When I was in high school, I was voted most likely to devote my life to a lost cause. I was mildly offended, but ultimately took it as a compliment.
Because sometimes the most important work in the world looks like a lost cause.
Day-in and day-out, a commitment to a person or an ideal can certainly feel like a lost cause, too.
Yesterday, Reuters reported that seven African countries have cut child HIV infections by half.
It's a remarkable piece of news, and a tell-tale reminder that the fight against HIV/AIDS is not a lost cause. Twenty years ago, we couldn't have dreamt of such a concept, and now it is within our reach.
In fact, it's so close that hundreds of thousands of us are committed to live in a world where there will be no baby born with HIV by 2015.
We still have a LONG way to go, but the end of HIV/AIDS is also within the reach of our lifetime.
It's why we can't wait.
It's why we can't slow down.
It's why we can't get distracted by naysayers or by complacency.
It's why, one community at a time, we walk alongside Africans in their commitment to ending HIV in their home villages.
You can consider it a lost cause if you want. I consider it a cause worth waking up every day to fight for.