36 Hours and counting...

We are leaving in about 36 hours and panic finally sets in for me. I am a clinical pharmacist by training and I work with HIV patients regularly at my practice, so this trip sounded like a very good fit for me...it may be a different country but not exactly that far out of my comfort zone. I didn't really have much doubt or concerns since signing up for the trip last fall.

Fast forward to today, my bags are not packed yet, errands, loose ends at work, and the hallmark symptoms highly suggestive of an upcoming cold or upper respiratory tract infections are beginning to make me wonder what have I gotten myself into?

By sheer coincidence I was looking through some files on my computer earlier today and ran into an old presentation that I prepared a year ago about the AIDS epidemic and global health disparity, and I was instantly reminded why we are doing this trip. I would like to share some of this statistics with you:

Every day, 1,800 children under 15 are infected with HIV and 1,400 die of AIDS-related illnesses.

Infection rates in women and girls are 5 times higher than males in Africa; many women do not have the power to refuse sex or insist on condom use.

Less than 5% of children worldwide receive necessary antiretroviral drugs.

Infant deaths from AIDS-related infections can be cut in HALF with Bactrim treatment (costing pennies a day), yet only 1% of infants receive this life-saving treatment.

In 2007, 22.5 million people are living with HIV and 1.6 million died because of HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. In contrast, the numbers are 1.3 million and 21,000 in North America, respectively. In South Africa specifically, 18.8% of the country's residents are infected.

The statistics are overwhelming. I would be foolish, prideful, and arrogant to think that I am going to make a difference. I have to be honest and say I wonder sometimes why bother at all? But this trip is not about me, it's about walking humbly with God and accomplishing His will.

"Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." - Isaiah 1:17


"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." - 1 Peter 4:10

So please keep our team in your prayers - for safety, understanding, and effectiveness in this mission and ministry. Pray for our work, the people that we will meet, the hearts that will be opened, the lives that will be changed...and personally that my cold will run its quick course and a speedy recovery! Now, I better get going and start packing.