AIDS in Africa - A Call to Action
by Executive Director, Melanie St.James

Throughout Africa today, entire families- communities- the fabric of societies are being broken and wiped out by AIDS and the Poverty that feeds it. The longer we ignore the AIDS pandemic, we risk losing not only countless individual lives, but entire cultures.  Having lived, worked and studied throughout the continent, I am humbled by the resilience, humanity and generosity of the diverse peoples I have met that live through unthinkable hardship. I urge anyone claiming the notion of morality, be it of religious or personal source, to learn, act, give, and do what you can to help. Having established orphan care, HIV prevention, and AIDS treatment programs in Zimbabwe over the past 5 years, I firmly believe that AIDS in Africa can and will ONLY be solved by jointly addressing abject poverty, as it is the most impoverished communities where AIDS hits the hardest. Yet, this is not only an issue of the developing world. I believe that AIDS is one of the most critical threats to human security in the world today. And I know that AIDS in Africa is the social justice issue of our time.

We as a global community - policy makers, citizens and business leaders alike - behold a precious and timely opportunity to redefine the legacy of  modern Civilization- marred by war and genocide- whereby the right to live in dignity of all peoples- regardless of race, creed or color is upheld, and we begin to make our human family whole.  Please, let us respond collectively and immediately to resolve AIDS, and the POVERTY that fuels it, and by doing so reclaim the moral dignity of humanity.