AIDS: An African Crisis, A World Problem

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Dates
12/5/08 - 12/9/08
Organized by

Gillian Pistell, Class of 2010, Graduate Student in the History of Art

In observance of World AIDS Day, December 1, the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) presents a four-day screening of the documentary Sons of Lwala (2008).

Sons of Lwala is a documentary that traces the journey of two brothers from Kenya, Milton and Fred Ochieng. After Lwala, their hometown, assisted the two brothers in raising money for their airfare to go to the United States to attend medical school, the two men return home to discover that both of their parents have died. In a town where no medical facilities exist and the closest one is several miles away, the Ochieng brothers decide to complete the work their father began to build a medical clinic in their town. Unable to raise the money themselves, they appeal to friends in the United States for help. As word of their plight spreads across the country, a nationwide movement is started to save Lwala.

Related Programming

A special screening of Sons of Lwala will be held on Tuesday, December 2 at 4:15 pm at WCMA. A discussion with Williams Economics professor Kiaran Honderich will follow about her work in Africa with HIV/AIDS.

Additionally, the museum shop will sell jewelry and other products from BeadforLife.org, a non-profit organization based in Uganda that teaches African women the craft of paper-bead making. The income these women earn allows them to pay for much-needed medical supplies, food, and education for their children. Forty-three percent of these women deal personally with HIV/AIDS in some way; some are suffering from it themselves, others have lost relatives and children, and many others care for AIDS orphans. Products made by these women can be purchased in the museum shop from November 28 to December 28, 2008. These products provide individuals the opportunity to contribute to the fight against AIDS and poverty in Uganda and to make an impact in the lives of African women. For more information, visit www.BeadforLife.org.

About World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day, December 1, was first held in 1988 in order to increase awareness and education about the disease and through this understanding stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. For more information about AIDS, please visit the following websites:

http://unaids.org
http://www.avert.org
http://www.worldaidsday.org
https://www.worldaidsday.org/campaign/

These events continue a 17-year tradition of AIDS day projects at WCMA.