The GREATEST Birthday Gift (please help me celebrate!)

Tomorrow is my 29th birthday (whew! 29... how did that happen?! ;) and this year, I've decided to do something a little different. I am asking all my friends, facebook friends (yes, all 3,400 of you), Twitter followers, blog readers, and family members to help me celebrate in a special way. Instead of gifts or cards or sappy facebook posts, I'm asking you to each give at least $29 in honor of my 29th birthday to this need.

Swaziland School Fees from The Sound of Hope on Vimeo.

You see, these precious little boys and girls lead very difficult lives. They live in a country with the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rate in the world. A country with up to 70% unemployment, and staggering numbers of people living in poverty. And I happen to adore each and every one of these precious children who are fighting for their future against these odds. I've loved them since I met them in 2007 on my first trip to Swaziland. And meeting them is what inspired me to spend my life helping them get the HOPE and holistic care they need to have the kind of future they all deserve.

But that won't happen if they can't go to school.

School fees in this country are expensive, and so are exam fees, and school uniforms. Many families go hungry, just so they can afford to send one of their children to school. Often, little girls will sell their bodies to older men, just because they promise to pay their school fees.

It is no stretch of the imagination to say that for these kids - attending school is a matter of LIFE and DEATH.

So today, I am asking you to GIVE. Give $29 at the very least - $29 to help save a life. Give $50. Give $100. Give $1,000! Give these children the gift of education, and you will give them the gift of LIFE, of HOPE, and a FUTURE.

We still have $9,275 to go to meet this need, and the funds are due by the end of January. Last year (as I mentioned in the video above) we were able to raise the full amount to send every child at our carepoint to school. We saw first-hand the impact it had on the children, their families, and their community. Believe me when I say, there is no better way you could spend your money, and there is no greater birthday gift you could ever give me than to help me care for these precious boys and girls! So what are you waiting for? Please GIVE NOW!

**Want to learn more about the plight of these children in Swaziland, and what The Sound of Hope is doing about it? Check out our Swaziland page here!