That’s what mothers in Lesotho, in Southern Africa, face when waiting for HIV results for their children. Poor roads and lack of transportation mean not only a horrendous delay in relaying lab results, but many mothers never return to the clinic to learn if their baby is HIV positive. Without treatment, half of these HIV-positive infants won’t live to see their second birthday.

Mobile phones are the perfect solution to this tragic problem. For mere pennies health workers can send test results via text messages. Thousands of mothers are no longer waiting eight weeks for results and infants are receiving the treatment they need.

The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Foundation has challenged the community to raise $15,000 in the next 48 hours to help purchase cell phones for mothers in need.* Can you chip in $15 to help meet this lifesaving goal? 

Their teams around the world are using mobile phones to provide many innovative solutions. In countries like Kenya where 63% of the population have mobile phones, medical workers are communicating directly with patients to improve health care.

Mobile phones are being used to alert patients of future appointments, help them correctly take medications, and empower them to make smart health decisions.

Simple technology we take for granted is transforming HIV-treatment for many women and children around the world. For the cost of your $15 monthly text plan or a $100 new smart phone, the Foundation can purchase more cell phones and dramatically improve the medical care of women and children who need it mos. Give generously now!

We have just 48 hours to hit our goal. Your support is greatly appreciated.

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Who would have thought my inspiration to movewould arrive at my doorstep in a small box?

I was recently sent a digital fitness pedometer called Striiv, which I had heard about while at a BlogHer event hosted by my friends in the Blogging Angels a few months earlier, and I supposed I offered to be a early reviewer.  Now maybe now I wouldn’t just think about walking to my kids to school or taking the steps instead of the elevator into my doctor’s office. Now I would realize that even walking from one room to another burns calories, and that seeing the results in my hand on a device would actually inspire me, all with the help of a gadget you can git into the palm of your hand.  Using TruMotion technology based on an accelerometer and gyroscope, the gadget figures out whether you’re jogging, climbing stairs, dancing or doing some other type of exercise.  If you want to see what I’m talking about, watch this:

Striiv is challenging.  It inspires me to get up and move.  There are personal challenges, games and even donation opportunities based on how much exercise I get.  The more I move, the more I achieve.  I can play games and spend my points on trophies or badges (you have to see these to understand what I mean) and they push me to work harder.

But what I really like best about Striiv is that the more you walk or exercise, the device calculates your every move and donates to a charity on your behalf.  It’s very special. and very motivating.  Striiv, with the help of sponsors, has carefully chosen charities to donate to, including GlobalGiving which donates clean water to children in South America or a polio vaccine to children in India.

So, now when I am sitting at my desk, working or blogging, I sometimes still wear my gym clothes that I throw on when I work from home.  Only now, I grab my Striiv and head out the door, even if I have a short time period, feeling motivated to earn points to give back and shed some pounds. All while giving back.  How cool is that?

Striiv retails for $99 on the official Striiv website.

Disclosure: I was provided with a Striiv gadget to facilitate this review, but all opinions are my own.

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My friend who is from the area that was hit says that the Japanese thought they were well prepared and trained for earthquakes (so many earthquake drills and strict building codes), but this one was too big for anyone’s imagination.  There are still aftershocks, with 3-7 hours of scheduled blackouts everyday causing a severe shortage of food and goods.  She tells me that while Japan is going through the biggest crisis since WWII, people are dealing with this situation very patiently and working very hard as a unified country.

When the earthquake in Haiti struck, my 6 year-old daughter was traumatized.  She walked into the room when the TV was on, displaying gruesome images of dead bodies, and proceeded to have nightmares for many nights afterward.  Not only that, but she wouldn’t talk about it, she wouldn’t let me explain anything.  I had to ask the psychologist to have a word with her at school (but for some reason she never followed up on it, which doesn’t say very good things about my school system).

This time the TV didn’t need to be on.  I didn’t have to say a thing about the events that unfolded.  Both my 6 and 7 year-old heard about the earthquake on their own at school.  Their teachers mentioned it during school.  They both came home with questions, and I had to carefully relay what I knew, but it’s been difficult.  How do you explain nuclear reactors and radiation that is slowly making its way to America?

My first tactic was to find out what they knew and make sure it wasn’t too much.  I tried to put the event into simple terms to provide a basic understanding.  Kids don’t need to know anymore than just that.  Just like with Haiti, I made them both realize that the event happened far away.  I always try not to lie and say that these events don’t occur in the U.S., but I make it clear that these particular events did occur far away and are in no way near us.  I also explained that mommy and daddy ae making donations to help the people of Japan and that giving money is the most important thing we can do.

It made me really happy when my daughter suggested we go door to door to collect money for the people of Japan.  She has just completed collecting money for Girl Scout cookies, so grass-roots fund-raising is at the forefront of her mind.  She also suggested doing her lemonade stand, which is another viable option and one that will get my kid’s juices flowing about making a difference in someone’s world.

Tonight I read about an amazing effort to raise money for Japan.  Students Rebuild partnered with DoSomething.org, to ensure students worldwide have a way to support their Japanese peers.  Your kids can help Japan by making paper cranes. These simple yet powerful gestures will trigger a $200,000 donation from the Bezos Family Foundation – $2 for each crane received – to Architecture for Humanity’s reconstruction efforts in Japan. Once they reach our goal of 100,000 submissions, the cranes will be woven into an art installation – a symbolic gift from students around the globe to Japanese youth.

I asked my friend, “what can we do to help?”  She learned that extra funding will make a big difference in speeding up the rescue process.   More than 40,000 people have been evacuated.  The media has been reporting everyday there still survivors being found through such efforts.  Evacuees are going through both physical and psychological stresses under the severe conditions at evacuation centers.

She recommends giving to these relief funds:

Japan Society Japan Earthquake Relief Fund is committed to sending 100% of the fund directly to non-profits already working in the ground in Japan.
https://www.japansociety.org/

The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry:  This fund also goes straight to Japan but they accept checks only.
http://www.jcciny.org

The Japanese embassy in the U.S. is suggesting to contact American Red Cross:
http://www.americanredcross.org

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post and all opinions are my own.

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