December 1, 2007
December 1st is World Aids day so we thought it fitting to dedicate this week's show to those affected in particular in Africa and those here at home who feel called to make a difference. In our first hour we'll talk with Deborah Plummer about Give a Jump Start, a non-profit, non-denominational group assisting women and children in Africa. As the name of this group suggests, their goal is to give women just that, a jump start, in helping them form their own businesses. Check out http://www.giveajumpstart.org/ to read about the businesses this group of women have already helped start.
In the second hour native Nashvillian, but now Canadian resident, Teresa Harris joins us to discuss her trip last March to Ghana, West Africa through the International Needs Network. To read more about the work of IN in Africa, please go to http://www.innetwork.org and click on Frontline. Teresa, a devout Christian, is happily married and the mother of two energetic boys. She is also a talented artist and the portrait above is one example of her work that was inspired in Africa.
posted by Mike Harkreader @ 7:51 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Mike and Dawn,
Thanks again for having me on this morning. I could have talked for another hour...so many stories to tell.
I wanted to follow up on the question you asked towards the end, Mike. You were wondering what International Needs is doing about AIDS in the African countries they're working in. After having another look at their website I see that they currently have councelling programs in Tanzania and future plans to address the AIDS crisis in Zambia and Ghana.
I will ask more questions about AIDS in Ghana and what's being done through IN when I'm there next March and will hopefully be able to give you an update some time after that.
Thanks again for the opportunity to speak.
Teresa
Further to that...
I looked around a bit quickly to get some idea of what organizations are at work in West
Africa...
One is West African Aids Foundation - WAAF, at www.waafweb.org.
And Avert at www.avert.org had this to say:
How Are Different Countries in Africa Affected?
Both HIV prevalence rates and the numbers of people dying from AIDS vary greatly between African countries. In Somalia and Senegal the HIV prevalence is under 1% of the adult population, whereas in South Africa and Zambia around 15-20% of adults are infected with HIV.
In four southern African countries, the national adult HIV prevalence rate has risen higher than was thought possible and now exceeds 20%. These countries are Botswana (24.1%), Lesotho (23.2%), Swaziland (33.4%) and Zimbabwe (20.1%).
West Africa has been less affected by AIDS, but the HIV prevalence rates in some countries are creeping up. HIV prevalence is estimated to exceed 5% in Cameroon (5.4%), Côte d'Ivoire (7.1%) and Gabon (7.9%).
Until recently the national HIV prevalence rate has remained relatively low in Nigeria, the most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa. The rate has grown slowly from below 2% in 1993 to 3.9% in 2005. But some states in Nigeria are already experiencing HIV infection rates as high as those now found in Cameroon. Already around 2.9 million Nigerians are estimated to be living with HIV.
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