What YOU can do to HELP

After reading through my previous blog posts, you might be thinking, “What can I do to help?”. I know I was thinking like that when I was writing! There are many ways which you, wherever live, can do.

An organization delivering supplies in Africa.

One major way to help is to donate! Many countries have a fund that people can donate to, where the money goes toward HIV/AIDS in South Africa. Not only can you donate to a government fund, you can donate to a Non-Government Organization(NGO). The money you give to NGOs go toward many different things, depending on what NGO you donate to. The money can go to supplies like medicine, tools, technology, food, education resources ,etc.. Even if you donate just a little amount, the money will still be making a difference.

One way to help, from where you live, is to start a fundraiser to make money to donate to HIV/AIDS in Africa and get awareness to other people in your community. You can do anything for a fundraiser, like a car wash, pledges, selling a product, etc. Even if you don’t make lots of money fundraising, you will still be getting people aware of the situation in Africa in your town!

A volunteer talking to children in Africa.

Also, a big way to make a difference, is to volunteer with any organization that goes to Africa and helps people living with HIV/AIDS. When you volunteer with an organization that goes to Africa, you can be helping the people in many ways. You can help them by bringing medical supplies, food, shelter supplies, and compassion for people. If you can go on one of these trips, you will be affecting people positively in South Africa, and it will probably change your life, too.

There are also another way of helping, is buying products that have partnered with a company called RED. RED partners with major companies, like Starbucks or Apple, so when you buy certain products, a percentage of the price is donated to help HIV/AIDS in Africa. This company has raised over 315 million dollars to fighting HIV/AIDS, in Africa. An example of how this works, I am going to use Starbucks. Starbucks has created a card, called the red card, and whenever you buy a drink or food, five cents is donated to RED. It is as easy as that. You can do that with any company RED has partner with. If you want to learn more, here is the link:http://www.red.org/en/learn/partners.

There are so many ways you can help people in Africa, from the comfort of home! Even if it is just buying a Starbucks drink or going to Africa to volunteer and help there. Every little effort helps!