wfn.org | Church World Service Moringa Work Celebrated

[carolf@ncccusa.org]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Contacts:
NCC News, 212-870-2252 (www.ncccusa.org/www.churchworldservice.org)
GIANT/Operation Heart to Heart, 770-491-8667 (www.americatoafrica.org)

NCC3/22/01 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

News About the Work of Church World Service
CHURCH WORLD SERVICE MORINGA WORK CELEBRATED

	March 22, 2001, ATLANTA, Ga. - Church World Service will be in the 
spotlight here on Saturday (March 24) for its pioneering work against 
malnutrition in West Africa through promotion of the indigenous, 
nutrient-packed Moringa tree - also seen as a potential weapon in the 
nutritional arsenal against HIV/AIDS.

	In less than five years, CWS and its Senegalese partner, AGADA, have 
documented the dramatic value of Moringa in treating malnutrition among 
infants, children and their mothers in Senegal.  The prescription is 
simple: add two tablespoons full of Moringa leaf powder to cereals and 
sauces three times daily.

Government health posts now promote Moringa as an indigenous, affordable 
alternative to imported nutritional supplements whose cost makes them 
unsustainable for most people.  Where Moringa is used, malnutrition rates 
have plummeted.

Now Church World Service is expanding Moringa cultivation across West 
Africa and beyond, and is laying plans for a formal trial of Moringa's 
value in improving the nutrition and thus sustaining the health of people 
with HIV/AIDS.

	Saturday's award is from Operation Heart to Heart, a new, Atlanta-based 
non-governmental organization.

GIANT (Global Initiative for AIDS Nutritional Therapy), whose focus is on 
enhancing natural immunity through good nutrition, and the Nigeria-based 
Endurance and Love Organization are co-sponsors of Operation Heart to 
Heart, a multifaceted response to HIV/AIDS in Africa, beginning in Nigeria 
with a model center for prevention and treatment.

	"The nutritional status of the individual plays a role in the progression 
of HIV disease," said Dr. Alawode Oladele, an Atlanta physician and Chief 
Executive Officer of GIANT.  "We want to spread the word of Moringa and 
incorporate it into our program," he said.  "When we go into an African 
community to talk about HIV, we want to talk about Moringa and nutrition, 
too."

	Operation Heart to Heart will present awards to Church World Service and 
others at a Fundraising/Awards Ceremony and Dinner, beginning with a 
reception and silent auction at 6:30 p.m. at the Loudermilk Conference 
Center, 40 Courtland St., Atlanta, Ga.  Some 350-400 people are expected to 
attend.

	Others to be honored Saturday include former United Nations Ambassador 
Andrew Young, with the "Champion for the Cause Award," for helping 
corporate and government leaders break the silence about HIV/AIDS, and Dr. 
Helene Gayle of the Centers for Disease Control, with the "Pace Setter 
Award" for outstanding leadership in HIV/AIDS.

	The Rev. John McCullough, CWS Executive Director, will accept Operation 
Heart to Heart's "Capacity Building Award" on behalf of Church World 
Service.

	There's a highly interpersonal "story behind the story" of the Operation 
Heart to Heart awards.

	Ambassador Young is founder and/or leader of a number of organizations and 
enterprises dedicated to human and economic health and development in 
Africa, including GIANT (he's one of three founders and serves as chairman 
of the board).  He also is a United Church of Christ minister, serving as 
President of the (U.S.) National Council of Churches in 2000-2001.

	The latter has refreshed his acquaintance with the work of the NCC and its 
mission and service ministry, Church World Service.  In particular, 
Ambassador Young has become an enthusiastic promoter of CWS Moringa work.

When he had surgery for prostate cancer in late 1999, he asked well-wishers 
not to send flowers, but rather to make donations to Church World Service 
for Moringa seeds.  He also invited CWS to present its Moringa work at the 
African Health Ministers' HIV/AIDS and Malaria International Conference he 
chaired in Atlanta in April 2000.

Dr. Oladele, GIANT's chief executive officer, is Ambassador Young's 
personal phyisican.  That connection led to his participation in a visit to 
CWS Moringa work in Senegal in February 2001.

About the visit, he commented, "We were thrilled with what CWS has done in 
that area.  They've done what others haven't done, which is capacity 
building and empowerment, 'teaching people how to fish' and not just 
'handing them a fish,' as the saying goes.  Church World Service has the 
most wholistic approach - mind, body and spirit - and nutrition is a part 
of all that."  That led to Saturday's award.

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