Tom Davis' Blog

11 Month Old Baby Dies from Being Raped

This is sick, sick, sick. World AIDS day is on December 1st, and if the story does anything, it should spur you to action. Do something! Pray, join 5 for 50, buy Saint's coffee - Coffee that fights poverty. If this doesn't wake us up, what will?

An 11-month-old baby girl has died in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo a day after she was raped, the UN says.

The alleged rapist, a man aged 20, has been detained by Congolese police  about 140km west of Goma. He faces a life sentence.

The BBC's Arnaud Zajtman heard the harrowing story of one young victim.

A six-year-old girl named Mushika told our correspondent she was looking after goats in her village when a soldier grabbed her and abused her.

"He laid me on the ground and lifted my skirt... I was trying to shout but he put his hand on my mouth. After he had finished, he ran away. When I tried to walk, I was dizzy." Read the entire article here.

Podcast

I was interviewed today on, "Along the Way ," a radio program out of Minneapolis hosted by Kim Jeffries. If you would like to listen to or download the podcast, click here and look for Tom Davis, author of Red Letters. For those of you who don't know, World AIDS Day, is coming up on December 1st. This podcast focuses on the issue.

South Africa Losing AIDS Battle

You're going to see more and more of these kinds of reports. Countries that have ignored the AIDS crisis cannot 'make up lost time' and gain the advantage on this disease. South Africa has major problems: HIV/AIDS infection and death rates are outpacing treatment, infant mortality rate is rising (95 deaths per thousand births - almost 10%), infection rate in some areas has climbed to 50%, by the year 2015 there will be over 5 million AIDS orphans in this country. Again, multiple millions will die and many more will be infected in the years to come. This crisis will drastically affect our generation. What will you do? Start doing something by joining 5 for 50 at www.5for50.com today! Read the rest of the article from BBC HERE.

China Fights Rising Cases of HIV

For the fist time, sex has become the primary reason for new HIV infections in China. Previously, it was due to drug use. This is a serious issue for China as HIV infections now spread into the main population. With the numbers of people living in China and the size of the cities, this is something to worry about. Read the BBC article here.               

Orphans Thrown Away Like Tissue Paper

What happens to a society when the orphan population explodes because of AIDS? Imagine that happening in your home town. Thousands of your neighbors would be little 12 and 13 year old boys and girls raising their younger siblings. No parents, no sense of right and wrong, just abandoned kids raising kids. It's almost too hard to believe this is the reality for millions of children living in our world. Please Read this article to get a grasp on this crisis. There is something to be done. We can be 'Good Samaritans' and make a difference in the life of an orphan. If you don't know where to start, Five for 50 is a great option.

A Call for Women to Help in the HIV Crisis

I love how passionate women are about issues that affect our world. Whenever we have missions trips, they are at least 75% women. When AIM (Adventures in Missions) does short and long term trips, 75% women. Women have carried heavy loads across the centuries when men either didn't or couldn't.  Examples would be taking care of the home front during WWI and WWII when men were at war. Today, there's a reason Russia is called, "Mother Russia." It's mostly women who are taking care of the family and working tirelessly.

What does this have to do with HIV/AIDS? The Kaiser Family Foundation has just released "The Multsectoral Impact of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic. Listen to one of their key findings, "There is the potential for HIV to alter the ratio of women to men since so many affected by HIV are women. Women account for almost half (48%) of all adults living with HIV/AIDS globally; they account for 59% of adults living with HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa. HIV rates typically peak among women 5 to 10 years earlier than men and women with HIV also tend to die earlier than men." Thanks to Mike Todd for this info.

Download kaiser_report.pdf

Ladies, there's plenty you can do! Take action and go to the Five for 50 website now and sign up in 5 areas of involvement. Or, get involved with HIV education, go on a mission trip, get involved with an organization helping those infected with HIV. The world needs you and is waiting!

The Fight Against AIDS - We're Losing

A brand new report came out today with discouraging news. With all that has been done in education, health care, and awareness, AIDS continues to be on the rise and we are losing the battle. Dr. Anthony Fauci, President George W. Bush's top adviser on the HIV/AIDS crisis, said that for every person we put in therapy for HIV, another six are infected.

The number of people infected with HIV is supposed to rise from over 40 million today to over 60 million by 2015. There was some good news at the summit regarding male circumcision reducing the transmission rate of HIV, but the rest was bleak news. The fact is that nothing but abstinence and faithfulness to one spouse will ever curb HIV. Dr. Brian Gazzard said, "The HIV epidemic is essentially uncontrolled, uncontrolled in Africa, and uncontrolled completely in Asia right now."

We have to be educated and involved regarding this deadly disease - Jesus commands us to do so. AIDS will kill millions of people leaving in its wake millions more orphans and widows. Read the rest of the article here.

Five for 50

In the Nashville airport on the way home after 3 days of heavy traveling. I'm tired just thinking about it! Had an incredible time speaking at The Orphan Summit hosted by Family Life and Focus on the Family. I saw so many people I have only spoken to by phone over the years, as well as many friends from around the country. This was an incredible event and I was truly inspired to be around so many amazing people doing great things for orphans around the world. Today, I was at Coca-Cola Nashville launching a sponsorship program in Swaziland, Africa.

I NEED YOUR HELP! Recently, I told you about a new campaign I am starting in conjunction with the release of Red Letters: Living a Faith that Bleeds in THIS POST which explains the details. We have a sample of the micro-site up for your review which includes the new logo for Fivefor50 you can view here. This is in the initial stages, but I could use your ideas and suggestions. What do you think?

The Global Fund

I'm off today to Washington DC at the invitation of DATA to participate in a special lunch. The lunch is hosted for the partners of The One Campaign to meet Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, the new director of  The Global Fund. The title of our gathering is, "Together We Can Achieve More," and the focus is to help the faith based organizations involved with ONE to receive funding. This is a critically important step for us at Children's HopeChest as we continue to expand our ministry throughout Africa. Global Fund specifically funds programs that help to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria - killing over 6 million people a year. This is obviously a huge focus for us and will continue to grow in the years to come.

HIV and Mother to Child Transmission

One of the reasons HIV infections are on the rise in many countries in the world like Africa, India, Russia, and China is because of the number of infants getting the virus from their mothers. There are 3 ways an infant is infected with HIV: 1) Uterine (in the womb) 2) During delivery 3) Breast milk. There is a drug called Neviraprine, that helps to drastically reduce the chances of a baby being infected. The cost is relatively cheap (about $8) and the affects can be dramatic. There's a great article here in the UK Metro, that tells the story of a child who received the medication and was HIV negative and one who didn't and was HIV positive. The good news is that medication can be provided to these kids and it can save their lives. To give now, please go to the website of my friends at Compassion International to read about their AIDS initiative and to help provide Neviraprine to expecting mothers who are HIV positive. You can literally be part of saving a life!