Thursday, February 26, 2009: Orphans of Rwanda helps create a new Rwanda, made by orphans.  In her article, “Simply Rwandan,” Colleen Shaddox discusses the origins of Orphans of Rwanda within the context of the history of Rwanda.

November 15, 2008: The Wrong Message in a Bottle–In late September, the authorities in Belgium seized more than two million counterfeit painkillers and antimalarial drugs that had been manufactured in India and were en route to Africa.  By Roger Bate, Director, Africa Fighting Malaria.  Read article

May 11, 2008: Keeping New Mothers Alive in Haiti and Rwanda– “Obscene” is still the word that comes to mind when we think of maternal mortality — and it has been almost 25 years since we first witnessed death in childbirth. By Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, and Ophelia Dahl, executive director of Partners in Health. Read article

April 13, 2008: In Rwanda, Visionary Doctor is Moving Mountains Again– It was November 2004, and Dr. Paul Farmer had agreed to bring his world-renowned Partners in Health model to Rwanda, which was still reeling from the aftershocks of the genocide a decade earlier. Read article

January 28, 2008: NBC Nightly News and MSNBC feature PlayPump water systems in their “Making a Difference” segment that features the water pumps in action, along with efforts by U.S. school children to help raise funds for the water pumps. View story

To the Editor:

“Drugs Banned, World’s Poor Suffer in Pain” (front page, Sept. 10) rightly points out the need for pain-relief drugs for end-of-life care in poor countries, particularly in parts of sub-Saharan Africa.

But end-of-life care is more than drugs. Almost three decades ago the first hospice-care program in sub-Saharan Africa began to deliver home-based care, including pain medication, but also integrated psychological and spiritual counseling and support systems for patients and their families.

Since that time, the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa has partnered with African counterparts to create programs in more than a dozen African countries.

More programs are desperately needed, particularly in countries like Sierra Leone, to provide the quality end-of-life care that every person, regardless of country of origin or economic status, deserves.

Barbara Alison Rose
Chevy Chase, Md., Sept. 10, 2007
The writer is executive director of Aid for Africa.

Link to the original article No Relief: Drugs Banned, Many of World’s Poor Suffer in Pain (September 10, 2007)

September 23, 2006: CNN documentary, “Where Have All The Parents Gone?” reported by Christiane Amanpour, focuses on the impact of the AIDS epidemic on children in Africa and includes a visit by Ms. Amanpour to AID Village Clinics in May 2006. View story

Sunday, May 21, 2006: After building a life in Arlington, Ugandan immigrant and John Wanda decided to build something more ambitious — a school for his native village. John Wanda is the president of Arlington Academy of Hope. Read article