(RED)

 Thoughts & Reflections on this eve of World AIDs Day.(my thoughts on 12/1/2008)
..... I have not been so moved in a long time as I have been when I watched the CNN hero awards this past Thanksgiving. Given I have been thru my own personal hell, yet as a form of selfish therapy, I have repeatedly indulged in a fantasy world trying to mask my personal pain I feel everyday, with efforts of impressing others in this society that I am not only just like them, that their pursuits of material happiness are also my pursuits of happiness. In the process I have completely lost track of where I am from, who I am and the blessed journey G*D has given to me. On the eve of World AIDs Day, instead of being lost in selfish thoughts and dreams, my thoughts & prayers are with those afflicted and affected by the disease on the continent of Africa. Rightly so, majority of the emphasis is placed on research into a cure, preventable measures & those afflicted by this bane of humanity called AIDs. Yet, much less attention is on those affected. When I use the term "affected" I don't just mean loved ones, friends and families left behind. Instead, I mean the de-evolution and subsequent destruction of African culture as it stands precariously today. You see, in some regions of Africa, AIDs is progressively wiping out large parts of the population. These segments of the population are usually aged between18 to 40 years old. Life expectancy in these regions is expected to drop to 40 years old in less than 10 years. African culture, including history and traditions are essentially passed on fro the elders to adults the to children. Therefore with AIDs wiping out more than 75% of the adult population, the disease creates a void in African society that cannot be healed by a cure or charitable efforts. Left behind are the elders who are usually taken care of by the adults and the young children who are left without parental care & role models. In many regions you have children as young as 8 years old fending for themselves and their elderly grandparents. Basic everyday survival pre-requisites including finding food, shelter and clothes become necessities instead of "luxuries" such as education & the passing on of cultural traditions. With Africa facing other problems like: war, poverty, other diseases, clean drinking water, rapid environmental destruction; this effect of AIDs is just another catastrophe that people on the continent have to deal with on an everyday basis. As I become weary of the fight against my own personal problems in this society (I always feel like I am on the outside looking in like that scene in Victor/Victoria with Julie Andrews staring in the restaurant window from out in the cold), I consider and reflect on this real issue on the eve of World AIDs Day.

 Helooo...thank you for the add, hope you have a great week!!!

thanx 4 the add

Thanks for all that you do!  best wishes from Texas! 

thanks for all of your hard work!!!

Thank you for all that you do. And thank you for adding me. I want to help! When we all join together, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

love this holiday season's (red) product lineup - my preferable way to gift those i love, where everyone wins!

I love product red I bought shoes I made shoes I got the iPod I tell my friends and I was thinking the other day that you guys should team up with a car company have a product red car :)

Thanks for the Add :-)