Improving HIV Treatment with Nutrition Support

Dear friends and family,

The Alive Medical Services family hopes that you’ve been having a productive and happy week so far. We are having a great week as well, and are very excited to announce that another GlobalGiving Bonus Day is coming up in just one week!

Mark your calendars for Wednesday, September 21^st, 2016, when GlobalGiving will release $30,000 at 6 AM EDT (1 PM in Uganda) and another $30,000 at 12 PM EDT (7 PM in Uganda), all to be used to match generous donations from supporters like you! This is an excellent opportunity for Alive Medical Services to quickly raise funds that make our work possible. On this day particularly, your donations will go a long way and have its maximum impact on our work, as GlobalGiving will match your donations at 30%--guaranteed!

In addition, GlobalGiving is awarding $1,000 USD to the organization that attracts the most number of unique donors as well as another $1,000 USD to the organization that raises the most funds out of all GlobalGiving causes! We truly hope that we will win one or both of those bonus prizes, and we can only do it with your support.

You may have read on the recent report for our Nutrition campaign, that AMS has been unable to provide life-saving Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) to our severely malnourished clients suffering from HIV. Out of our three campaigns, we see the Nutrition campaign as the most urgent for this very reason, and ask that you donate to this campaign only on the Bonus Day. RUTFs are highly nutritious, easily stored, and easily consumed, quickly enabling clients to gain weight and recover from malnutrition. If our Nutrition campaign gains enough funds on this day, we will be able to provide RUTFs to another cohort of clients in need, enabling them to live healthier lives.

If you can help our Nutrition campaign achieve its goals, please donate during the Bonus Day! Funds tend to run out fast, so we ask that you please donate as close as possible to the Bonus Day start times of 6 AM EDT and/or 12 PM EDT. You can donate up to $1,000 USD, and no matter the amount, each donation counts towards helping us win $1,000 USD from GlobalGiving for having the most number of donations!

Competition is stiff, and we are working tirelessly to make our supporters aware of this great opportunity for our organization. If you have not already, please “like” us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter at the links below for live updates and the most recent news about our impact. We hope to get people buzzing about this event, so please share this with your friends and family who may also be able to support our cause.

Thank you all for your continued support, and we look forward to next Wednesday to help you make your impact even greater!

Links:

• Like our Facebook page and stay tuned for updates here!
• Follow us on Twitter and stay tuned for updates here!
• Read more about AMS nutrition services!

 “Good nutrition plus ART equals high-quality, prolonged life. Without good nutrition, ART does not work effectively.”

This statement by one of Alive Medical Services (AMS)’s clinicians proved true at AMS, where we witnessed malnourished clients stagnating even while on treatment. This is what prompted AMS to rehabilitate malnourished clients by providing food and income-generating gardening opportunities. During our bimonthly Food Days,7 kg of rice, 7 kg of beans, and 1 kg of sugar (all worth $25) are distributed to each client, benefiting an average of 1,500 clients monthly! The resources for these services would not exist without your generous donations, and for that, we are thankful.

Our clients are very grateful for your life-changing support. Julius is one such client who lost his job due to his chronic malnutrition that caused the paralysis of his left side. Soon enough, he could no longer afford the city-life in Kampala, and moved back to his village in Jinja. Fortunately at this point he was referred to AMS, through which he began receiving food for six months in addition to HIV treatment. Within these months, he gained weight and control of most of his left side. “AMS really helped me during a time when I thought I was going to die,” says Julius. He continues to exercise in order to return to work as the respected carpenter that he once was. These success stories are why our nutrition efforts exist, and we are overjoyed for clients like Julius.

Among our achievements, a remaining challenge is our inability to afford Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) for severely malnourished clients. RUTF is the single most important product for malnutrition because of its easy storage, ability to be consumed immediately, and incredible nutritional benefits for clients. The World Health Organization (2016) states: “Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) has revolutionized the treatment of severe malnutrition – providing foods that are safe to use at home and ensure rapid weight gain in severely malnourished children.” The Last time that AMS provided RUTF was in May, and the demand was so high that supplies ran out in one week.

With RUTF, we can expand our cutting-edge nutrition services which are critical to comprehensive HIV care. Our mission is to continue our nutrition programs while making RUTF a reality again at AMS in order to transform the thousands of lives in need. With your generous donations, we can together champion this urgent mission. If you register for a monthly recurring donation, you can consistently impact our work, making our services sustainable.

Thank you for your continued support, and we are confident that with you and GlobalGiving by our side, we can better the health and nutrition of clients at AMS!

Sources:

"How RUTF Works." Food For Famine. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2016. <http://www.foodforfamine.org/who-we-are/how-rutf-works/>.

"Malnutrition." World Health Organization. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Aug. 2016. <http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/topics/child/malnutrition/en/>.

Links:

• Learn more about Alive Medical Services nutrition services
• Check out and "like" our Facebook page!
• Find out more about AMS through Keep a Child Alive