Living A Life That Matters

   I know a vast number of people  are out in the world doing great things to better the lives of others.

Today in downtown Raleigh at the offices of Cherokee Investment Partners, I spent ninty minutes with one of them.

Andrew Warren is a man with a powerful vision to help people with Aids in Ethiopia.  He is project director for an organization that is providing AIDS care and  treatment to approximately 400 families in Adis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia.

I was among an eclectic group of Triangle residents invited to hear about how Andy’s taking on HIV/AIDS in Adis.  Among other things, Andy explained to us that the project works because he and his team are really in touch with people’s lives.  They help the whole family. I mean, they do everything from washing and dressing people with the disease, to making sure they stay on their drugs and take them properly.

He enlists the help of U-S trained medical workers, volunteers, and community mobilizers to make it happen.

There is no question that life in the shadow of the HIV/AIDS pandemic is brutally difficult.  There is no way to sugar coat that stark reality.   Andy did make it clear though that because of drugs known as anti-retroviral cocktails , HIV is more manageable.  People are getting healthy and hopeful for their own futures.

I have a feeling that when he finished his presentation, which was warm and conversational, we all felt that getting involved with his project would be not only forever life changing for people in Addis Ababa, but for us as well.

The person who brought us all together is Lyston Peebles.  He is an incredible man of faith and compassion.  He told me today that he is now 60 years old, and that he has pledged to spend the rest of his life responding to global poverty.

I am moved and inspired to help him.

To learn more about some of what Lyston’s up to in the world,  I would encourage you to visit this website:

www.cherokeeeducationprogram.org

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