wfn.org | News/Feature: CWS, Tim Janis Launch New HIV/AIDS in Africa

["Church World Service News" <nccc_usa@ncccusa.org>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE, U.S. MUSICIAN TIM JANIS LAUNCH
NEW COLLABORATION ON HIV/AIDS IN AFRICA

Durban, South Africa, May 9, 2002 -- "Don't stigmatize people with HIV/AIDS"
is a core theme of a bold new collaboration of help and hope for
HIV/AIDS-infected and affected Africans.

Church World Service, a U.S.-based international humanitarian disaster
relief, development and advocacy organization, and American instrumental
musician Tim Janis, whose "music with a mission" counts six
Billboard-charting CDs to date, launch that collaboration publicly this
weekend in the eye of the HIV/AIDS treatment storm -- in South Africa, where
an estimated one in five adults is HIV-positive.

May 10 at Durban City Hall, Janis performs at a "Symphony of Hope," a gala
benefit concert for the Sinikithemba (pronounced SIN-I-KAH-TEM-BAH)
Christian Care Centre at McCord Hospital.  Church World Service is among
funders of the center, which provides comprehensive, compassionate care for
more than 18,000 HIV-positive people every year.  Also performing are many
South African musicians, including the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra
and the Sinikithemba center's HIV-positive women's choir.  Concert proceeds
will go toward establishment of a new homecare training hospice.

May 12 in Soweto's beloved Regina Mundi Catholic Church, Janis will play for
an ecumenical service of music, prayer and commitment, under the theme
"National Church Call to Condemn the Stigmatization of HIV/AIDS Infected and
Affected."  There he will join the renowned Imilonji KaNtu (pronounced
IM-I-LONE-GEE KAHN-TOO) Choral Society, the Soweto community choir that sang
at Nelson Mandela's inauguration as President.  Between 3,000-4,000 people,
including church, political and business leaders, are expected to attend the
service, along with area residents.

Local organizer for the May 12 event is the South African Council of
Churches (SACC), a longtime Church World Service partner recognized
worldwide for its involvement in the struggle against apartheid.  Today
Church World Service continues to support the SACC as it engages the new
challenges of South Africa's developing democracy, including the effort to
destigmatize HIV/AIDS and extend compassion, treatment and services to
HIV/AIDS infected and affected.

While in South Africa, Janis is visiting the SACC and HIV/AIDS projects and
will record several tracks with the Sinikithemba and Imilonji KaNtu choirs
for a new CD.  Proceeds from U.S. sales of the CD through selected
distribution channels will benefit Church World Service's support for
HIV/AIDS projects across Africa.  (more  )
[Church World Service/Tim Janis South Africa Music Tour . . . Page 2 of 3]

The South Africa musical tour and events and CD sales are part of a major,
multi-year Church World Service African initiative focusing on such critical
issues as HIV/AIDS, peace-building, malnutrition, poverty, and human rights
abuses.  Janis and Church World Service are planning a similar "Symphony of
Hope" benefit concert  at The Riverside Church, New York City, on World AIDS
Day, December 1.

HIV/AIDS in Africa: the Cry for Destigmatization, Compassion, Treatment

Since it began, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has claimed the lives of more than 17
million people in sub-Saharan Africa.  28 million people now live with
HIV/AIDS in Africa.  There were 3.4 million new infections in Africa in
2001.  So far AIDS has left 13 million orphans in its wake-- a number
projected to grow to 40 million orphans by 2010 without a massive effort to
contain the disease.  The epidemic, moreover, threatens fragile progress in
education, food production, economic development, and political stability.

In South Africa, where an estimated one in five adults is HIV-positive,
debate about the use of anti-retroviral drugs and their availability to
pregnant women "has created the impression that the supply of medication is
what the fight against AIDS is all about," says Gary Thompson, South African
Council of Churches HIV/AIDS program director.

"But the stigmatization of those infected is a huge concern that creates the
climate of denial that frustrates any programs to stem the tide of AIDS," he
adds.  "More people are owning up to being HIV-infected, but the general
climate is still one of denial and ostracism of those who make known that
they are infected.  In theological terms, it is sometimes expressed this
way: 'AIDS is a sin that does not touch good people.'

"That's why the SACC is calling South Africa and its churches with their
prominent place in our society to condemn and act against this false
notion," Thompson explains, "and to strengthen and expand already existing
programs of care for the HIV-infected."

Key Words: Help and Hope

Help and hope are key words for all the partners in this collaboration to
address HIV/AIDS in Africa.  When Church World Service celebrated its first
half-century of ministry in 1996, the theme was "Fifty Years of Help and
Hope."  Working in partnership with the National Council of Churches, with
36 denominations across the U.S., and with local organizations in more than
80 countries including the United States, Church World Service supports
sustainable self-help development, meets emergency needs, aids refugees, and
helps address the root causes of poverty and powerlessness.

Church World Service's work to combat AIDS is part of a major multi-year
Africa initiative focusing on such critical issues as peace-building,
poverty, malnutrition, human rights abuses, and HIV/AIDS. In the face of the
Africa AIDS catastrophe, Church World Service will focus on supporting
partners' efforts to:  provide effective community-based prevention, care
and treatment; combat the stigmatization and denial associated with the
disease; promote the dignity and human rights of persons infected with
HIV/AIDS; and address the larger social context which fuels the spread of
AIDS.  (more  )
[Church World Service/Tim Janis South Africa Music Tour . . . Page 3 of 3]

In South Africa, Church World Service supports both the Sinikithemba
Christian Care Centre and the South African Council of Churches' HIV/AIDS
program, which in 2002 is seeking to provide HIV/AIDS infected and affected
with a stable diet and a sustainable source of income through establishment
of vegetable gardens in all nine provinces; combat stigmatization of and
discrimination against HIV/AIDS-infected people; extend treatment and ensure
adequate government funding for it; and prevent the further spread of
HIV/AIDS.

The South African Council of Churches'  HIV/AIDS work is part of its broader
commitment to improving the lives of the people of South Africa, operating
at various levels that seek to address the basic needs of the poor and
marginalized.  The SACC's 25 full-member denominations and 18 other
affiliated churches and organizations comprise 60 percent of South Africa's
people.

The Sinikithemba Christian Care Centre's name is a Zulu word that in English
means, "We Give Hope."  Founded in 1996, Sinikithemba is the first AIDS care
center in Durban linked to an accredited health care facility, and remains
the only AIDS care clinic that provides a complete and holistic array of
effective services for the whole person --including testing and treatment,
counseling, education, support groups, and assistance to HIV-positive people
through income opportunities. Work projects include beadwork that is
marketed internationally.  (Among contracts: 10,000 AIDS care badges for the
World AIDS Conference in July 2000 and for Church World Service.)

Top-Charting Musician Janis: Music, Philanthropy As Healing

34-year-old musician Tim Janis' consistent use of his uplifting instrumental
music to support philanthropic efforts developed naturally as increasing
numbers of his fans began to use his music in therapeutic and inspirational
contexts.  His "Music of Hope" CD recorded with Paul McCartney and
benefiting the American Cancer Society topped Billboard Magazine's Top
Classical Albums last year, and his "music with a mission" is used by the
Mayo Clinic in Arizona and others in the medical community to ease people
through chemotherapy and other treatments.

Janis approached Church World Service several months ago about ways he might
employ his music to support the organization's HIV/AIDS response efforts.
Out of that conversation grew the trip to South Africa to visit Church World
Service supported programs and to record music with South African musicians
for a new CD slated for national distribution in the U.S.  Sales of the CD
will benefit Church World Service's AIDS work in Africa.

						###

Contacts: CWS, New York: Carol Fouke, (212) 870-2252/2227; news@ncccusa.org,
or Boston: Jan Dragin, (781) 925-1526, jdragin@gis.net. Soweto: Bernard
Spong, (011) (27) 11 726-7969 or mobile (011) (27) 82 345-3364;
bspong@pop.ibi.co.za. Durban: Sheelagh Antrobus, mobile (011) (27) 82
432-7446; sheelagh@netactive.co.za; Janis/CWS Mobile: (011) (27) 82 858-9256