Today on Listen Up; leveraging influence for Africa. Hollywood’s doing
it, and so are countless Canadians; from big names to the lesser known.
We’ll explore their innovative approaches to caring for the health of Africa.
Whether
they’re adopting babies, opening schools, raising money at rock
concerts, or speaking at public rallies, Hollywood’s biggest names have
been leveraging their star power to generate positive change in Africa
for years.
But countless, lesser-known people are also getting
in on the act. Today, we’ll explore the innovative approaches three
Canadians are taking to caring for the health of Africa.
The Context
Some of the biggest names in show business continued their advocacy for Africa in 2007.
Here’s how:
Mega TV talk-show host Oprah Winfrey opens a new school she has funded
in South Africa. Her goal: to give an education to girls from poor
families.
Pop superstar Madonna announces plans to join forces with Italian
fashion house, Gucci. Together they’ll raise money for African
charities.
Actress Angelina Jolie pens a piece for The Economist magazine, in
which she calls for progress in bringing African war criminals to
justice.
Rock star Bono’s Red Enterprise announces that RED consumer
action has generated over 50 million dollars for the Global Fund to
finance Aids treatment in Africa.
George Clooney and Don Cheadle are honoured in Rome, at the World
Summit of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates. The Hollywood stars receive the
2007 Peace Summit Award for their work on behalf of the victims of the
humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
Here in Canada, we’ve got a few stars of our own who are
leveraging their celebrity for the good of Africa - including 6-time
Juno award winner and country music artist, Paul Brandt. He’s a
multi-platinum-selling musician and the most-awarded male Country
Artist in Canadian history. But, he’s passionate about more than
just music. Reporter Melinda Estabrooks caught up with Paul last fall,
in the midst of his Risk Tour.
“Well,
I’m working with Samaritan’s Purse with the Turn on the Tap
program, and it’s been—it’s been so exciting for me
because you know Africa was a big part of our incentive to want to get
involved with this. But Turn on the Tap works in a number of countries
all around the world. The first time I saw this working in person was
in Cambodia, and I actually got to see people making their own water
filters, putting it all together and learning how they work—how
to keep, how to maintain them, all that kind of stuff. I mean it
changes people’s lives. I mean well you look at this
water—I don’t know if the camera can see this or not, but
this isn’t orange juice here folks. This is dirty water poured
into the water filter, which was designed by a Canadian at the
University of Calgary, comes out clean drinking water. “
He’s a businessman, not a showman, but Jim Ross, president of
Grand Valley Fortifiers is another Canadian who’s applying his
own personal brand of know-how to make a difference to the health of
Africa.
Farm country. Close to Cambridge, Ontario. Here, the air is clean, the
fields flourish in season, and the people are salt of the earth.
Including this man – Jim Ross – founder of Grand
Valley Fortifiers – a company that specializes in nutrition for
livestock. For decades, they’ve been helping to keep
Canada’s livestock healthy.
More recently, Jim began to believe that some of the principles of good
animal nutrition could also be applied to humans – even to humans
suffering from HIV/Aids.
The scientific community, it seemed, was ready to endorse what Jim had
believed for decades – that the trace mineral selenium was good,
not only for animals, but for humans as well; particularly for humans
battling HIV/Aids.
Jim’s sister, Doraine, lived and worked in Zambia for decades.
The matron of a hospital there, she trained young nurses and was on the
front lines of the battle against HIV/Aids. She experienced great hope
– particularly as a result of the work of this woman; Faith
Liyena. Faith is the founder of Faith’s Orphans Fund – an
organization that cares for literally thousands of Zambian orphans
– right in their own communities. Responsible for the well-being
of literally thousands or orphans, it was, perhaps only natural, that
Faith’s concern would extend to the well-being of their
care-givers.
And that’s where Jim Ross comes into the story. On a recent trip
to Canada, Faith shared her concerns with Jim, about people she knew
who were afflicted with HIV/Aids.
And that’s how one Canadian businessman is making a difference in
a country half-a-world away. Selenium - a trace mineral that costs only
about 3-cents for a day’s supply - is bringing hope to entire
communities that previously had little to hope for.
As an assistant professor and director of the international women and
children’s health program at McMaster University, Dr. Jean
Chamberlain Froese has labored in some of the poorest nations on earth.
But five years ago, she determined that her efforts and those of her
colleagues together were not enough to make a difference. That’s
when she birthed “Save The Mothers,” an international
organization, committed to promoting the health and dignity of mothers
in developing countries.
“As we
look world wide, over half-a-million mothers die every year from
pregnancy related complications. And here in North America, we just
can’t imagine that that happens. In Canada, we lose 10 mothers a
year, but in a country like Uganda where I work – has the
same population as Canada, every year, 6-thousand mothers die
from pregnancy related complications. And so what we take for granted,
just be part of natural life and moving forward in your family is
really a real time of risk for women in the developing world, because
they just don’t have access to the care that they need if they
face a complication of pregnancy.”
15 percent of women will experience a complication of pregnancy –
no matter where they deliver. But for North American women –
those complications are generally dealt with by entire teams of
professionals, quickly and safely.
Dr. Chamberlain Froese knows that the problems are many and varied. But
she believes the solution is obvious: change Ugandan society. It may be
an obvious solution. But it’s not an easy one.
Dr. Chamberlain Froese and her family have established Save The Mothers
at no small personal cost. As an obstetrician/gynecologist married to a
journalist, she could have known a very comfortable life here in
Canada. But don’t feel sorry for her. She’s a woman
who knows her purpose.
“I’ve
really been challenged by the words of King Solomon in the book of
Proverbs, where he said, speak for those who have no voice and the
rights of those who are destitute. And I just can’t think of
anybody more destitute in the world than women who die quietly in their
huts in Africa, in India, and no one even pays attention to them. And I
say to myself, I have a voice. God has given me a voice to be an
advocate for those women and so that’s really what motivates me,
and I know that all of us have a voice, and I just encourage others to
think about that in whatever way they can be a voice to for the women
around the world and to be faithful to that.”
We have yet to cover a story on the great needs of Africa without
discovering one common factor. Ordinary people who got involved. Not
experts, not experienced, just people who cared and got off the couch
and did something. The ripple effects are astounding. Here’s one other
factor I’ve found in each story we’ve covered on Africa’s need: What
you do with the information you learned about is a way God answers the
prayers for help of our African neighbors.
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On April 30, 2005 Lorna was privileged to receive an honorary Doctorate of Christian Ministries from Canada's largest Christian university, Trinity Western University. Lorna was recognized for the witness and leadership that Listen Up TV has provided in public messaging: "a leader in the voice of evangelical life in Canada."
