 |
Welcome | MPYRAA
Dear People of Good Faith,
The passing away of an entire family of five to which I was a friend a decade ago, turned my life into a rescue mission. I was inspired by the love for people and commitment to action and together with a host of friends, we established the Movement for The Promotion of Youths Rights and HIV/AIDS Awareness (MPYRAA). MPYRAA has worked towards combating the HIV/AIDS crisis and eradicating poverty and human rights abuses, championing global recognition of the inextricable link between health, poverty and human rights.
For most of the last thirty years, the world was in denial about the disastrous spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Governments, businessmen and women, and those of us in global civil society failed to appreciate the pandemic’s enormous scale, its complex causes, and its catastrophic consequences. All too many were unwilling to listen to the prophetic predictions made by some ancient scientists. Now, scales are beginning to fall off the world’s eyes. It is a social crisis that is tearing apart the fabric of communities and societies. This HIV virus gets into the defensive system and knocks it out. It does that socially too. It gets into the extended family support system and decimates it. It is also an economic crisis that is robbing countries of their workers, entrepreneurs, and teachers in the prime of their lives. And it is a security crisis that may soon lead orphaned and abandoned children to becoming criminals, soldiers and agents of violence, both responsible for and vulnerable to the abuses that erode the foundations of society. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is rooted in social and economic realities. HIV/AIDS spreads rapidly in societies without strong education and health care systems, and without equality of rights and opportunity. It is driven by poverty and conflict. We have to understand how the lack of empowerment of women and adolescents, the lack of literacy and education, and the trampling upon of human rights fuel this epidemic. When HIV/AIDS ravages communities, it makes women and young people even more vulnerable, leaving them disempowered and defenseless targets of abuse. Most troubling of all, AIDS leaves behind huge numbers of orphaned children: some 200 million in this decade, most desperately poor and struggling to survive. Our failure to reach out to them is a screaming scandal in this planet of interconnections and pockets of huge affluence. We must bring these children back into the society, into caring communities and loving families to enable them to gain access to support, education, HIV prevention, and health care. When they need medicine, it must be provided. When they are sick, they have a right to be cared for. When they die, they must be able to die with dignity, surrounded by love. Our programs of compassion must be based on rights: the rights of these children, enshrined in the convention on the Rights of the Child and ratified by all nations of the world. From my local point as the founder of a small but influential organization implementing micro projects with macro implications in more than 200 communities in Cameroon, I see signs of hope everywhere. I am constantly heartened by the courage of those on the front line – health care workers, community organizers, people bravely living with AIDS, and the family members and neighbors who open their homes and hearts to orphaned children. Their commitment and dedication are exemplary. Every citizen of our global world must learn from these examples and become involved. We must save these children and keep them and ourselves from falling into an abyss of poverty, sickness, despair, and violence. HIV prevention and treatment have to be top priorities. The search for new medicines and health care delivery systems must continue. But we are more than just medical missionaries. We are not just fighting a disease, but the poverty, malnutrition, wars, homelessness, and denial of human rights that are the root causes of the disease. To reweave torn social fabrics, we need to end the discrimination within communities and to strengthen the invisible heroes that are the grassroots volunteers, mostly women and youths. As we act now, we have to act faster, working with people, not just for them. We have to find ways to help those who are already helping the vulnerable. The orphans of the AIDS crisis in many cases do not need expensive medication. They can survive and thrive if supported by community-based initiatives that help guardians, extended family, and neighborhood networks to provide love and care. Almost any development initiative to improve education, nutrition, income generation, sanitation, alleviate poverty and health can make a difference. You can get involved with MPYRAA with the click of the mouse. Visit our continuously evolving website at www.mpyraa.org to find out about the range and depth of our work. Contact us online and become members. We are focusing our attention on where the power and money are. We are saying: invest it to save lives. We are seeking help to fund orphan projects that are making an important difference. What better investment can all of us make in the future of the global community? In a world driven by globalization from above, we promote globalization from below, treating the earth as a place in which we are all stakeholders. We can put our minds and hand to work stopping the further erosion of social and economic systems that put the most vulnerable of us at risk. In fighting for humanity, we ultimately become more human ourselves. Write to me via mov_hivaids@yahoo.com, or call me at 00237 963 43 40, 00237 760 81 10, 00237 33073873 to deposit financial contributions. Go to our donation page and see our payment options. Then let me know how you have helped or how you will want to help.
God bless you
Tumbu Fomanka Batholomew Chief Executive Officer
|
