June 2010
1 post
Football, handbags & gladrags...let's "get...
The countdown has begun to the World Cup 2010, kicking off In Africa this month. It’s an amazing opportunity to highlight this colourful continent and as EngageHIV is all about bringing hope to people affected by HIV and Aids there, we’ve got the perfect way to “Fight it with Football”! Our “Fight it with Football” action provides you with simple ideas to enjoy the World Cup and raise money for...
May 2010
2 posts
Get the G8 to keep their promise!
Today at Engage we are loving the new One campaign - check it out and add your name!
Since promising to increase aid to Africa in 2005 Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi has actually cut it. His broken promises cost lives, so we should hurl him out of the G8.
The G8 are meeting in Canada in June. Most G8 countries have cancelled debt and increased effective aid to Africa. This has helped...
BORN HIV FREE CAMPAIGN - WE LOVE IT!
‘BORN HIV FREE’ CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED WITH SUPPORT OF CARLA BRUNI-SARKOZY
At Engage we are all LOVING the Born HIV Free Campaign - check it out and sign up at www.bornhivfree.org
EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY,
A CHILD IS BORN WITH HIV.
WE MUST STOP THIS. AND NOW WE CAN.
Paris, 19 May 2010 –The Global Fund has launched its BORN HIV FREE campaign to mobilize public support for its work and for a world...
April 2010
3 posts
There's still time!
One.org: We’ve reached 83% of our 2ND NEW goal of 12,500 signers!
There’s still time: keep signing!
Join us in asking the Canadian government, as chair of the G8, to take action to improve the health of women and children worldwide.
PUT WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST AT THE G8 IN HALIFAX
You can still join this One campaign…
Go to the One website, sign your name today, it literally takes...
Take action today!
Today, April 26, G8 development ministers will meet in Canada, to put together a global plan to improve maternal and child health. Every year more than 300,000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth; 3.6 million children die within their first month of life and 5.2 million more die before they reach 5 years of age.
Join us in asking the Canadian government, as chair of the G8, to take action to...
See an end to extreme poverty in our lifetime: ...
At EngageHIV we are loving www.globalpovertyproject.com - You should DEFINITELY watch this YouTube clip of their UK launch - so very inspiring!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdIe2qSZJuQ
and Hugh Jackman fans will be interested to know he’s an ambassador for Global Poverty Project, watch him visit the UN with Hugh Evans, founder of GPP.
...
March 2010
2 posts
No more babies born with HIV!
“Strong, healthy women lead to strong, healthy children and communities.”“
This week I am LOVE LOVE LOVING Women ONE2ONE on the One website - http://www.one.org/women/ - so much amazing information about empowering women and, THE CAMPAIGN - how amazing would it be to have no more babies born with HIV - check out the details below and take just a minute to add your voice -...
“We know that gender inequality puts millions of...
Today – Monday 8th March, is International Women’s Day - a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.
On this day EngageHIV want to lift up those women who are struggling because of this illness. Globally, women and girls continue to be affected disproportionately by HIV. AIDS related illness is the leading cause of death and...
February 2010
1 post
Ask the companies to "push for the pool"
Last year EngageHIV was happy to take part in Stop AIDS campaign’s “Push for the Pool” and celebrate when UNITAID agreed to create this life-saving HIV patent pool.
The pool should help to save the lives of millions living with HIV across the developing world who are unable to access the life-saving medicines they need. It should also allow companies to adapt existing HIV...
January 2010
2 posts
Courageous leadership brings hope to those with...
Hi EngageHIV supporters
This campaign takes seconds yet can make a difference to those affected by HIV/AIDS – we want the Milennium Development Goals to be met so all who require treatment receive it and the spread of this terrible disease can be halted and reversed! Add your signature to the ONE petition and ask Canada the new G8 leader to courageously LEAD!
Follow the link below and add your...
The Gift - narrated by Gwyneth Paltrow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0MachQ-AL4
Check this out on youtube. It is very powerful and very moving.
“An unwanted gift, passed from mother to child. End this connection, break the chain.”
Narrated by Gwyneth Paltrow, The Gift is a dramatisation of a new poem by Simon Armitage, to highlight UNICEF UK’s Born Free from HIV campaign.
Almost every minute of every day, a...
December 2009
4 posts
Help orphans remember their mummies and daddies...
Hello Engage friends
As we approach Christmas, are you struggling to find the perfect present for someone? Or maybe it’s time to make a special donation to mark the Christmas season? Look no further. This Christmas, you can help orphans remember their mummies and daddies – you won’t find a more valuable gift than that!
EngageHIV partner, Lulisandla Kumntwana, is helping orphaned children in...
Stop AIDS Campaign celebrates creation of...
EXCITING CAMPAIGN NEWS! 20th December 09
Stop AIDS Campaign celebrates creation of life-saving HIV patent pool
The recent Stop AIDS campaign for the HIV patent pool, which EngageACTION supporters took part in, is celebrating the success of the campaign. A decision by UNITAID last week to approve the implementation of an innovative patent pool for HIV drugs was heralded as a great victory in the...
Help orphans remember their mummies and daddies...
Hello Engage friends
As we approach Christmas, are you struggling to find the perfect present for someone? Or maybe it’s time to make a special donation to mark the Christmas season? Look no further. This Christmas, you can help orphans remember their mummies and daddies – you won’t find a more valuable gift than that!
EngageHIV partner, Lulisandla Kumntwana, is helping orphaned children in...
Tre and Tori play acoustic cafe at Ground
Hey guys if you are around the North Coast area come to our acoustic gigs this week, we are happy to announce that Ground is supporting Engage HIV, come join us for an amazing night of music from Tre and Tori Sheppard in Ground Coleraine on Thursday 17th Dec and Ground BALLYMONEY on Saturday 19th Dec. Its going to be out of this World and there might even be the odd Christmas or...
November 2009
1 post
One colour unites us. Facebook (RED) for World...
Hey guys check this out great to help fight Aids for World Aids Day. http://www.facebook.com/joinred
One colour unites us. Help us turn facebook (RED) for World Aids Day, December 1. Show your support and help fight aids in Africa.
ALSO:
Universal access…check out this great clip!
AVERT: World AIDS Day 2009 - Universal Access
Watch this new video from Avert explaining why universal...
October 2009
1 post
Say what you want about Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, but... →
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy has called upon world leaders to eliminate mother to child HIV transmission by 2015. She spoke at a special event in New York, on the sidelines of the opening of the UN General Assembly.
The Global Fund recognizes that preventing HIV-positive mothers from dying and babies from being infected with HIV is critical to efforts to achieve the health-related Millennium Development...
September 2009
19 posts
“Once again I was humbled by the commitment of these extraordinary people and...”
– Tre in Uganda, September 28, 2009
Meetings and safe home… Days 8 and 9,...
Today’s my final day in Africa… for now, at least. It’s been a great trip, but I’m definitely feeling tired. After 2000 km overland across four African nations, I could use a day off to be honest! But there’s still work to be done before we head for our early evening flight to Nairobi and then on from there to London. We spent the morning with the Fields Of Life team having a time of worship...
“You see it’s not just that we’re fighting for hope here in Africa in the face of...”
– Tre in Uganda, September 27, 2009
From the bush to the city… Day Seven, Uganda.
Waking up in a tent is actually quite nice to be honest. I slept incredibly well, so maybe the answer to my chronic insomnia is sleeping under canvas and a mosquito net while animals roam about. Fairly hard to arrange on the coast back home in Northern Ireland I reckon ;)
Good morning Uganda
I don’t usually do many tourist sort of things generally when I’m in Africa, so today was sort of...
“The real adventure isn’t sleeping in tents in safari parks… the real adventure...”
– Tre in Uganda, September 26, 2009
Tents and Irish Farmers... Day 6 Uganda.
I’m actually writing this blog while I sit on the front porch of my tent in a wildlife reserve in Uganda. Ironically, I think I got the best sleep of all here! But more on how I ended up in a tent in the middle of Uganda later :)
My writing desk tonight…
We’d been joined on the previous evening by three fellows from the Ulster Farmer’s Union (UFU). For the 90th anniversary of the UFU,...
The road goes ever on and on… Day Five...
After crossing the Congolese border back into Rwanda last night, I finally got a few hours of decent sleep… as did my wife who spent most of the day worried that I was going to be shot at in the Congo ;)
Looking back across the border towards the Congo from my hotel room…
Today was spent almost entirely on the road. Travelling overland from the Rwandan/Congolese border into Uganda isn’t a...
“Across sub Saharan Africa tonight, there are countless communities just like...”
– Tre in the Congo, September 25, 2009
There I was, there I was… in the Congo. Day Four...
I woke up in Rwanda after only a few hours sleep… We were literally just down the road from the actual “Hotel Rwanda,” but our place was a little more “Hotel Noise” so I was pretty tired. We had quite a day ahead, with several school visits and a at least two border crossings to negotiate, but I was ready to go as I’d always wanted to visit the Congo :)
The view from my hotel in Kigali
We...
Camping out!
“Once again, I’m without internet access for the night, but that’s because I’m sleeping in a tent in a national park! Just a last minute change of plan, gotta love Africa! :-) As soon as I can get online again, I’ll tell you the whole story. Thanks again for reading, Tre.”
Sept 25
“I’ve crossed the border from Rwanda into Uganda, but have no internet access. This is coming via text, but I’ll have new photos and stories as soon as I can can get back online somewhere. Thanks for sticking with me. Tre”
“Today and every day, about 5500 Africans will die from a treatable, preventable...”
– Tre in Rwanda, September 24, 2009
From hope to horror… and back again. Day three in...
I’m writing tonight from Kigali, the capital and largest city in Rwanda. I’m absolutely shattered from the day’s events and hours upon hours of driving, but I’ll do my best to get my thoughts down before I try to sleep for a few hours…
We left Bujumbura early, headed for the Rwandan border. I spent most of the trip watching guys on bikes loaded down with everything and anything you can imagine...
“I’ll never forget the tiny boy with a stick herding cows over a small stream or...”
– Tre in Africa, Sept 23, 2009
A borrowed shirt and the Archbishop. Day two in...
Today’s been quite amazing really… I’m sitting in the mosquito-infested lobby of our otherwise really nice hotel struggling to get this uploaded somehow! The internet here seems more than a little temperamental…
I guess the biggest struggle for me is trying to find words that can somehow do justice to both the beauty and the challenges of Burundi. It’s an extraordinary country, facing tremendous...
“Burundi doesn’t need us to ‘fix’ it. But the people of Burundi welcome our...”
– Tre in Africa Sept 23, 2009
Are there really only 24 hours in a day?! Burundi,...
Second blog, still day one… and I’m really starting to feel that overnight flight from London. We landed in Burundi at the Bujumbura International Airport, which is essentially a couple of landing strips with a few tired jets and a single UN helicopter next to a small terminal building.
Hello Bujumbura!
We were met at the airport by the local Field Director from Fields Of Life and several...
“We’re all here for various reasons, but mostly because we’ve not given up hope...”
– Tre in Africa Sept 22nd, 2009
Burundi or bust... day one in Africa.
It’s 4:45 am at my house in Northern Ireland… but I’m sitting in Jomo Kenyatta airport in Kenya drinking Diet Coke and reading Roberto Bolaño, waiting for my flight to Burundi. Africa is always interesting, but I’ve been to this airport enough to experience that blasé feeling of timelessness, insomnia, and jet lag that seems to accompany every airport, everywhere.
This trip is different than my...