Canadian children?s entertainer Fred Penner visits Zambia with World Vision Canada September 8, 2004 - Over the course of his career Canada?s Fred Penner has travelled the length and breadth of North America many times, taking his stories and songs to children in small towns and big cities. Today, he is experiencing something of a role reversal as he listens to the stories and songs of children in Zambia, a country in east Africa. Penner is visiting World Vision Canada projects where he will see first hand the devastating effects of HIV/AIDS on the communities. ?I felt a special need to understand the plight of the children and families there,? said Penner before he left for Zambia. Zambia has an HIV/AIDS rate of 16.5% among the adult population, one of the highest rates in Africa. Nearly 85,000 children are currently living with AIDS in Zambia and more than 630,000 children have been orphaned due to the disease. With 470,000 Zambian women living with HIV/AIDS, the outlook for the country?s children is grim. For every mother that contracts the disease, more children?s lives are compromised through the loss of care, guidance and much-needed love. World Vision is a Christian humanitarian relief and development organization active in more than 90 countries around the world, providing help to more than 85 million people each year. |
