Forty Thunderclaps:

10,000 Lives

Graphic Rendering of Bracelet of Hope's new clinic in Lesotho

 by Mark Janeck

Click here and join the thunder:

http://thndr.it/1rYDlFy 

In September, I hired a wonderful woman named Martha Van berkel.  She is an expert in social media and information technology.  She and her husband have started a company that helps small businesses and organizations improve their online presence.   We have met several times over the course of the last few months.  I try to learn while she patiently teaches me the fine art of tweeting, facebooking and blogging.  I think I have been a fair student.   Although I have yet to find a way to remember the seemingly endless numbers of passwords needed to keep all of these lines of communication in the air.  I have been pestering my contacts endlessly and a few have asked me to "unsubscribe them".  Most have been wonderfully tolerant of my efforts and for this, I am very grateful.

You see, there is a point to all of this.  I believe, that as a community of good people, we can build a clinic in Lesotho, Africa that will save thousands of lives.  I believe that once we accomplish this task, we will have developed the capacity to open many more.  Once thousands become hundreds of thousands, a country will be free of AIDS.  When I started this effort, I never dreamed of how hard this work would be or how much of a sacrifice it would require.  I have been stretched and pulled well beyond any comfortable limits.  I have carried far too much weight and responsibility; the task at hand sitting on my shoulders every minute of everyday.  The disappointments and perceived failures seem to have far outweighed the successes.  And yet, I stubbornly keep moving.

I held a child's hand while they died of a disease I could have treated had the necessary tools been at hand.  I watched as many of them died but it was while holding that hand that this difficult path opened up before me.  I had a choice:  To walk ahead toward an impossible goal or to remain who I was and  remain comfortable.

About two months ago, another very skilled and brilliant graphic artist named Mark Janek sat with me in a restaurant on a very rainy Friday and listened as I described my vision of this clinic.  As we parted, I realized that I had never allowed myself to entertain the actual image of the building.  I am not talented in that way but Mark is.

Last spring, at a Bracelet of Hope event, I was introduced to Edward Gal, a very talented web designer and videographer.  Ed returned from a trip to Lesotho in November with hours of video in hand.

Martha was my teacher.  She empowered me with the knowledge I needed to move into a new fundraising arena.  Mark put the vision to paper and Ed took the hours of video and created a passionate clip ( soon to be viewed ) that tells the whole story in under 3 minutes. Their energy, their talents, their  creativity and so many of their hours were poured into this dream.  So many people in the last 9 years have done the same.  Perhaps if I had realized just how many there were, I would have been far less anxious.

So, here it is, Mark's creative genius:

This is the clinic we will build.  It takes my breath away.  I know the hope that it will bring.  I know the lives that it will save.  In it, I will hold the hands of healthy children.

So, lets begin this new phase.  In the next 24 hours, I need 40 thunderclaps from 40 Facebook people.  Forty will take us to our goal of 100 and it will spread our social media net far and wide.  Thunder ( the internet version) will usher in our new effort on Friday;  an effort that will build this beautiful place.

Here's the link.  Click on it and join the thunder!

            http://thndr.it/1rYDlFy 

 Thank you
Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik MD CCFP
Founder of Bracelet of Hope