An 11-year-old child was diagnosed with AIDS recently at Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik’s clinic in Africa.
Over 100 people attending the Pansy Luncheon at Melville United Church learned that three other people there were also diagnosed with HIV/Aids that same day.
That is why the Grandmothers of the Grand were working to raise funds to support the Stephen Lewis Foundation that is fighting Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (the Human Immuno-deficient Virus) in Africa. The were also supporting Zajdlik and her work there, and locally.
Cinda Richardson, the chairman of the fundraiser, said that there were places set for 96 people and organizers estimated they attracted 125 people to the luncheon. Besides lunch at $10 per person, guests could buy pansies, comfort dolls made locally, and bracelets to support Dr. Zajdlik’s African clinic in Lesotho, in the middle region of Africa. The landlocked country faces up to 30,000 deaths per year from the deadly virus.
Richardson said this is the group’s “first public event to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in our community, and to raise funds for the Stephen Lewis Foundation in Africa.”
Richardson has heard Lewis speak, and said she believes as he neared the end of his tenure at the United Nations he simply got tired of posturing and politics being played with the virus and decided to take some direct action to help.
“He took the gloves off,” Richardson said. “Nations make a commitment – and then they don’t follow up.”
Richardson said the Grandmothers group in Fergus was among the first in Canada, and now there are over 300 such groups.
There is a symbolism for the grandmothers, because in Africa, there are many households are led by grandmothers because the middle generation has died of AIDS.
Richardson said some grannies there have taken responsibility for other orphans, and are often looking after as many as 20 children.
She added many households in Africa are led by children as young and 8 to 10 because parents are dead.
Richardson said her group was particularly pleased to see so many young people attending the luncheon because the disease is spreading among the young. Today in Canada, the majority of the AIDS cases are with people aged 15 to 26. She said only education can help stop the spread of AIDS.
She said Centre Wellington District High School principal Karen Welch was particularly helpful getting the local group started, and has been a strong supporter ever since.
With Zajdlik speaking, Richardson said the group hoped to raise awareness not only about AIDS and HIV, but also that Zajdlik has a clinic in Guelph where people can be tested.
That clinic, now about three years old, is barely on the radar for most people.
“Throughout all of this, I have not met one person who knows we’ve got an HIV/AIDS clinic [in Guelph],” Richardson said. “If you want an AIDS test and you go to her, you won’t be turned away.”
Richardson said is particularly concerned because AIDS and HIV seem to have faded from people’s awareness. “It’s not going away. It’s lost its momentum in this country, but it’s not going away.”
There are 62,000 cases of AIDS in Canada, “and there should be none.” She explained AIDS is very preventable, but it costs money for education.
And, she said, it affects everybody. “”This isn’t a disease of morality. It is a health care issue.”
She said today, girls aged 15 to 26 are the majority of the victims by a small margin.
“It was in the gay community, and people align it with the gay community – and it’s not.”
As for Dr. Zajdlik, Richardson said, “She’s a hero in the community.”
She said Zajdlik and her husband, like Stephen Lewis, got tired of waiting for governments to start a local clinic, so she and her husband spent $100,000 of their own money to get started.
There were plenty of donors for the Pansy Luncheon, too. Richardson said such things as comfort dolls, made locally, were sold to help the cause. As well, red and white bead bracelets made by women in Africa at Dr. Zajdlik’s clinic there, were also on sale. The cash from those sales will aid the villages that are struggling.
Richardson also noted that George Mochrie, of Cherry Hill Entertainment, donated all the food for the luncheon.
The patrons for the event included MP Mike Chong, MPP Ted Arnott, and Centre Wellington Mayor Joanne Ross-Zuj.
