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16 posts categorized "HIV/AIDS"

May 10, 2010

A Sex Crazed Culture at the World Cup

There are a lot of things heading to South Africa for the World Cup this summer. For starters, I'll be going with my two boys and 21 other people. We'll be doing ministry in Johannesburg and Capetown and catching a few games while we're at it. I'll also be live blogging and uploading pictures and video for you to see. I have no idea what to expect because I've never been to anything quite like this. 

But this is what will shock you: THERE ARE ALSO 1 BILLION CONDOMS heading to South Africa. When I saw that number I couldn't believe it. Really?! Is humanity that sex crazed?! Everyone is planning on making big money from everyone's sexual appetite; taxi drivers, pimps, strip clubs, hotel concierge's, sauna's, message parlors. And all of this in an area that has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the world. 

The result? Aborted fetuses, orphaned babies, boys and girls sex trafficked and forced to serve 40-60 clients a day, violence, abuse, and a ton of HIV spread for these folks to take home with them and infect others. This is absolutely heartbreaking. The world is in desperate need of a Savior. 

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- South Africa and the World Cup: 1 Billion Condoms and 40,000 Workers. The taxi drivers hustling around the bars on Long Street in Cape Town say they are ready for all the soccer fans that will flood the city in June for the World Cup. So are hotels, restaurants, breweries and, inevitably, prostitutes.

Arguably, the soccer World Cup is to the sex industry what the holiday season is to candy shops. A temporary surge of excited people feeling collectively festive, willing to pay for a bit of extra indulgence.

South Africa's Drug Central Authority estimates 40,000 sex workers will trickle in for the event from as far as Russia, the Congo and Nigeria to cater to the wide taste spectrum of some 400,000, mostly male, visitors and their apres-soccer needs.

Henry Africa, 49, drives a taxi in Cape Town and, aside from the usual airport pickups and winery tours, he also operates the "Bright Red Tour," which he expects to be a hit among soccer fans. For the equivalent of 500 dollars, he'll shuttle customers from strip bar to strip bar all night and even bring them over to a safe-sex practicing prostitute, a relevant selling point in a country where one in five adults are estimated to be HIV positive.

Over the years as a cabbie, he says he has seen it all: men hoping to try sex with someone HIV-positive, men getting drugged, beat up and robbed because they thought they could find what they needed on their own. Read the rest of the article here, from the Huffington Post.

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March 12, 2010

Love Mercy

Award winning author Lisa Samson has a new book out called Love Mercy: A Mother and Daughter's Journey from the American Dream to the Kingdom of God - and you have to read it! Lisa and her daughter, Ty, came with me on a trip to Swaziland, Africa two years ago. This book is about their experience together and how God changed their lives forever. 

Lisa continues to help change the lives of the people in Swaziland, she's even help raise the funds to build a brand new school for a village of impoverished orphans in the southern part of the country. Because of her generous spirit, Lisa has donated all of the profits from this book to Children's HopeChest. Get this book, go on a journey to Africa with Lisa and Ty, and see how God uses it to change you.

January 23, 2010

Pictures from South Africa and Swaziland


  Swaziland Riaan & Barry

So excited to see what Children's HopeChest is accomplishing across Africa. New Pictures up from this trip on my Facebook Account. Click here to see. This is Riaan Heynes and Barry Huggins. Riaan is the Missions pastor at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. They just cancelled our flight here in Swaziland back to Johannesburg. No phone call, no warning! Hoping to get on the next one so we can catch our flight to Washington DC this evening. It's the middle of summer here and burning hot. I need to get back to my family and winter in Colorado!

January 18, 2010

Durban, South Africa - Partnership with Children's HopeChest and Focus on the Family


Children's Hopechest & Focus on the Family South Africa from Tom Davis on Vimeo.

December 10, 2009

Why Christmas Should be About Orphans Like Hiatt

This little girl absolutely melted my heart. Her orphanage, Kolmbocha, is far from the capital city in Ethiopia. I asked the director, "When was the last time you had any visitors?" His answer? Eight years. My hope this Christmas is that sweet little girls like Hiatt won't be forgotten by my friends and family here in the US. This orphanage is available for sponsorship by your community. There's 100 kids waiting. Email me if you're interested: [email protected].

Also, you can give a gift of hope this Christmas at HopeChestPartners.org. Make a gift in honor of someone special this Christmas--a gift that brings hope to orphans like Hiatt.

Meet Hiatt from Children's HopeChest on Vimeo.

July 29, 2008

Shocking Report on AIDS in America

When I speak around the U.S., many people show indifference to the HIV/AIDS crisis because it's not "in our own backyard." Well guess what? It is. We do a good job at hiding it, but this brand new report from CNN tells a different story. Please everyone, read this entire article, get educated about this issue, then get involved! A good place to start is to join 5 for 50 today.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- The AIDS epidemic among African-Americans in some parts of the United States is as severe as in parts of Africa, according to a report out Tuesday.

"AIDS in America today is a black disease," says Phill Wilson, founder of the Black AIDS institute.

"Left Behind - Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS" is intended to raise awareness and remind the public that the "AIDS epidemic is not over in America, especially not in Black America," says the report, published by the Black AIDS Institute, an HIV/AIDS think tank focused exclusively on African-Americans.

"AIDS in America today is a black disease," says Phill Wilson, founder and CEO of the institute and himself HIV-positive for 20 years. "2006 CDC data tell us that about half of the just over 1 million Americans living with HIV or AIDS are black."

Although black people represent only about one in eight Americans, one in every two people living with HIV in the United States is black, the report notes.

The report uses just-released data from UNAIDS and existing CDC and Census data to highlight grim statistics:

• AIDS remains the leading cause of death among black women between ages 25 and 34. It's the second-leading cause of death in black men 35-44.
• In Washington, more than 80 percent of HIV cases are among black people, that's one in 20 residents. iReport: AIDS in Washington's older population

"Five percent of the entire population (in DC) is infected... that's comparable to countries like Uganda or South Africa," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN for the recent "Black in America" documentary.

According to this report, if black Americans made up their own country, it would rank above Ethiopia (420,000 to 1,300,000) and below Ivory Coast (750,000) in HIV population. Both Ethiopia and the Ivory Coast are among the 15 nations receiving funds from the President's Emergency Plan For Aids Relief. The United States has given about $15 billion to PEPFAR nations in the past five years.
Read the entire article here.

November 29, 2007

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.

FARDC soldiers on patrol in north Kivu in November 2007

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.

October 17, 2007

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.
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August 20, 2007

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.