This post is a departure from my usual leadership topics. 14 years ago my son went to Uganda to work for three months with a non-profit organization doing work in AIDS prevention among young people. He had recently graduated from university and was pondering job offers and career choices. While he was in Uganda he encountered the tragedy of AIDS orphans, more there than any other country. South Africa gets a lot of the press because of its political evolution, but the AIDS epidemic emerged in Uganda first and the exponential effects are catastrophic.
So, he came back to the US, turned down the job offers, sold his house and car, and bought an airline ticket. With but $3500 in his pocket and no promise of support from anywhere, he landed back in East Africa. He leased a property and welcomed his first child six weeks later. Over time and at great personal sacrifice, Aidchild is now one of the most influential pediatric AIDS care projects on the African continent.
His mother and I are, of course, honored to serve as grandparents to over 100 children. Our son has adopted them all and we have too.
Imparting health to children who have AIDS is no easy task. The success Aidchild has won comes from a three sided therapy – medication, nutrition, and what we have discovered to be the most powerful, affection. These are throw away kids, abandoned by their villages, cast aside in fear by the society that spawned them. Being loved when non one wanted you goes a very long ways in inspiring a person to fight for life and living.
That is the power of purpose.
Giving someone something to live for and making certain the promise of a tomorrow unleashes hope and hope is essential for life, for a happy life.
So, I want to share this with you and to present you with an opportunity to become part of the process…for the price of a convenience store soft drink. I am asking you to click on this link and just take a look at how so much can be accomplished by so little.
