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• MOUSTACHES SAVE LIVES
• 15 | 09 | 08
   

• We are pleased and proud to announce that a proportion of the money raised through the sale of false moustaches at the NYC Downlow has now been donated to help to fund The Mother of Mercy AIDS Hospice and School in Zambia.

  Thanks to everyone who took part and danced in the Downlow.

   The Mother of Mercy AIDS Hospice and School in Zambia:

  On the outskirts of Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, sits the Linda compound, a community of 25 000. Only approx 2000 are in employment, food is scarce, disease is rife, the HIV/AIDS rate is 60%+, and so in some areas over 50% of the community are under 15. Often orphans look after orphans.

  Yet there is hope in the form of The Mother of Mercy Hospice and School. It is a small light in great darkness, but it is a light of hope that keeps growing and extending. Where initially the Sisters of Mercy were able to offer a caring place of final rest and very basic medication, they now have 600 people per month receiving antiretroviral drugs. Where there was a handful of conscientious nurses’ seeking out people dying in solitude, there is now an outreach group of 8 employed locals who can visit and if necessary collect patients on their ambulance bicycles. Where previously no fresh clean water was available for miles, water systems have been put in place to provide clean water and sanitation.

  The school attached to the hospice is full of children who have one or no parents alive, at least half of the students are HIV+. The school makes sure they are clothed, receive a simple meal every day and with only few materials, the teachers improvise to give a basic education to all the students. Yet the smiles, laughter and singing that emanate from the classrooms, resonate the gratitude they feel for the smallest contribution offered their way. This is the generation that can save their nation.

  The community has lived in conditions that we would only consider apocalyptic should we experience them ourselves. Yet with just a hand of help they are empowered to rebuild and recreate their community. With water, they are able to plant food and grow crops to help combat the starvation issue, literally from a ground level. With education they are able to deflect the path of HIV infection through understanding & knowledge. With medication they are able to transform shame to hope.

  VisionAfrica is a UK based fund set up to directly support the hospice and the community it nurtures believing that small communities in Europe forming partnerships with small communities in Africa is a model for a better way. We can build bridges between our different worlds and effect change directly.

  Change is happening, but, in order to keep this change growing, more help is required. VisionAfrica has created the Bill Johnson fund, in memory of a man dedicated to this community, which is committed to pay the monthly wage bill of £4000 for its 80 staff.

  The hospice is the only source of care for miles around and is funded solely through donations from people like you.

  If you feel called to make a further direct contribution to the Mother of Mercy Hospice and its community you can do so to Lloyds TSB Plc, 38 Market Place, Devizes, sort code: 30-92-63, Vision Africa A/c: 00273075 or call on 01249 760486 for more info.

   

   

  
  
   

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