Momentum Beginning To Build for HIV/AIDS Fight in Africa Because of Grassroots Efforts, Opinion Piece Says
Although the "international failure to respond to the African AIDS crisis is shameful," there are "signs" -- such as grassroots fundraising efforts -- that "momentum is finally beginning to build toward tackling the crisis on the scale it deserves," Elementary Teachers of Toronto President Martin Long writes in a Toronto Star opinion piece. The teachers' union is launching a campaign among its 10,000 members to encourage people to make regular donations to the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario Humanity Fund, which gives all of the money raised to the Stephen Lewis Foundation, Long says. The Lewis Foundation provides direct assistance to women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa, according to Long. The elementary teachers' union also will support individual fundraising efforts by Canadian teachers and encourage other unions to launch similar fundraising efforts, Long writes. "Canadians are practically unanimous when it comes to our desire to have Canada make a big contribution to alleviating the world's most serious problems," Long says, concluding, "For anyone who feels that way, African AIDS is the issue, and now is the time" (Long, Toronto Star, 5/4).
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