Coming to the Table

World AIDS Day is December 1st.

In South Africa, it is a day typically marked by testing sites and marathons and scattered red ribbons. In the US, Facebook campaigns and AIDS Walks and more scattered ribbons.

But what if this year it could be something different?

What if this year we all did something to take ownership of a global pandemic and to take action towards a solution?

What if this year we said it is not acceptable that 5.7 million South Africans are HIV+ resulting in approximately 2 million AIDS orphans?

What if this year we said it is not acceptable that almost 20% of South Africa's children have lost one or both parents resulting in an orphan generation of 4 million children?

What if this year World AIDS Day was a first step to a new future?

At Oasis Haven, we want to take that first step through Coming to the Table.

Coming to the Table is a simple idea that involves you inviting your friends, family, and colleagues to join you for a meal in your home, office, church or place of gathering. During that meal, through the aid of Oasis Haven's host kit, spend some time discussing HIV/AIDS and the orphan crisis. Then at the end of the meal, take a first step towards ownership and action by donating what you would have spent dining out to Oasis Haven. The funds raised through this event will go towards the care of our children, towards growth to provide for more children, and towards  placement of all our kids in Forever Family.

A simple idea with a big result.

I'm asking you as a reader to get involved. If you are in the US, send a quick email to erika@oasishaven.org. If you are in South Africa or any where else in the world, send an email to me at amanda@oasishaven.org.

Thanks for stepping up.

Impossible to be Succinct

When it comes to sitting down and writing out what I've spent the last month and a half doing and working on, I struggle. I know that many of you would like to know more about Oasis Haven and more about what my daily life looks like since I left Peace Corps, but every time I try to put it into words, words fail me.

Or perhaps it's that I have too many words, and I don't know how to put them down in a succinct, blog appropriate format?

What I would prefer is to sit down with each of my readers over a cup of coffee and share with you the fullness of my heart... Share with you about the almost 4 million orphans in South Africa--approximately 20% of South Africa's children. Share with you about our family home model and how we try our best to honor and protect our children through that model. Share with you our passion about adoption and the joy of seeing a child brought into their forever family.

But with friends and family spread out all over the world, the price tag for those cups of coffee is a bit out of my price range.

For this moment, I think that the best I can do is to ask you to jump over to our website, sign-up for our newsletter so you can find out about ways to get involved, and then let this picture say everything else.