The donations keep coming in! To date, from sponsors like you, I have been able to raise $1200!! Thank you! Your encouragement, warm wishes and of course your dollars are what keep me both motivated and extremely grateful!
There are currently 940,000 people living with HIV in Uganda and a further 1.2 million children who have been orphaned by AIDS (advert.org, 2009). With conflict in government, competing societal norms, and a severe lack of education, healthcare and healthcare facilities many woman and children continue to do without the care, drugs, counseling and services they need to compete against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in their communities and villages.

Uganda is at an important crossroad in the history of its AIDS epidemic. After a dramatic reduction in HIV prevalence following an early comprehensive HIV prevention campaign, there are signs that the number of people living with HIV in the country may be starting to rise again. In order to avoid this, Uganda needs to take a serious look at infection trends and behavior to identify why this rise may be occurring and how to remedy it. Experts believe that complacency and the ‘normalization’ of AIDS may be leading to an increase in the risky behavior that early prevention campaigns sought to reverse (advert.org, 2009).

We can stop this upward trend together, when you sponsor me and my trip to Uganda you are directly contributing to deeply needed programs that provide counseling, education, and other services to the woman and children affected both directly and indirectly by HIV. Please help! Send your contribution today. I am just four weeks and $1300 away from my total fundraising goal. Will you help me meet my goal and by thus support the services that make life bearable for so many infected families and orphaned children?

Please donate today by clicking on the 'Donate' button at the top right-hand side of this page or mail your check today to Nathan Currie, 161 South Street #4, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130. I can’t do this alone I need your help, thank you.

Sincerely,
Nathan Currie

New Year's Update

Happy New Year! As we move into this New Year, first and foremost I would like thank all those that have sponsored me thus far. The support, kind words and generosity have touched me and I truly am blessed to have so many people believe in me and the work that I do. Thank you!

So far I have raised $970! My goal now is just $1530.00 by February 1st! Will you help me meet that goal? I can’t do it without you! If you would like to sponsor me and my service learning trip to Uganda please use the donate button on the side bar or mail your check to the address below.

In other news I have been doing a lot of independent research on the history of Uganda with a real focus on health and social policy. I have included a few links to some of the more poignant information that I felt others might find interesting. Enjoy!

Links:

Uganda Criticized Over Anti-Gay Bill
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/12/10/uk.uganda.protests/index.html#cnnSTCText

Aids/HIV in Uganda
http://www.avert.org/aids-uganda.htm


Comments are welcome and encouraged!

Welcome Introduction

HUMAN SERVICES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: UGANDA!

Welcome to my blog! I set up this blog as a interactive vehicle to promote and raise money for my cause. I am both thankful and excited for the opportunity to travel abroad to provide social services and aid to others deeply in need. I am pleased to have this blog to share my adventures, pictures and resources. Please continue below for program information and ways you can contribute and please check back often to stay up to date on cause news and fundraising efforts!


Background: Offered through Simmons College School of Social Work, Human Services in Developing Countries: Uganda Program combines interdisciplinary skills and volunteer work at an international level. This program has been offered to Simmons School of Social Work students for the past six years and has shown to be incredibly successful. This program examines the impact of social problems with focus on HIV/AIDS in Uganda and the role of the social work profession in international social development. It explores the utilization of various professional methods to promote self-sufficiency, social integration, social change, social action and social justice in a developing country.

The focus of this program is to learn how social work practice skills (micro and macro) can be indigenized in a developing country. Our group of 13 students, lead my Simmons Professor Dr. Hugo Kamya, will spend three weeks in Uganda studying social problems at Makerere University and learning about the cultural context of delivery of human services in a developing country. In addition our group will learn about various aspects of international social work from a global perspective while providing services and advocacy.

Our group will stay in Kampala the capitol and largest city in Uganda with a population of about 1.3 millon people. After an initial orientation our group will be divided up into a few small groups and assigned service locations. We will work directly within these agencies or healthcare centers for most of the day. In the evenings there will be lectures, group work and of course debriefing.


Objective: With intense hands-on immersion in health and social welfare agencies our group will provide highly needed social services to children and families with a focus in health, education and community building. Our group will also meet with Ugandan policy makers to advocate for services at a macro level.


How YOU can help: Donate! Please consider sponsering me. I am looking to raise $6,000 to cover the cost of the program and I need your help! This fundraising event will begin December 1st and will run eight weeks ending February 1st. Please help me meet my goal to travel to Uganda and engage in this important work. Not only will you be contributing to my personal goal but you will be contributing to the the lives of the woman, children and families our group will be working with. I will be updating this blog with words and pictures so all can see first hand the positive difference your contributions make.

Donations can be made by sending your check to:

Nathan Currie
161 South St. #4
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

Please make checks payable to Nathan Currie

Or you can make your donation quickly and securely online through Paypal by clicking the link below.

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=9923757

Thank you for your generous contribution!