and AIDS crisis in Sub Saharan Africa. This event was part of a campaign and concert series put on by Nelson Mandela called "46664," named after his prisoner number. Peter Gabriel, Angelique Kidjo, Annie Lennox, the Goo Goo Dolls and many other local and international artists played the event. The music would have been incredible enough, but the highlight was seeing Nelson Mandela. What a reaction he got from a crowd of around 50,000! Everyone stood. Everyone cheered. There was so much love and admirationWhen we got to Joburg, we saw advertisement everywhere for a benefit concert helping to raise money and awareness for the HIV for him. Coming from a country so impoverished in leadership, it was refreshing for us to see a real leader respected and admired for the right things. One who is still, at the age of 89, solving real problems as opposed to invented ones. We felt very fortunate to be there.A disturbing statistic shared last night
was that close to 1 in 3 pregnant women in South Africa have HIV. It's estimated that 20 % of the South African population is currently living with HIV or AIDS. The main message from the event was that it is "in our hands," meaning that everyone has a personal responsibility and ability to take care of themselves and each other. Use a condom, talk openly, get tested and treatment works.Check out our video or one on you-know-who-tube. Website: http://www.46664.com/
We fly for Kenya tomorrow morning.
1 comment:
Fantastic! I read about some of that concert and wondered if you'd be able to catch it. What a great moment to be a part of!
I miss you two, but you know who misses you more? Mr.Meowswas. I won't go into details...but he sends his love and I do to. I see you are letting the adventure unfold! I'm tuned in.
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