Denver Trade Mission to Provide Medical Supplies to African Orphanages
Members of Denver Mayor Wellington Webb's (D) humanitarian and trade mission to southern Africa announced during the first day of the mission a deal that would provide medical supplies to Botswanan AIDS orphanages, the Denver Post reports. Denver-based Project Cure will distribute the supplies to orphanages through the African Methodist Episcopal Church. James Jackson, president of Project Cure, and Ronald Wooding, a Jefferson County Jail assistant pastor who has previously worked with southern African orphanages, announced the agreement at a reception with U.S. Ambassador to Botswana John Lange. Jackson, Wooding and Webb, along with other members of the mission, including six other U.S. mayors, will visit a Durban, South Africa, orphanage that houses children with AIDS and children of parents who died from AIDS-related causes, during their 13-day mission (Brovsky, Denver Post, 2/22). Before leaving for the mission, Ted Hackworth, a Denver City Council member, on Feb. 6 criticized Webb for spending city money and his time on the southern Africa mission during an "economic slowdown." Hackworth, who noted that his objections were purely financial and had nothing to do with AIDS, said, "At a time when the city is looking to cut $9 million from the budget, I just question the priority of expenditures." Webb responded, "In a broader context, we have to figure out what kind of city we want to be. Do we want to be a city of the 1960s, or a city that can compete in international markets in 2020?" (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/8). "Anyone who says there is no relationship between economic development in South Africa and AIDS is not dealing with reality," Jackson added (Denver Post, 2/22).
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