It's the donors at Tiny Tim & Friends who are pivotal to our work. We wanted to share with you the story of one donor and why she supports our work. ​

Written by Eileen Leo, TTF Donor: 
"I will never forget how I first heard about Tiny Tim & Friends and how I came to meet Dr. Tim, his lovely parents, Betty and Tom, Tiny Tim, his terrific young son, and his wonderful siblings. 

I don’t usually read the Edina Sun newspaper, but that day I was skimming it and noticed a short article about a Fundraiser for a local non-profit, Tiny Tim & Friends, to support the work of Dr. Tim Meade, a pediatric HIV/AIDS specialist in Zambia. 

Curious to know more, I found Betty and Tom’s phone number, called, and enjoyed a lovely chat with Betty who warmly invited me to attend the fundraiser.  In listening to Dr. Tim tell the story of Tiny Tim & Friends and show photos of the children and the work they do I was captivated by his passion and zeal, the ongoing efforts of the Clinic’s team, and the amazing progress of hundreds of children when tested and begun on a regimen of medicine.  
​Dr. Tim’s presentation enlarged my world and engaged my heart.  Gandhi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  Dr. Tim was the change."  

"Tom and Betty Meade launched Tiny Tim & Friends to support their son’s work, and to tell the world about the children in Zambia and how we can help.   They have made 7 or 8 trips to visit the clinic compound in Lusaka, Zambia!!   

Their crowning jewel is Tiny Tim, Dr. Tim’s wonderful son.  I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him a few times when he and his Dad visited “Grandma and Grandpa” who hosted  fun fundraisers every summer.  Betty and Tom’s charisma is something to be experienced!  It was infectious; I wanted to do something to help and be a part of their work. I offered to make quilts to sell at a fundraiser.   Little did I know that Tom would build a beautiful quilt rack !!! 

Many of my friends have purses, baskets, and jewelry made by talented Zambian women.  The very personal connection I felt when I found their names written on a little piece of paper in the purse, or on the bottom of a basket.  I am the richer for having the women’s beautifully woven colorful baskets in my home, for carrying their purses knitted out of colorful plastic bags,  proudly telling the story of Tiny Tim & Friends."

"I have saved every newsletter filled with clinic updates, progress celebrated, photos, interning college students who have caught Dr. Tim’s passion, ongoing concerns, new endeavors, ways to help. 
​
The bliss and the blisters.  And the blessed.  I am blessed for having known Dr. Tim.  I always wanted to go to Zambia to visit and volunteer for a month or so, maybe help in the school.  I never did go to Zambia but never will lose my heartfelt connection and commitment to the children and to Dr. Tim’s dream.  I decided to honor Dr. Tim by becoming a monthly donor and be an ongoing part of the team.   Thanks to Betty and Tom Meade, “Tiny Tim & Friends” has hundreds of people walking the path behind Dr. Tim. 

​Please join us…there’s room for you on the path.
 
For the love of children and in memory of Dr. Tim, thank you."

In Zambia there are few people who feel confident in sharing their story about HIV. People are fearful of discrimination. But often people need someone to relate to, that they can look up to and know that they aren't the only one. 

Many of the comments we hear from the children who attend our support groups is that they often feel very alone. Like they are the only one living with HIV.  Many of the children we see are double orphans and they can often equate HIV with death, leaving them to look bleakly upon the future. Because of this they often stigmatize themselves.

Self stigma can lead to isolation, with a child withdrawing from friends, family and school. Children need reassurance that they are not alone. This is where our Children's Retreat support groups come in. 

Sharing you status when you are living with HIV is an incredibly personal decision to make. But for those who make the choice, the impact they can have on children, parents and families is huge. Showing that you are living a healthy life, that sharing your story hasn't lead to rejection from the community is empowering for people. 

Seeing that someone living with HIV is successful, either in completing school, in work or in life in general gives children hope. Hope that they can too be healthy. Hope that they can complete school and go onto do a job they love. Hope that their future isn't as bleak as they once thought. That hope combined with education and skills development is life changing. 
​

It's been two years since we relocated the TTF Clinic out of a cramped room at Dr. Tim's Clinic and over to our own stand alone facility - thanks to the support of our donors around the globe this is the impact that has been made possible in changing peoples lives. Helping HIV+ children live healthily and working towards a world where no child has HIV!. 

By Jac Connell, Acting Country Director
When a child is HIV+ there comes a time in their life when their parent or caregiver (if they are an orphan) will need to tell them that they are living with HIV (*known as disclosure). 

This is an incredibly difficult thing for a caregiver to do. Many parents and caregivers don't have the right HIV knowledge or the confidence to share with their child their status. Fear of anger, rejection and being unable to answer your child's questions often prevent parents from talking about HIV.

At the TTF Clinic we provide support groups called Mbuya Daisy, to help parents of patients over the age of 7 to disclose to their child. 

During a role play where the care givers act out a disclosure process, the mother who was acting in the role as the child broke down. The emotions among all the participants was palpable, many with tears in their eyes, including myself.  Imagining how a child must feel in receiving such news is something we can never understand. But supporting these parents is an essential part of treatment. 

This is where HIV treatment goes beyond the medicine. These programs are essential in ensuring that HIV+ children can lead healthy lives. That they understand the virus. That they understand the importance of medication. And that they can be provided HIV education that helps them deal with stigma and discrimination as they transition into adults. 

This is why we continue to need donor support. So that we can help these parents, children and families, to understand HIV and how to lead long, healthy lives. 

Watch our video and see the impact our donors are having on vulnerable, malnourished children in Zambia. 

Finding out you are HIV+ and coming to terms with that requires a lot of support, both from your medical team and family and friends. With myths, stigma and discrimination that still exists within the community it can be difficult to know who to trust, as Musamba, aged 22, found out:

The staff and board at Tiny Tim & Friends are committed to continuing our work and developing programs to support even more HIV+ children and adolescents live healthy, positive lives. Our donors and supporters have enabled TTF to pilot many new interventions over the years which have allowed us to change the lives of thousands of HIV+ individuals. WE CONTINUE TO NEED YOUR SUPPORT IN CHANGING LIVES. 

Adolescent girls are twice as likely to get infected with HIV as their male counterparts. And many adolescents do not feel empowered to access contraception, do not feel empowered to ask their partner to wear use condoms, or do not know where to access contraception from in order to protect themselves from infection. ​

When some of our adolescent peer mentors came to us recently to suggest setting up youth friendly services at the TTF Clinic, we were excited to hear about their ideas.  Our aim is to support them to develop a youth focused project which could not only help us in retaining our existing adolescent patients into treatment but in identifying new patients to reach out to and providing a safe space for young people to come and access information and services.  

The purpose of the youth friendly center would be to provide youth led HIV testing, counselling, sexual reproductive health information, access to condoms and referral services for those in need of HIV treatment, or other health and counselling services. ​ We would also run community based outreach services, led by our teen mentors and youth counselors, with the purpose of encouraging HIV testing in the community around the TTF Clinic and to encourage individuals to come to the clinic for testing and information services. 

Finally the youth groups want to establish chess clubs, sports teams and activity groups to provide a much needed distraction from some of the vices, such as alcohol and drug abuse,  which are too easily accessible to the vulnerable populations we work with. ​

We are more than confident that with the right funding, and guidance from the TTF management and social work teams our peer mentors can set up services which supports adolescents in: 

• Understanding the importance of treatment and taking medication.  
• Attending their appointments at the TTF Clinic.
• Accessing information on HIV, Sexual reproductive health, contraception, and counselling services.
• Accessing HIV testing in a youth friendly environment where they feel comfortable with their peers.  
• Breaking down some of the myths and stigma around HIV which prevents people from accessing testing. 
• Achieving viral suppression so if/ when they become sexually active their risk of transmission is reduced to zero.
• Finding a safe space where they can form sports teams, chess clubs or other groups to provide 

BUT WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT. IT WOULD COST US LESS THAN $7,000 TO ESTABLISH AND RUN OUR YOUTH FRIENDLY CENTER FOR 6 MONTHS, DURING WHICH TIME THE YOUTH WOULD LOOK TO UNDERTAKE FUNDRAISING ACTIVITIES OF THEIR OWN IN LUSAKA TO SUPPORT THEIR CONTINUED OPERATIONS. PLEASE CONSIDER SUPPORTING OUR WORK BY DONATING TO TTF TODAY!(Please state the purpose of your donation on the donation page) 

Dr. Tim had such a great impact on the patients and people that we work with. So when one of our community volunteers gave birth to a little boy the day after Tim passed away last year, she decided to name her new born son Tim, to pay tribute to the work he had done to help her and others living with HIV to healthy lives and have healthy HIV negative children.