Stephen Lewis in Nanaimo Today
Today my mother and I travel "up Island" to Nanaimo. We will be picking up my son, going out for Thai or Vietnamese food, and then going to the Port Theatre to hear Stephen Lewis.
For the uninitiated, Stephen Lewis is the son of David Lewis, longtime leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada. I met the senior Lewis several times in my teens. Stephen was appointed Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, and then became the UN ambassador to Africa for AIDS (and I'm sure there's some great website I could insert here, if I only knew how!).
These days it's hard to find someone worthy of the label "hero". Stephen Lewis is one of those people. I've heard him speak many times, in electronic media, and this will be my second time hearing him in person. If DaVinci's paintings could be put into words, Stephen Lewis would be the orator. His phenomenal use of the English language is inspiring. If you ever (EVER) have a chance to see him, do it.
Tonight's message will likely be depressing. I've seen the TV shows of his trips into Africa. It is the shame of the world that keeps this situation from improving. But I'd rather walk away depressed than pass up the chance to hear Stephen Lewis speak.
Someday one African life will be worth one North American life, or one European life, and the eradication of AIDS will begin in earnest. But, until oil and wealth cease to be seen as having more value than the life of a poverty-stricken black woman dying of AIDS in Africa, those women, their children, and the men who infect them, will continue to die.
I don't have time today to proof read this. I'm going to his the "publish" button and then get ready to leave Victoria for Nanaimo. I'll try to get something on my blog in the next couple of days, while Stephen Lewis' message is fresh in my mind.
For the uninitiated, Stephen Lewis is the son of David Lewis, longtime leader of the federal New Democratic Party of Canada. I met the senior Lewis several times in my teens. Stephen was appointed Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, and then became the UN ambassador to Africa for AIDS (and I'm sure there's some great website I could insert here, if I only knew how!).
These days it's hard to find someone worthy of the label "hero". Stephen Lewis is one of those people. I've heard him speak many times, in electronic media, and this will be my second time hearing him in person. If DaVinci's paintings could be put into words, Stephen Lewis would be the orator. His phenomenal use of the English language is inspiring. If you ever (EVER) have a chance to see him, do it.
Tonight's message will likely be depressing. I've seen the TV shows of his trips into Africa. It is the shame of the world that keeps this situation from improving. But I'd rather walk away depressed than pass up the chance to hear Stephen Lewis speak.
Someday one African life will be worth one North American life, or one European life, and the eradication of AIDS will begin in earnest. But, until oil and wealth cease to be seen as having more value than the life of a poverty-stricken black woman dying of AIDS in Africa, those women, their children, and the men who infect them, will continue to die.
I don't have time today to proof read this. I'm going to his the "publish" button and then get ready to leave Victoria for Nanaimo. I'll try to get something on my blog in the next couple of days, while Stephen Lewis' message is fresh in my mind.
posted by Rosemarie Buchanan @ 9:45 a.m.
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