Dear Friends,

I just wanted to drop you a note to honor World AIDS Day.
On this day let us reflect for a moment on the facts, and what we can do
today.

-8,000 people a day around the world die from AIDS-related illnesses.

No country has been harder hit by this epidemic than Sub-Saharan Africa with
more than 70 percent of the world's AIDS cases, and children are the most
innocent victims.

The epidemic is spreading quickly in the countries of the former Soviet
Union and China. But India is losing ground to AIDS faster than any other
country. At one of the largest AIDS treatment centers in India, the women's
ward is so crowded that each bed is shared by at least two patients who
rotate in 12-hour shifts. But there is no medication to help them fight
their disease. There are few visitors because when a woman gets AIDS, she is
deemed a non-person.

In the poorest corners of the world, AIDS does discriminate. No single group
is more at risk than women.

The HIV/AIDS Epidemic

With widespread infection rates and too little prevention education, Africa
is at the heart of the global AIDS crisis.

According to recent statistics, over 17 million Africans have died from
AIDS. Last year alone, 2.3 million died from the virus.

Currently, 28 million Africans are infected with HIV; approximately 1.5
million are children.

Studies predict there will be more than 15 million AIDS orphans in Africa by
the end of the decade.

Because of widespread poverty, infected Africans cannot afford medication or
treatment for HIV/AIDS.

AIDS has devastated not only families, but entire communities.and even
countries. It is also considered one of the greatest threats to children
today. There are 13 million AIDS orphans in the world. In South Africa,
70,000 babies are born with AIDS every year.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela is deeply concerned about the
impact of AIDS, not only in South Africa but around the world. Through his
Children's Fund, he is on the front line, fighting the disease with AIDS
education, health care and support programs. He is passionate about
combating the spread of this devastating disease.

"One of the things that is destroying people with AIDS is the stigma which
we attach to it. When a person realizes that they're suffering from a
disease in which I'm shunned by my friends, by my parents, I'm a castaway.
He or she loses the determination to fight. One thing we must avoid is to
allow people to lose hope in the future." says Mandela.

Former President Clinton has worked closely with South African President
Thabo Mbeki to change AIDS policy in his country.

"We're nuts if we don't think what happens to these African children doesn't
affect our future. We have to understand that they're our children, too."
said Clinton.

U2's Bono sumarizes the issue this eloquent way:
"These lives that are being lost are the people who would have shaped this
Millennium. We don't know what we've lost, and history is going to be hard
on us. The devastation of not rising to this challenge is ours and we need
to meet the greatest health crisis of the past 600 years. This is the
defining moral issue of our time."

Nelson Mandela begs.....
"I have spent 27 years in captivity to fight for human rights. All I'm
asking the world to do is give one minute of their life to fight for the
human rights of those who have AIDS."

Nelson Mandela's organization 46664 (Nelson Mandela's prison number) has
brought big names together to do something about AIDS.

What can you do to make a difference today? Call this number: It takes one
minute and it costs one dollar-and it's a step you can take to turn the
tides against the AIDS epidemic.

CALL NOW: 1-866-61-46664.
You can help today. Just take 1 minute and call.

Thank you, in advance, for your compassion. Please take the time to pass
this along to your friends.
Your leadership will make the difference!!!

Rey


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