I want to be clear here.  What you are about to read is not based on any research, but only my thoughts after being in South Africa for the last month.  I encourage everyone to question or comment on what I am saying below.  Please! Did you know that life expectancy rates in South Africa have declined from age 61 in 1995 to less than 49 in 2009?  Daunting when you compare US rates that are slowly increasing towards 80. How can this be at a time when medical companies are developing new drugs and miracle cures everyday?  How can [...] Continue Reading »

A couple days ago, we met up with Kevin Winge from Open Arms at the Zwane Community Center in Guguletu. He and his team were delivering food parcels to 250 families For now watch this video featuring Jo-Anna. The whole day was impactful for me; that was something that shocked me.  I always believed my past travels prepared me for any situation, but today hit me hard, especially the neighborhoods where no one had money and HIV was skyrocketing, in part because guys will walk by a door and offer 20 Rand ($2.50) to have sex, and will pay an [...] Continue Reading »

I was not looking forward to yesterday.  I was excited for the Germany vs England game, but not for the 9-hour roundtrip drive from Johannesburg to Bloemfontein.  As I sat looking out the window at the empty fields, I wondered, what is the life for someone living in South Africa really like?  There was only one immediate way to find out: our driver Musa was sitting right next to me. Musa is a 36-year old driver.  Monday thru Saturday he gets up at 4:30 to chauffer people to their destinations, often to and from the airport.  His day ends around [...] Continue Reading »

As we drove into Kliptown, a suburb of the former black township of Soweto, I tried to imagine myself as part of a family of 10, inhabiting one of 8,000 corrugated tin shanties the size of a dining room back home.  Here in 2010, just 17 miles southwest of the modern skyline of Johannesburg, I tried to imagine not having running water–having to share the Port-a-Potty set up on the corner of the block with all my neighbors. My  “home” would have a small yard filled with dirt and broken glass, and it would be protected by a barbwire fence, [...] Continue Reading »

Kids reaching across the world–to change the world Team Up, in their own words, “is founded on the belief that youth from across the world can make an impact on the global battle against HIV/AIDS if they fight it together.” In other words, bringing kids from around the world together to make a difference. Team Up was the brainchild of 24 year-old Tyler Spencer.  Tyler worked with Grassroot Soccer, an African organization dedicated to training athletes and peer educators to deliver HIV/AIDS prevention messages to youth. He then decided to put his own personal touch on the Grassroot curriculum (see [...] Continue Reading »

You are going to think of me as really naïve, but three weeks ago I saw HIV as an African issue. I knew it was crippling the lives of people throughout Africa, but I thought HIV in America was very rare. I have since learned that in some areas of Washington DC, the rate of infected people could be as high as one out of every eight people. THAT’S ONE OUT OF EVERY EIGHT! I learned this the other day as our team met up with Tyler Spencer of the Team Up campaign, a campaign I’ll write more about tomorrow. [...] Continue Reading »

Did you know that the first game in World Cup history was Mexico vs. France?  Neither did I, but 80 years later, I was there for the rematch for what would be my first soccer game ever. I no idea what to expect, but my first reaction was that the energy around the stadium was not what I anticipated. I imagined 100,000 people from around the world, crowding the streets before the game.  The scene would be a combination of people going the game as well as others trying to find their own ticket or just sharing in the excitement. [...] Continue Reading »

Have you ever had a friend give you some advice before leaving on a big trip or perhaps you read a guide book that told you places to see or the foods to eat, and even things to watch out for. It might have given you a perception of where you’re going to before you actually get there. In preparation for South Africa, the message was clearly about fear.  Friends and people on the plane told me about tourists getting robbed or even killed while walking down the street.  The guide book goes so far as to suggests that you [...] Continue Reading »

The other day, I was talking with Craig after a meeting with Clint from One Simple Plan. He asked me a question that really started me thinking, “what do you want to get out of this expedition?” For the last couple months, I’ve been focused on finding the best stories when we get there. I’ve been making connections with people for us to interview, but I never once consciously thought about why I’m going in the first place. After thinking about it, I’m now going to clue you in on what I came up with: First, as a young kid, [...] Continue Reading »