wfn.org | [APD] Leena Lavanya to receive Baptist World Alliance Human Rights Award

[Christian B. Schäffler <APD@stanet.ch>]

[APD] Leena Lavanya to receive Baptist World Alliance Human Rights Award

Leena Lavanya to receive Baptist World Alliance Human Rights Award

Washington, D.C./USA, 11.03.2009/APD   Leena Lavanya of India is the  2009
recipient of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) Denton and Janice Lotz  Human
Rights Award.

Lavanya, referred to by some as the "Baptist Mother Teresa," is being
recognized for her work among the poor and dispossessed of India. Her  "Serve
Trust" organization operates several ministries, including homes for the
aged, lepers, and adults and children living with HIV/AIDS.

Serve Trust operates a school for children in one of the most depressed
areas of Narasaraopet, a town of approximately 100,000 in the southern
Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. In another town, Chilakaluripet, Lavanya
operates training programs for female sex workers and their daughters  with
the hope that these women and their daughters would break the cycle of
prostitution.

Chilakaluripet reportedly means "the place where prostitutes live, " and  is
populated by descendants of women who were once concubines of kings, who
have since evolved into a caste where their role and function is
prostitution. HIV/AIDS infection is high among this population, where  many
men depend on the earnings of the women by being pimps or part of the  mafia.

In addition to operating a free HIV/AIDS counseling center, Lavanya
distributes rice and lentils to female sex workers and blankets to Hindu
beggars, many of whom live on the streets or in depressed communities.

"The ?Denton and Janice Lotz Human Rights Award? was launched,  endowed with
US$100,000, to recognize individuals who have played a significant role  in
human rights and religious freedom in different parts of the world. The  2009
award will be presented during the meeting of the BWA General Council in
Ede, Netherlands, in July.

Denton Lotz (70), a Baptist theologian,  served as the General Secretary  of
the Baptist World Alliance from 1988 until 2007. Also he taught for 11  years
as an Associate Professor of Missions and Homiletics at the Baptist
Theological Seminary in Rueschlikon (Switzerland). Presently Lotz serves  as
President of the Board of Directors of the International Religious  Liberty
Association (IRLA) and is active in promoting good relations with the
Christian World Communions (CWC?s).

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