World AIDS Day 2016

Hi everyone! Part of the reason that I'm so behind on blogging right now is that I'm trying to find balance between working part time and juggling all the chaos of having a pre-schooler and a baby. I find myself with an abundance of great things in my life that are edging out other great things (like the blog!).

I feel very lucky to be able to spend my working hours directing the 30/30 Project. It's an incredible opportunity for me to do something I love, work with my family, and make a difference in the world.

Today is World AIDS Day. Since I can remember this has always been a big day in my family. We spend time remembering those we have lost, reflecting on how far we have come, and strategizing about how to make in impact in the fight to end AIDS. Last year was an especially memorable World AIDS Day when my mom received the Nelson Mandela Changemaker Award in LA.

This year she wrote some reflections on the 2016 theme, "HIV Prevention" on our 30/30 Project blog. If you're interested, I'd encourage you to read them. She has a way of personalizing the efforts we are all making to end AIDS that comes from years living with the disease and losing countless friends along the way.

#NoMomLeftBehind This Mother's Day

I am SOOO excited, both personally and professionally, to share with you all first about our new Mother's Day campaign with the 30/30 Project, #NoMomLeftBehind. We are partnering with an incredible organization called Hope Through Health to build a new maternity ward in Togo, West Africa!

I'm particularly passionate about this campaign because I have so much to celebrate in my life this Mother's Day, as both a daughter and a mother, and am committed to giving back. 

As many of you know, my mom was given five years to live when she was diagnosed as HIV positive in 1990. In large part due to the incredible healthcare that she has received here in Washington State, she is still with us today. Not only do I get to celebrate still having my mom here, I am expecting our second little baby this May. My first labor and delivery was complicated, scary and unpredictable and I'm grateful that I had the incredible care at Swedish Hospital that kept Myles and I healthy. I look forward to an even better experience in just five short weeks (eek!).

Community Health Workers with Hope Through Health in Togo, West Africa 

Sadly, 1 in 46 women die in childbirth in Togo (compared to 1 in 1800 here in the US). I so strongly believe that these women deserve the same type of access that my mom and I have had. Will you join me in building this maternity ward? We are trying to raise $30,000 through this campaign and every dollar counts. Please check out our #NoMomLeftBehind website and share this campaign with your friends. Thank you so much for supporting the 30/30 Project! 

Namaste!

Hello there!

I'm home from a two week adventure in India and Nepal.

It was a very busy two weeks, but we had a lovely time. It was surreal seeing the Taj Mahal (above). I remember a photo of it being in a elementary school text book. It seemed so foreign and far away to fifth grade me, and then last week, there it was in front of me, big and breathtaking in person.

The purpose of our trip has been shooting photos and capturing video footage for Construction for Change and The 30/30 Project. In India, we documented a village where a clinic is being built, giving 20,000 people in the surrounding areas access to quality health care. In Nepal, we visited a safe house for women and children rescued from the sex trade.

I'm excited to tell you more about the amazing organizations we've gotten to see in action and the great work they are doing.

If you follow me on Instagram (@jennykoekoe) you'll have seen a couple of photos from our journey thus far, more to come on the blog later! 

Congratulations Julie!

Yesterday, for World AIDS Day (which Teresa posted about here) Jason and I were able to join Teresa and her mom, Julie, in Los Angeles, where Julie received the Nelson Mandela Changmakers Award for her HIV/AIDS related work with the 30/30 Project. You can read more about it on the 30/30 Project Blog.

World AIDS Day 2015

This year is a very special World AIDS Day for my family and me. My mom, Julie, is the honored recipient of the Nelson Mandela Changemakers Award for her work with the 30/30 Project. I get to travel with her to LA today where she will accept the award from Kweku Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela. Pretty exciting, right??

She also wrote a thoughtful blog post with some of her reflections on World AIDS Day's past and present. It's well worth a read for those interested, and includes a throwback photo of us with Magic Johnson!

If you are interested in supporting 30/30 Project this World AIDS Day, check out this link to learn more about an amazing clinic in Kenya that we are raising funds for now.

PS. Here is where I wrote about the beginning of the 30/30 Project and what it means to my family.

Catching Up

Hello!

It's been a while. Like Jenny said in her update, it's great to be blogging again! For me, blogging is about keeping a record of our lives, sharing the fun things we discover, and staying connected with Jenny. It's so great to be back!

These past few months have been a whirlwind for our family. The biggest change being that I started a new job at the end of August! Although I've been involved since the beginning, I am so thrilled to be spending my working hours dedicated to the 30/30 Project! Here is an announcement of my new role if you are interested in reading about it. Not only am I excited to be back in my field (international development) but it is such an honor to be working with my family on something that is so close to all of our hearts personally.

Mylo continues to grow, both in height and personality! He is SUCH a chatterbox, narrating every detail of our lives. I need to start writing down some of the hilarious things that he says so that we have a record. He is a sweet, spirited, hungry little guy who keeps us on our toes and makes us laugh and smile every day. He LOVED Halloween this year and is obsessed with pumpkins so naturally we dressed him up as a plump one for his costume.

We have more to catch up on but since we are back up and blogging those can be full posts after Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Turkey Day! Jenny and I are making pies today, like we do.

A Gift to Give: Uxibal for the 30/30 Project

If you're looking for a perfect present for your sister or a friend, or perhaps a great clutch for holiday parties, here you go! The 30/30 Project teamed up with the Uxibal, (one of my favorite brands!) to bring you the Julia Clutch. 

So that means, with one beautiful clutch, you're supporting the women in Guatemala who make AND giving to The 30/30 Project, who's mission is to build health care centers in areas of the world with high HIV rates. 

Check it out here, along with other great gifts that support 30/30. 

And don't worry, there's still plenty of time to order before the holidays! 

I'll be giving a few as gifts AND carrying mine with me to a few holiday parties this month since it goes so well with my new favorite gold jumpsuit! The clutch is the perfect size to fit your phone, lip gloss and a small wallet (or a selection of cards and cash from your larger wallet as I do).

Thanks for the photos Mitchell Overton!

World AIDS Day

Today is World AIDS Day...

Just for fun, a throwback...here's a photo of Teresa and I along with a few friends WAY back in 2005, in a march to Parliament in Cape Town, South Africa protesting the lack of availability of Antiretrovirals. 

What can you do?

Here's an update from the 30/30 Project...

Consider joining Teresa and I in supporting the 30/30 Project, also check out the holiday gift line.

Apple is donating a portion of it's sales to (RED) today. 

If you'd like to learn more...

Time has a piece on the history of HIV/AIDS

7 Facts 

Check out Prince Harry's video in support

"Closing the gap in prevention and treatment"

and here's something from Teresa's brother, Ryan Lewis...

30/30 Project Update

Hi everyone! I just wanted to quickly say thank you to all of you who have supported the 30/30 Project that I wrote about a couple of weeks back. The campaign has raised $134,000 so far! That's enough to fully fund a healthcare center in the Neno District of Malawi and well on the way to funding a clinic in Kangundo, Kenya! The Indigogo campaign page will be up and running until next Wednesday May 21st so if you haven't donated yet please consider helping with this important clinic.

Tonight is the Construction for Change benefit event which will feature a gallery of Jenny and Jason's photos from their recent trip to Malawi. I am looking forward to seeing them and hearing from my amazing mom who is the keynote speaker!

Also, as you can see, Ryan and my mom met Anderson Cooper on Monday! Check out their segment on Friday's episode of Anderson Cooper 360.

30/30: Update

Well, as you can see, the 30/30 Project has taken over the blog and our lives this week. We're just a few days in and already,  we're half way to the goal and we've gotten some great support! Ellen tweeted it last night and Chelsea Clinton this morning! 

Here's some more positive press for the 30/30 Project: 

Rolling Stone

Today Show

LA Times

NY Daily News

US Weekly

Billboard

Glamour

Perez Hilton

On top of that, we've all been really touched by the personal stories that have come in from people who's lives have been affected by HIV/AIDS in many different ways.

PS. Don't worry, we still have other things happening in our lives and next week, we'll be back to blogging about other things too! 

30/30: Malawi

I hope you all got a chance to check out the 30/30 Project, if you haven’t yet, I encourage you to take the time to read Teresa's post from yesterday about her family’s incredible story- how her mom, Julie, has been HIV+ for 30 years and the project that’s come out of wanting to commemorate her survival. Obviously, it’s a cause very close to Teresa’s heart, and mine as well and something we will be continuing to post about this month.

Jason and I just returned from visiting the area in Malawi where the 30/30 Project’s first clinic will be built. We got to meet and photograph some of the many women, men and children that this clinic will serve.

Malawi's Neno District is one of the most beautiful places I’ve visited, with small villages of thatched roof huts on scattered about on picturesque hills. They look like something out of a storybook. However, the downside to living on beautiful hilltops- health care is at least a 2 hour drive away on incredibly bumpy and sometimes very muddy dirt roads and cars are few and far between out in these parts.

 Once it's complete, this new clinic will be run by Partners in Health in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and will bridge the gap in health care by providing services and medicine within walking distance for the many residents in this remote area.

PS. This morning Julie and Teresa's brother Ryan were interviewed on CBS's Morning Show, you can watch that online here. 

Photos all shot by Jason and via @jkoephoto

30/30 Project

I'm thrilled that today I get to share with you all an exciting project that my family has been working on for the past few months (with Jenny and Jason who are like family!). There is a part to my life that I haven't written about on this blog that I'd like to fill you in on to give some context to the 30/30 Project...so here goes!

When I was born in 1984, my mom had a miserable labor and received a blood transfusion due to hemorrhaging. Unfortunately, the blood that she received was infected with the HIV virus. Miraculously, my sister and brother, who were born after me, and my father were not infected with the virus.

This March we didn't just celebrate my 30th birthday, we also commemorated the 30 years that my mom has lived with HIV/AIDS. Despite the doctors only giving her a few years to live when she was diagnosed, she has survived partly due to the access she has to powerful medications. To commemorate this monumental moment in her life, my mom said it wasn't enough to just be grateful, she wanted to do something to give back...and so she came up with the 30/30 Project.

For the past few years my mom and Jenny have volunteered their time working for an organization that you've heard a lot about on this blog, Construction for Change. Working alongside local leaders in developing communities, CFC constructs clinics, community centers, and schools that will last for a least 30 years. Jenny and Jason have been traveling and photographing their projects for over five years now. The 30/30 Project brings together Construction for Change and Partners in Health to build a clinic in the Neno District of Malawi. This clinic will provide healthcare for a community of people who formerly had to drive two hours to get medical attention. It will also provide lifesaving medication to the 10% of their population that is infected with HIV/AIDS. Pretty great huh??

Every mom out there deserves to have access to cutting edge healthcare like my mom does. I only dared to dream as a young girl that she would live to see my life as an adult and it's hard for me to describe how grateful I am that she is in Mylo's life and my own 30 years later. It's time to pay it forward.

Jenny and Jason just returned last week from Malawi where they spent a week meeting the people of the Neno district and photographing the site where the clinic will be place (amazing photos on their way!). We are all so excited about this project and the impact that it will have on this community. I am asking all our readers to watch the video above and consider giving to this initiative that is so dear to my heart. Click here to learn more. Let's build a clinic!