Knitting for the world's AIDS baby orphans
& needy infants
There are more than 10 million AIDS orphans in Africa, children
who've lost one or both of their parents to the AIDS pandemic
and, in some cases, are also struggling to live with HIV/AIDS
themselves.
The decision by the international rock diva Madonna to adopt a
Malawian boy who'd been put into an orphanage when he lost his
mother in childbirth, focussed the world's attention on Malawi,
one of the world's poorest nations...where 14% of adults live
with HIV and about 10 Malawians die from AIDS every hour! There
are over one million AIDS orphans in Malawi.
The Australian AIDS Fund Incorporated is probably Australia's
smallest HIV/AIDS charity and it works without government or church
support and has no paid staff. It's based in Frankston,Victoria
(PO Box 1347,Frankston,Victoria,3199) Email address: bhaill@bigpond.net.au
When AAFI President, Brian Haill, wrote letters to the media about
AIDS ravaged Malawi, supporting the help Madonna is giving to
thousands of children there, he was immediately contacted by a
Victorian couple, Ken and Lyn Begley of Cranbourne.They'd been
working for several months with a Community House group in Cranbourne
which had been moved to pity on hearing that AIDS babies in Africa
were being wrapped in newspaper! The group had responded to an
appeal seeking donations of wool and knitters to make little jumpers
that could be sent to Africa.
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The response was huge, soon overwhelming the group which simply
couldn't cope..and there was the matter of finding the money to
pay for the cost of sending the jumpers to Africa.The Community
House group had to bow out.
Ken and Lyn were part of that original group but they hadn't
the heart to see the response come to a standstill.So they are
continuing with the work. Their 'phone number is (03) 599 65 957
Now they're working hand in hand with The Australian AIDS Fund,
which is handling the shipping and the distribution within Malawi.
But even as the Begleys were negotiating this link- up, they had
the huge task of gathering up all of the knitted jumpers that
had been overflowing in their home...more than 7,000...from all
parts of Australia...and shipping them to Africa.
The following are their photos of that big day in October 2006.
Now the focus is on supplying these garments to Malawi. Such a
little can do such a lot!!!
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