I forgot to mention one other highlight, and also a very emotional moment, from yesterday evening in my earlier post.Dr. Charles Olweny gave a speech of thanks to the Award recipients last night. Now working in Winnipeg, Dr. Olweny originally came from Africa, and still has family there. He spoke of how the HIV/AIDS epidemic had affected him personally, from the death of his brother, and the death of his sister from AIDS. It was a moving speech, and I don't think many in the crowd truly had a dry eye when he finished, boldly stating in his African language and then in English "God bless Africa!".
The stats alone are devastating. Every 14 seconds someone in Africa dies of HIV/AIDS. It's estimated that 26.6 million people are living with HIV/AIDS in Africa right now, 6,300 of which die every day, representing the greatest medical emergency the world has ever seen.
Today just happens to be World AIDS Day.
Don't know if everyone's seen this already, but it's a pretty powerful little video that gets you thinking about the impact of AIDS.
Wow. Thanks for sharing that Jer. I hadn't seen it yet. I've really been contemplating lately how I might be able to get involved with some types of AIDS related work or aid, but right now just isn't a good time for me to look into it seriously.