Portland Area Global Aids Coalition

Mission Statement:
To support local community-based programs providing care and assistance to vulnerable children in HIV/AIDS-affected areas of South Africa.

General Information:
Thembanathi, a grassroots fundraising organization, was started in 2003 by a young Oregonian, Lindsey Reynolds, and a fellow undergraduate after a research trip they took together to South Africa. Thembanathi is currently working with Holy Cross Hospice, an organization in rural KwaZulu-Natal, the most impacted province in a country with the highest number of HIV infections in the world. Holy Cross runs a hospice and clinic for both young and adult AIDS patients and works to support approximately 2,500 vulnerable children in the area through services such as food parcels, housing, support for schooling, home-based care, feeding centers and day care centers. Thembanathi also works to provide economic opportunities for South African women by supporting several local income generation projects in KwaZulu-Natal. Thembanathi buys all products at fair market prices and sends 100% of the proceeds back to South Africa. Thembanathi means “hope with us” in isiZulu.

How you can get involved:
In addition to direct donations, Thembanathi is seeking opportunities to sell South African jewelry and crafts at events, churches, homes, or work places.

For more information, visit wwww.thembanathi.org
or contact Helen Towle htowle@comcast.net; (541) 345-6144.

The Portland Area Global AIDS Coalition is an alliance of local organizations and individuals, united on behalf of the millions impacted by the global AIDS pandemic. The PAGAC seeks to strengthen the work of its members through the sharing of ideas and resources, to engage the local community in the fight against HIV/AIDS, and to advocate for policies that respond to the needs of those affected both locally and globally.

MAILING LIST
To learn what is happening and how you can get involved, or to list an event, send an e-mail to Ann Pickar at apickar@cs.com.

DIRECTORY OF ORGANIZATIONS
To make it easier to find out about organizations which work in a specific area, organizations are listed under the following headings :

Check the appropriate link to find out who is active in each area.
In addition, as a way of sharing the amazing work being done by the local grassroots community, each month we will be spotlighting a local organization. See below for our current “Organization of the Month.”

Portland Area Global AIDS Coalition
Featured organization of the month:

Report from Kenya

Dear Portland Area Global AIDS Community:

Many of us have been reading about what is happening in Kenya and wondering how we can help, so I am sharing a letter from Judi Smith of Watoto wa Dunia. I will post updates as I receive them, and am happy to distribute news from other Kenya based groups.

Here is a follow up to the report from Judi Smith from John Motter. Many of us know John Motter and Geri Johnson and are very relieved to hear that they are safely back in Oregon, although we feel deeply for what is happening to the people of Kenya.

Thank you for caring.
Ann Pickar
Co-chair, Portland Area Global AIDS Coalition

THEMBANATHI

For more information, visit wwww.thembanathi.org or contact Helen Towle htowle@comcast.net; (541) 345-6144.

For more information, visit wwww.thembanathi.org
or contact Helen Towle htowle@comcast.net; (541) 345-6144.