Thanks to Cincy Chic for featuring Beaded Hope in their “Hometown Heroes – Inspiring People Around Town” issue as their “Fashion for a Cause” organization!

Fashion for a Cause
ELENI SNIDER | CINCY CHIC
Friday, May 28, 2010

A local non-profit organization sells products that are handmade by artists in Africa. Find out how a certain Cincinnati hero is accomplishing all of this and more. This local non-profit reaches across the Atlantic to touch and support women’s lives through fashion.

Beaded Hope offers South Africans the opportunity to work and earn their own income to sustain their life and battle HIV/AIDS at the same time. The African artists create beaded works that explore their imagination and help them gain the resources to improve their medical needs.

Jennifer Davis founded Beaded Hope in 2005 on the basis of helping struggling people in Africa. Women trained in beadwork make handmade crafts like jewelry, small gift items, Christmas ornaments and even apparel that are then sold in the United States. Davis turns to these specific women for her products to help them fight hunger, poverty in their communities and diseases like HIV and AIDS.

A $15 dollar purchase from Beaded Hope is equal to two days of food for one of the African artists, Davis says. Likewise, a $30 purchase pays for the cost of employing one of the artists for a day.

Inspired by a visit to South Africa with Davis, author Cathy Liggett channeled her experiences in her book entitled Beaded Hope that was released in March. The novel centers around three women from Ohio who travel on a mission trip to Africa and who meet an African woman with the idea of creating beaded work that can be taken back and sold in America.

You can purchase this book at many popular bookstores and online at Amazon.com. Liggett also is donating 20 percent of the proceeds from her book sales to the organization. So you can get a good read and help people out all at the same time

Along with being charitable, Beaded Hope jewelry and products also can add stylish taste to your wardrobe. For instance, the tribal colored and printed jewelry and the layering of the bracelets offer two huge fashion trends right now, Davis says. The more the merrier, right?

Davis is a true modern-day hero to the Cincinnati community as well as the community of women artists in South Africa that her organization helps out every day. And what does it mean to be a hero to her?

“To me, heroes are people who give selflessly of themselves to others. Most heroes are everyday people who grasp the opportunity to help someone in need ; a coach who looks for just the right words of encouragement, a neighbor who coordinates meals, a friend who stops what she’s doing to listen,” Davis says. “These, too, are heroes.”

Check out Cincy Chic here and learn about all of the Hometown Heroes here.

I discovered Malva Pudding on my third trip to South Africa and I have been completely in love with it ever since. Served slightly warm with either cream or custard (I prefer custard) drizzled over the top it is nothing short of a decadent dessert.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Total preparation time: 1 hour
Serving number: 8Serving Number: 6-8

Malva Pudding
1 heaped tablespoon butter
3 heaped tablespoons apricot jam
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the beaten egg and jam and beat together. Add the dry ingredients and milk alternately and stir into the mixture. Pour the batter into a greased round dish approx 21cm / 8 inches. Cover either with a lid or tinfoil and bake at 180C / 375F for 30 minutes until the top is browned and a skewer comes out clean. Serve warm with custard and cream.

If you would like to try the rich and more traditional version of Malva Pudding, and I think it should be done once in a while, here is a recipe for the sauce to drench it in as soon as it leaves the oven.

Sauce
1 cup cream
4oz / 100g butter
1/2 cup sugar
60 ml hot water.

Warm together the ingredients until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved and pour over the pudding as it comes out of the oven. You can prick holes in the top to help the sauce soak in.

With the sauce incorporated into the Malva pudding you hardly need anything else to accompany it, the cream being already inside! Just for appearances sake though you might like to serve it with a conservative dollop of vanilla ice cream, or a few poached apricots and a drizzle of cream. The other compromise is to reserve some of the sauce to serve alongside the pudding rather than letting the whole amount soak in.

Recipe source: http://food-and-family.blogspot.com/2007/08/malva-pudding-recipe.html

In honor of HIV Vaccine Awareness Day today, we are highlighting the need for a vaccine, and the continuing efforts of thousands of volunteers, community members, health professionals and scientists who work every day to find one that is safe and effective. To all those dedicated people, we want to say thank you!

A preventative HIV vaccine is a substance that teaches the body‚ immune system to recognize and protect itself against HIV. Vaccines currently under development are created from man-made materials that cannot cause HIV. This is unlike other vaccines, which uses a small amount of the disease to teach your body to be immune.

Supporters of the HIV vaccine hope for several outcomes of the research. The goals include preventing infection in most men and women living with HIV/AIDS; preparing a person‚ immune system to block continued infection and eliminate the HIV virus; and delaying or preventing the onset of AIDS.

The goal is to create a vaccine that is 100 percent effective in preventing infection in everyone, but even a partially effective vaccine will also make a great difference. Creating a partially effective vaccine will stop the disease in a portion of the population, thereby decreasing the number of people able to spread HIV to others.

There are two kinds of HIV vaccines currently being researched ‚ therapeutic and preventative. A preventative vaccine is given to HIV negative people. It’s designed to stop infection and control the spread of HIV. It does not cure AIDS. Scientists believe that much like current HIV/AIDS treatments, multiple vaccines will be needed to treat people already infected with HIV. A therapeutic vaccine is one that is researched for the treatment of people with HIV or AIDS.

There are three phases an HIV vaccine must go through before it can be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Phase I includes testing on a small number of healthy HIV negative people. During this phase, volunteers are given different amounts of the vaccine. Phase I can last between 12 and 18 months. Phase II can last up to two years, and includes hundreds of HIV negative volunteers who test the safety and immune responses of the vaccine. The final phase‚ Phase III‚ includes thousands of HIV negative volunteers and can last between three and four years.

An effective HIV vaccine is one of the best long-term solutions to stopping the epidemic spread of AIDS. The vaccine cannot be developed fast enough! Nearly 25 million people have died from AIDS worldwide. An estimated 40 million people are living with AIDS and approximately 14,000 people are infected every hour. Even more concerning, approximately 13 million children who are 15 years of age and younger have lost one or both parents to AIDS. This is most prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa.

There is no cure for AIDS, so the continued push to find a vaccine is crucial. The availability of anti retro viral therapy can dramatically decrease AIDS related deaths; however, the regimen is complex and costly. Often it can have serious side effects on the patient‚ health. Finding a working HIV vaccine will save millions of lives, much like the polio vaccine did so many years ago. HIV Vaccine Awareness Day is today, May 18^th ‚ take time today to find out how you can help raise awareness in your community!

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Learn more: http://www.hhs.gov/aidsawarenessdays/days/vaccine/index.html

Whenever I travel I love to sample the local cuisine. My travels to South Africa have resulted in the discovery of some of my favorite recipes. The first of these is Melk Tert (or milk tart). It’s a custard based tart with a hint of cinnamon that is traditionally served with tea. It is not reserved just for desert, which I love. If you’re having tea then there is the opportunity to have Melk Tert with it.

Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Total preparation time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Serving number: 8

Pastry Crust Ingredients:
6oz all-purpose flour
3oz Butter, unsalted (chilled)
1/4 tsp Salt
Cold water to mix

Filling Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Water
3 tbsp Cornstarch
1 can (14oz) Sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp Butter, unsalted
1/2 tsp Vanilla
2 large Eggs (well beaten)
Cinnamon sugar to taste

Preparation steps

Sift the flour into a bowl and stir in the salt. Cut the chilled butter into several pieces and add to the flour. Rub the butter into the flour using your finger tips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

Using a round ended knife to mix add enough cold water to make a stiff dough. Do not add too much water at once and mix well after each addition. Bring the dough into a ball with your hands. Place the pastry in a plastic bag and chill in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes.

When you are ready to make the pie set the oven to pre-heat to 350F. Remove the dough from the fridge, roll it out on a floured surface and use it to line a 20cm/8″ deep pie plate or pan. (Note if you prefer you can use ready made pie crust.)

Take 4 tablespoons of water from the measured water for the filling and place it in a small bowl or cup with the cornstarch. Mix together with a spoon to make a smooth paste. If the mixture is too stiff use a little more water.

Place the remaining water, the condensed milk, butter and vanilla essence in a saucepan. Heat gently to just below boiling point, stirring from time to time to prevent the milk catching.

Pour some of the hot milk onto the cornstarch paste and mix well. Return this to the pan and mix well. Place the pan back on the heat and continue to heat gently to boiling stirring all the time. The mixture should be thickened.

Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Stir in the beaten eggs and mix well. Pour the egg mixture into the prepared pie crust.

Bake in the pre-heated oven at 350F for approx 45 minutes or until the custard is golden brown and just set (it should still wobble a little bit when shaken). Remove from the oven and dust with cinnamon sugar. Enjoy warm or cold.

Recipe source:http://www.nestle.com/

“For nearly 30 years, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) have been shrouded in many myths and misconceptions. In some cases, these mistaken ideas have prompted the very behaviors that cause more people to become HIV-positive. Although unanswered questions about HIV remain, researchers have learned a great deal. Here are the top ten myths about HIV, along with the facts to dispute them.

1. I can get HIV by being around people who are HIV-positive.
2. I don’t need to worry about becoming HIV positive — new drugs will keep me well.
3. I can get HIV from mosquitoes.
4. I’m HIV-positive — my life is over.
5. AIDS is genocide.
6. I’m straight and don’t use IV drugs — I won’t become HIV-positive.
7. If I’m receiving treatment, I can’t spread the HIV virus.
8. My partner and I are both HIV positive — there’s no reason for us to practice safer sex.
9. I could tell if my partner was HIV-positive.
10. You can’t get HIV from oral sex.”

Debunk these myths are read the entire article from WebMD: http://ht.ly/1DBUR