, they wait because they know that their children will be treated with dignity and that if they need help and medicine, they will not be turned away. In fact, AFCA provides medicine for 350 of the kids who need the life saving (anti-retroviral) medicine these kids need to survive and it is awesome to see how

In the main waiting room, Nurse Jane is reading books to waiting children and a play mat is set up in the corner for the kids to do some exercise and games every day. not only does this help kill some of the boredom of waiting, but the kids get a rare chance of reading and borrowing books from the “waiting room library”, a little cubby with inventoried book which the kids can check out to read while they wait. As we walk through the waiting room, little hands reach out to touch our white legs, smiling when they’ve touched the foreigner. Curly, braided, matted, out of control, combed, clean and/or dirty little heads look up at us, not knowing who we are. Not knowing that my heart is breaking for the other children, the ones who don’t have the opportunity for care and medicine. As I look into their eyes, whether they are sick or doing better, I feel a sense of urgency to do more, to help in a larger way. And I come back around to the question “who am I to have been chosen to do this work, to be given the chance to help in some way?”

And, I am humbled to be counted as one of those who is battling in the fight against pediatric AIDS.

Africa: Day 1

24 hours after leaving Harrisburg, PA, I landed in Kampala, Uganda. A long journey, but a good one. I had good seat mates and laughed at dumb movies shown on the long flight from Amsterdam to Kampala. I tell you what! It is so not worth flying on US airlines! The food wasn’t good, the seating was SOOOO cramped and the movie didn’t work. That makes for a very long transatlantic flight. But, once we got on KLM in Amsterdam, everything changed and it was comfortable and the food was downright good. I laughed so much at the movie “enchanted”…hilarious…well, the first 2/3 of it was hilarious. The last part was a waste of time, but the first part made it well worth the watch.

We hired Charles, a taxi driver, to take us to the guesthouse where Mary and I are staying and as we made our way from the airport there, I felt familiar with the smell of Uganda and the banana leaves. It brings me back to my childhood in Colombia and all that is comforting and equatorial to my senses. The noise of the traffic, the congestion, the beeping and moving of cars is not something I missed, though! But the warmth of the reception at the guesthouse, where Phoebe has greeted me each year I come to visit was most welcome and I felt like I was visiting a friend. Full on a plate of fresh French fries fried as soon as we arrived, with some sliced tomatoes, I made my way to my room to shower in what seemed like an eternity and to brush my teeth. I felt new in no time, but decided that I should sleep as I hadn’t slept in any of the flights over.

Now, it is morning, I hear the birds chirping and the traffic roaring. It is time for breakfast and to start our visits with our partners. Today we officially start our visit to Africa by meeting with Dr. Addy K at the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Center at the Mulago Hospital, where we provide ARV’s and other medicine to HIV+ kids and their HIV+ guardians. I am so excited to see what and how they are doing and to deliver the thousands of stickers and all the books we brought for the kids who get tested at the center to determine what they have. Stickers are such a part of our own children’s lives that we take them for granted. But here, they are not all that common and the kids really like having something to take home after being brave at the lab. Thanks to MediBadge for the 7500 stickers they gave us to bring to the kids!

I hear the sound of foot traffic outside my window…the day is definitely flowing by me and I need to make my way to breakfast.

American Foundation for Children with AIDS Seeks Volunteers to Build a House in Kenya

The AFCA is looking for volunteers to help build a house for orphans in Nairobi, Kenya this summer. 18 volunteers are needed to fill a team of big-hearted individuals who want to change the lives of people by giving them a decent place to call home. The trip will be from July 19 – August 2, 2008.

While no construction experience is needed, we are looking for people who are willing to learn, to play, to laugh, and to change lives. Flexibility is a must. Cost is $1,950 plus airfare and includes food, in-country transportation, insurance, donation to AFCA’s work, snacks, and housing. As an aside, all money spent on accommodations will go directly to support the education of AIDS orphans!

If interested in participating, please email International Volunteer Partnerships at eweaver@volunteerpartnerships.com or call AFCA at 888.683.8323. An application and interview process will follow.

AFCA Raising Funds for Medical Supplies and Cereal

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, on December 28, 2007 American Foundation for Children with AIDS sent a 40 inch container full of medical equipment and supplies (including sutures, walkers, wheelchairs, needles, braces, gurneys, exam tables, bedside tables, feeding tubes, and other items) to rural hospitals in Uganda treating children with HIV and AIDS.

We're preparing another container to send, this time full of ATMIT (a soy-based fortified cereal) for the kids who don't otherwise have food to eat when they take their medicines. For anyone who wants to be a part of the project, visit change.org to create a fundraising page for this specific project.

$2.6 Million Worth of Medicine Sent to Help Children with AIDS

Autumn is here...again!

How quickly this year is passing by, yet how much has been done so far! To date this year, we have sent over $2.6 million worth of medicine to our children in East Africa and have also sent hygiene kits for the kids and their families, along with reinforced cereal so children can eat prior to taking their medicine.

This was all done thanks to the generosity of each of our donors, whether they are individuals, churches, grant makers, companies, or civic groups. Without each of you, we could not do what we do. We look forward to doing so much more, though! There are many children who need our help and we want to provide it.

To each of you who are a part of us, thank you. Want to find out how you can help save the lives of children with AIDS? Click here.

Shop Online to Save Lives of Children with AIDS

As the holiday season approaches, many of us are already making our gift lists and checking them twice. As you shop for the little ones you love this season, consider shopping through iGive.com. When you do, up to 26% of every purchase can be donated to help children with AIDS. Here's how:

Go to iGive.com and register for free.

Step 1: Select your cause.

You can enter the phrase "children with aids" in the keyword box, then click on American Foundation for Children with AIDS in the right-hand selections.

Step 2: Fill out your registration information.

This includes your name, zip code, and whether or not you want to take a tax deduction for your shopping donation.

Then, just shop as usual. There are no extra charges to you, yet AFCA receives a donation for every purchase made, which directly impacts the life of a child with AIDS.

From the AIDS-Ridden Slums of Kenya, a Child's Smile Brightens a Cameraman's Life

For the past six weeks, Colin Crowley (Founder and Owner of Newbeat Productions and a volunteer with AFCA) has been living on the coast of East Africa in Mombasa, Kenya.

"I have been shadowing two nurses who spend three to four hours every day walking on foot through some of the poorest slums in Mombasa to visit HIV positive patients," says Crowley.

Most patients live in one-room houses with walls made of sticks and mud, roofs made of corrugated tin, and no running water. They have no means of transportation other than their own two feet. They live day to day with no money to pay for doctors or medicines. The AFCA provides these children with life-saving medication, known as ARVs.

"Every time I meet one of the children who are alive today because of AFCA’s work, I wish everybody who has ever donated to AFCA could be there with me to see in person the life that their donation has helped saved. It is really an overpowering moment to meet, and talk, and play with a young child who is living, playing, going to school, and thriving because of the generosity of people living in another country thousands of miles away."

One of these children is two year old Abraham Ramadani, who contracted the HIV virus from his mother through childbirth. Abraham is taking ARVs provided by AFCA. He and his mother live together in a small mud-walled house in the Bangalaa Slum just outside of Mombasa.

"Every time I have seen Abraham," Crowley says, "he has been smiling, friendly, and happy to see me, even when he was suffering from a case of Malaria."


"His eyes looked heavy, he wore a pained look on his face, and I could tell he wasn’t his normal self. After I reached down to shake his hand and greet him with the Swahili greeting for children, “Mambo!” I felt the top of his forehead and it was scorching with fever."

"I took out my camera asking his mother if it was all right to take a picture of him like this and she said it was fine. When I put the camera before him, Abraham instinctively let out a laugh and made a big smile for the lens. Then he stopped and the ache of the Malaria showed on his face again. Still, he gave it another effort and, with no prompting from his mother or me, pushed out another big smile before the ache and fever caught up with him."

"“Here I am,” I thought, “standing before a two year old kid living in some of the worst conditions imaginable, HIV positive and suffering from a bout of malaria and he’s giving it his all to smile for the camera when I take a picture of him.” Moments like this just take me aback and catch me off guard. They make me forget myself and wonder how we can do more for this kids."

"A week later I ran into Abraham again and his malaria was gone, he was running around laughing as he played with one of the neighbor kids. I caught his attention by calling out his name and he ran over and stopped for about five seconds to smile and say hi – just enough time to let me snap a picture before he ran off to play again."

A child's smile can brighten a life. Abraham, and children like him, will likely brighten many more.

To learn how you can help children with AIDS and HIV in Africa, visit the AFCA website.

Help Children with AIDS Teams with GoodSearch

The American Foundation for Children with AIDS has teamed up with GoodSearch.com to raise money for kids with AIDS.

If you've been looking for a free and effortless way to help children with AIDS, this is a great way to do it.

Whenever you search for something online, search through GoodSearch.com rather than pulling up your regular search engine. The search process works the same, but each time you search through GoodSearch.com , money is generated to our organization.

Just go to GoodSearch.com, type in your search, and then type in American Foundation for Children with AIDS in the Who do you GoodSearch for box. Then click the button for Search the Web, and your results will be displayed as usual.

What a great way to raise money for a good cause just by doing what you ordinarily do throughout the day!

Frames for a Future to support Children with AIDS

The American Foundation for Children with AIDS call for artists to decorate picture frames for auction on World AIDS Day December 1, 2007 has gotten an overwhelming response. We're completely out of frames!

Artists from around the country have decorated frames for AFCA. Please be sure to check us out on eBay from December 1-7, 2007 (details forthcoming) to bid on the frames. All proceeds will go to help the kids we serve.

Climb Up So Kids Can Grow Up event raised over $13,500 for Children With AIDS

Although the fight for children with AIDS is commonly thought to be an uphill battle, folks across the U.S. literally climbed to the rescue in this year's Climb Up So Kids Can Grow Up event. Hikers, bikers and staircase climbers reached incredible heights to raise over $13,500 for a common goal: to save the lives of children affected by AIDS. Together, we just gave 38 children daily life-saving medicine for an entire year!

Unique Approaches to a Common Goal

With the common goal of saving lives, the climbathon participants accomplished their goals in a variety of creative and amazing ways:

A team of bikers rode 114 miles (with over 7,500 feet of vertical gain) through the Cascade Mountains. A church youth group hiked together, joined by families. A gym in NH joined forces with Mammut to host a "Free climbing day" to invite the community to help those across the world. A dedicated duo of students raised money by organizing their own mini-event at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. One man climbed 30 pitches in one day. Another man hiked up a hill with his baby on his back. A 4-year old girl hiked in her neighborhood and managed to raise more funds than any other single individual.

The stories go on and on. Every one of them is inspiring and every one of the participants accomplished something amazing: life for someone else.

Our Heartfelt Thanks

Thank you to everyone who participated and made this event such a success.

A big thank you to our sponsors: Rock and Ice Magazine, National Geographic Adventure Magazine, Mammut, Petzl, Black Diamond, rockclimbing.org, Women's Adventure Magazine, Sir and Lady Edmund Hillary, Skram Media, Solid Rock Climbers for Christ, Studio G, Terra Firma Rockchalk, Steve Nowlon, Jeremy North, Ashar Management and Consulting, CerconeBrownCurtis, Gramicci, Picture the World, and Skylimit Marketing

And a special thank you to Kenji Haroutunian for inviting us to the Outdoor Retailers Convention.

Without each one of you, we would not have had such a successful first event.

There are no words that suffice to express our gratitude. So, in the words of the children in Kenya: Asante Sana

Mark your calendars!

The American Foundation for Children with AIDS and the American Alpine Institute invite you to Climb Up So Kids Can Grow Up in 2008.

Mark your calendars to hike, climb, walk, ride or to be a sponsor for our September 20 and 21, 2008 climbathon.

Visit the Climb Up So Kids Can Grow Up Website for updates and news.

Welcome to the American Foundation for Children with AIDS blog

Welcome to the official blog of the American Foundation for Children with AIDS. Our mission is to help improve the lives of children with HIV/AIDS by providing cost-effective relief and services, medical and social support, as well as education and advocacy to help children living with aids in Africa to achieve their full life potential. You can visit our website (http://helpchildrenwithaids.org) to learn more about the work we do and how we meet our mission.