David J. Nathan

David J. Nathan, New York, NY, is a partner at the law firm of Levin & Glasser, PC. He is currently the president of Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. He has previously served as a trustee of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School and as a fellow of the Wexner Heritage Foundation. David lives with his wife, Rebecca, in New York, where they raised four children. David first met Phil Lilienthal in 1974, when he worked as a counselor at Camp Winnebago.

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Camp Goes Global

Camp Goes Global is a Global Camps Africa initiative designed to export our resources for the betterment of camps like us throughout the world. Register today to download your Camp Goes Global Resource Kit.

February 7th Marks National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

African Americans account for 14% of the US population, but fully 44% of new cases of HIV infection, making the African American community the most at-risk population in the country. The rate of new HIV infection among black women in America is more than 15 times higher than among white women. As a result, children of African American women are more likely to become HIV positive through mother-to-child transmission of the virus. In fact, in 2005, 66% of the people living with HIV who had contracted it from their mothers were African American. The global health community has made great strides toward protecting children from HIV infection around the world, and we must continue our work here at home. Today is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, a day set aside to advocate for HIV/AIDS education, testing, involvement, and treatment for African Americans in the United States. Information regarding the impact of HIV/AIDS on African Americans can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/aa/PDF/aa.pdf.

Global Camps Africa joins its HIV-prevention and education colleagues around the United States to encourage all individuals, especially those at high risk, to get tested for HIV and know their status. To find your local testing facility visit www.hivtest.org.

All statistics courtesy of the CDC

Global Camps Africa to host World AIDS Day event in Reston

Global Campfire event to support World AIDS Day RESTON VA-  In honor of World AIDS Day on December 1, a local non-profit organization, Global Camps Africa (GCA), will host an event in Reston, Virginia.

Through high-impact camp experiences and follow-up programs, GCA provides HIV education and life skills to HIV-affected children in South Africa. Using the power of camp as its vehicle, GCA delivers these services to the under-served and at-risk population of orphans and vulnerable children from some of the neighborhoods hardest hit by the HIV epidemic in South Africa.

In keeping with the camp tradition, the World AIDS Day event, called Global Campfire 2011, will feature music, singing, and poetry readings.  The campfire will take place at Lake Fairfax Park, Campsite G1, from 6:00 until 8:00 PM and will be open to the public.  Global Camps Africa will also be streaming the Global Campfire event live on its web site so that people all over the world can participate virtually.

“We invite everyone to join us at Global Campfire to remember the 30 million people who have died of AIDS-related illness since 1981, and to bring attention to the continuing need for prevention, care, and treatment for HIV-affected youth around the world,” said Emily Crowder, Global Camps Africa’s Executive Director.

The theme for World AIDS Day 2011 is “Getting to Zero,” which refers to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) strategy to reduce the number of new HIV infections to zero by 2015.  Global Camps Africa’s efforts to reach HIV-affected youth in South Africa with messages about prevention and empowerment are one important component of that strategy.

Phil Lilienthal, Founder and President of GCA, described the goal of the Global Campfire event, saying,“We want our campfire to bring the community who attend closer together to feel the strength of what a group can bring to a problem: even one as immense as HIV/AIDS.”

For further information, please contact Jessica Johnson (jessica.johnson@globalcampsafrica.org).

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