Ssejinja Children's Foundation talk is Nov.27 in Carson Auditorium (11-14-07)
AIDS orphans in Uganda, Africa are offered hope through the Ssejinja Children's Foundation. As part of AIDS Awareness Week the Adams State College Campus Ministry presents Kathy Darnell, with the Durango Ssejinja Children's Foundation, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, in Carson Auditorium.
The Ssejinja Children's Foundation was founded by David Ssejinja who was born and raised in Uganda amidst the AIDS pandemic and Civil Unrest. The purpose of the Foundation is to support the widows and children through education, healthcare and personal assistance.
Darnell's topic will address HIV/AIDS in today's world society, and consequences including orphans raising orphans, poverty, disease, lack of housing, lack of education, and global affects. She will show what the Ssejinja Children's Foundation is doing, in cooperation with community members, to bring tangible support, security and hope for these children. For anyone interested, Darnell will also screen an Engineers Without Borders DVD that illustrates a simple irrigation system installed recently at one of the orphanages.
Darnell works in Durango with the Ssejinja Foundation. "We will discuss what Durango is doing, and show a series of slides," Darnell said. Following the slide show, she will take questions from the audience. "I will present an opportunity for Adams State students to travel to Uganda this summer and offer suggestions for projects Adam's State may want to take on," she said. In conjunction with her talk, on Tuesday in the Student Union Building Darnell will be selling Ugandan crafts hand-made by the villagers. All proceeds will directly benefit the foundation and its projects. This would be a great opportunity for the community to do some "alternative" holiday shopping that would make a difference.
According to the Ssejinja Children's Foundation website, http://www.ssejinja.org/, lack of education remains key to many of Africa's problems. The children, orphans who have lost their parents to AIDS and civil war, are in need of basic materials. David Ssejinja was orphaned himself when political extremists killed his parents. "I came to the USA to have an education six years ago," Ssejinja said. "I left behind a war-torn and desecrated society burdened by poverty and deeply uprooted by AIDS, and the memories of children who were so dear to me kept coming back."
It is very hard to be an orphan. You have no parents, you are starving and you have no hope for the future. All my efforts and energy goes to help the children in the villages to educate them so they can have high hopes for the future."
Adams State and the San Luis Valley Area Health Education Center have scheduled a series of events during AIDS Awareness Week from Nov. 26 through Dec. 1. Call 719-589-4977 for more information.
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By Linda Relyea
