Hey, friends!! Thanks for checking out my page! The following info is intense, but there is hope, because we can do something about it: In Africa, an entire generation is dying. Mothers. Fathers. Teachers.
Farmers. Even pastors.
Working men and women, in many ways just like you and me.
15 million children have been orphaned due to AIDS (That's around
the same as the total
number of high school students in the U.S.!!!)
6,000 people die everyday of the disease (I teach at Maine West High School in Des Plaines; for comparison, the student body numbers about 2,500).
In 2005 more than 2.8 million people died because of AIDS -
That's equal to a
plague killing off the entire population of Chicago (it's hard for me to fully comprehend this tragedy from the relative comfort of my life).
Every day more than 29,000 children die, mostly due to
preventable/treatable diseases and
lack of clean water (that just should not be happening).
But this is not a hopeless situation. Not if people like us are willing
to stand up and use
their One Life to Do Something about it. I'm not a rose-colored-glasses optimist, but I'm all for HOPE!
I have decided to do something about it. World Vision is a Christian
Humanitarian Relief and
Development organization dedicated to helping children and their
communities reach their
full potential by tackling the causes of poverty. Through Team World
Vision I will be running LaSalle Bank's Chicago Marathon on October 7, 2007, (with a lot of God's grace!!).
I have had a passion for communities affected by HIV and AIDS for a long time. My mom was a hospital nurse when the epidemic began to show up, and although other nurses at the time who were afraid (and not yet well educated on the topic) would withdraw from AIDS patients, she said, "I know where I'm going, and these people need the same care, love and affection," and marched right on through her work day, giving the same help to all.
Most of you know me as a singer, and my beloved music community in Chicagoland has been hit hard by this disease. I can't do a lot, but this is one way I can help!!
There are two simple ways that you can support my efforts:
1) Click the link in the text box below, and sponsor a
child for $35 per month
OR
2) Click on the SPONSOR ME NOW button at the bottom of the page
and make an online
donation.
Thanks for WHATEVER you can give. Let's get in the game. You ROCK!!!
Nancy Wiebe Mazurowski