What 48 Central Floridians will do in Malawi

Sub-Saharan Africa is home to ten percent of the world's population, but nearly 70 percent of those infected with HIV/AIDS live there, according to UNAIDS. Nine out of 10 children living with HIV are African.

With various reasons and different backgrounds, 48 Central Floridians begin a ten-day journey early Friday morning to help fight the AIDS pandemic in a country called Malawi -- situated in the southeast of Africa.

Through Summit Church in Orlando, the team will join Children of the Nations, a nonprofit, faith-based organization headquartered outside of Seattle, with a local office in Maitland.

Having a presence in Malawi for about ten years, Children of the Nations aims to raise up orphaned and destitute children into healthy, educated adults who will be leaders in their society. The organization operates about a dozen foster homes with most of its staff being Malawi people.

The team of 48 Floridians will specifically work to encourage teenagers to get tested for HIV so they can be given antiretroviral drugs, which will prevent the disease from turning into AIDS.

According to 'The Skeptic's Guide to the Global AIDS crisis,' by Dale Hanson Bourke:

* By 2010, it's estimated there will be 25 million AIDS orphans in the world.

* Nearly 6,000 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 are infected every day.

* AIDS will have claimed the lives of at least one-fifth of agriculture workers in southern Africa by 2030.

* Every day, 1,500 children become infected with HIV.

Who I am and why I'm going

After graduating from college in 2004 with a degree in Journalism, I lived and worked European-style as a nanny in Italy for a year. A stint with the 2006 Winter Olympics gave me a new perspective on media and I now work for the Orlando Sentinel's business section.

In the past year, Africa has continued to get more publicity and I have found myself feeling more helpless in the cause. What better a way to conquer that than to go myself?

I go with hopes to bring back an experience and a knowledge that will change the hearts and help the minds of Central Floridians who feel just like me -- far too removed from the reality in Africa, overwhelmed with its huge problems and unable to fully grasp the AIDS pandemic and other economic situations -- therefore doing nothing.