‘We are one world, one voice, one heart beating’

For humanitarian Stephen Lewis, visiting the Comox Valley on behalf of the dramatically growing foundation named for him, wasn’t about wasting time in some backwater of the international stage.

It was about promoting and educating in an area that’s interested at a level he has never seen before.

“I regard you as holy water, as you’ve taken on this issue,” Lewis said Friday afternoon, meeting with the press before Joining Hands with Africa, a presentation by Lewis at Mark R. Isfeld school, organized by the World Community Development Society.

The former United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, and Canadian ambassador to the UN has made a name for himself as an outspoken advocate for aid to Africa. His best-selling book of lectures Race Against Time highlights the issues and raises concrete solutions of action to help. The Stephen Lewis Foundation last year raised nearly $12 million to, as its mandate says, help ease the pain of HIV/AIDS in Africa through grassroots projects.

He speaks around the world to people wanting to learn more about the pandemic of HIV/AIDS, but never had he spoken to a crowd as big as 1,700 people on behalf of the foundation, as he did Friday night in Courtenay.

“All of my political juices are churning,” he started off laughingly, looking over a gymnasium packed with people on chairs and in the bleachers.

The event was started by five songs, performed by a blend of choirs from throughout the mid-Vancouver Island area, but particularly from School District 71, and greeted by clapping and cheering.

When Lewis took the stage, the intermittent applause didn’t stop.

“All of the best things happen at the grassroots …  they happen at the community level, as you see here,” said Lewis.

Joining Hands with Africa was about giving context to the depth of the pandemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa, and talking about ways for people here in Canada to make a difference. He focused on the potential of the UN Millennium Goals, and how the G8 countries that committed to them, will not meet their standards like cutting extreme poverty and providing universal primary education by 2015.

“I thought I understood the way the world works. I don’t understand the way the world works,” he said.

He spoke for nearly an hour, with no notes or guide in front of him, rattling off statistics and stories that struck to the heart of the audience.

Twenty-seven thousand children younger than five die every day of preventable diseases. One billion people still live on less than $1 a day. Last year, there were 2.5 million new infections of HIV.

“We’re losing the battle,” he said simply.

“What sticks in my heart —  I can’t yank it free —  is the carnage.”

Sixty-eight per cent of the world’s HIV/AIDS patients live in sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 22.5 million people, 61 per cent of which are women. Each day more than 6,800 persons become infected with HIV and more than 5,700 persons die from AIDS.

There are ways to help, he adds, and the Stephen Lewis Foundation is one of them. Directing money at grassroots projects and growing initiatives like Grandmothers groups here in Canada supporting grandmothers left to care for orphaned grandchildren in Africa, are all making an impact in the lives of people who are struggling.

Political encouragement is always also an option. On the eve of Nelson Mandela’s birthday and the internationally-condemned election in Zimbabwe, Lewis said we are seeing the potential of political leadership both good and bad.

He thanked the local area for the contributions so far, and for their obvious interest, represented by the packed hall.

He took questions from the audience, responding to people wondering about the role of micro-credit programs for aid, how the billions of dollars already have made little difference to Africa, and what media sources he uses to keep himself informed.

It all came down though to Grade 6 student Amy Walsh, who asked simply how she could help.

Lewis said that becoming educated and raising awareness is a large part of the battle,  and that raising a little money wouldn’t hurt.

In the end, local groups made presentations to Lewis for the foundation, with the title piece of the North Island Quilters for Community Awareness’ presentation Who Will Plant the Seed of Hope? being given as a gift for his visit, and around $16,500 from local Grandmothers groups.

Billy Strachan, whose Day for Africa fundraiser was inspired by a Lewis speech in Port Alberni last year, ended it by presenting $25,000 he and volunteers raised over four days of work this spring.

In a final song, the entire audience became a choir, ending the evening with a motto.

“We are one world, one voice, one heart beating.”

reporter@comoxvalleyrecord.com