Roma, 22nd May 2015 – 6,30 pm | Concert for Swaziland
Women for Peace, Culture and Development
SALA BALDINI, Piazza Campitelli 9, Roma
Musiche di: Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt, Schubert
~
PROGRAMMA
Saluto di Benvenuto
Presentazione del Progetto a favore degli orfani dell’AIDS e TBC assistiti
dalla Cabrini Ministries Swaziland
*** *** ***
Franz Schubert – Sonata in La minore “Arpeggione”
Veronika Khizanishvili – flauto | Flavio Nati – chitarra
Eugène Bozza –“ Image” Op. 38 dedicata a Marcel Moyse
Veronika Khizanishvili – flauto
*** *** ***
Ludwig van Beethoven – Sonata n.8 in do minore Op.13”Pathétique”
– Grave – Allegro – Adagio cantabile – Rondò: Allegro
Ryoko Tajika Drei – pianoforte
Franz Liszt – Due Leggende: San Francesco d’Assisi che predica agli uccelli
San Francesco da Paola che cammina sulle onde
Ryoko Tajika Drei – pianoforte
*** *** ***
Ringraziamenti e rinfresco
~
on behalf of the orphans of the AIDS and TB epidemic assisted by Cabrini Ministries Swaziland
Swaziland, one of the poorest countries of the world, is located in Southern Africa. It has the highest rate in the world of HIV/AIDS. Nearly 40% of Swazis are HIV positive, and every year 2,38% of uninfected contract the disease. 17.000 children (0 to14 years of age) are living with HIV infection. 39,2% of pregnant women are HIV positive. Girls (15 to 18 years of age) have the highest rate of HIV infection among their age group in the world as a consequence also of sexual violence as 38% of girls had experienced sexual violence before turning 18. Swaziland has also the highest incidence of TB (Tuberculosis) –nearly 14.000 new TB cases each year. Most cases a multi-drug resistant strain (MDR) as well as (XDR –TB) extensively drug-resistant. 83% of TB patients are co-infected with HIV. 45% of Swazi children are officially classified as OVC (orphaned and vulnerable ) i.e. nearly 125.000 have lost at least one parent to the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. Many of them are living with terminally ill family members or old and frail grandparents.
Orphans due to AIDS aged 0 to 17 were 73.000 in 2013 according to UNAIDS. 15.000 households are headed by children who raise their younger sisters/brothers by themselves. As a consequence many young Swazis are affected by malnutrition and are not enrolled in primary school missing out on a decent education. 42% of children (ages 5-14) engage in child labour and 89% are regularly subjected to violence. Some of the victims of worst abuse are orphaned children. Thousands of children, in particular girls are “exported” to South Africa and Mozambique. They become victims of human trafficking, commercial sex and domestic servitude. In Swaziland, as in other African countries, PWA (Persons with Albinism) are victims of most violent attacks sometimes even to ritual killing as reported and denounced by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (2013).
For more information: UNICEF Swaziland, WHO Swaziland, UNAIDS Swaziland, ILO and OHCHR.
Reading these UN data we felt the urgency to raise the awareness of our friends on this dramatic situation in Swaziland and to share with them our information about the extraordinary work of Cabrini Ministries Swaziland on behalf of the orphans of AIDS and TB.
The WHO Representative in Swaziland considers Cabrini Ministries a benchmark in the fight against HIV/AIDS and TB for the whole country because of its unique programme combining diagnosis, care and education together with a passionate and personalized approach for each patient.
Cabrini Ministries Swaziland
In the nineties the HIV/AIDS pandemic hit the country of Swaziland. In less than a decade a whole generation of Swazis was devastated and the whole social fabric of a country almost destroyed. In response to this drama the Cabrini Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who were present in the country since 1971 in the lowveld of Lubombo, the poorest area of the country, shifted all their resources and established “Cabrini Ministries Swaziland” an institution “serving those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and TB”. Since 2006 Cabrini Ministries is incorporated as a Swazi no-profit organization whose vision is “kubuyisele imphilo”( restoring life) and whose service is motivated by “kwetsemba” (hope),”sihawu” (mercy),”kutinikala” (passion) and “kunakekela ngelizinga lelisetula” (quality care).
Cabrini Ministries Swaziland operates with the following service departments:
Health Care:
-Drop-in Clinic for testing for HIV and TB and for the treatment and care of patients.
– Regular (almost daily) homesteads visits.(1.250 individuals were assessed on 207 homesteads in 2014).
– Remote Refill Locations provide in situ medication and clinical care.
– Targeted Programmes for PMTTCT (prevention to mother to child transmission) of HIV and for prevention of TB.
-MC(Medical Circumcision) Clinic – since a study (WHO) showed that men who are circumcised have a 60% lower rate of contracting HIV.
-Missed Appointment Follow-up in order to track patients who forget to come to their scheduled medical visits/medications.
In 2014 a total of 2.071 individuals received direct care from Cabrini Ministries. The rate of persons initiated on life-saving drugs (Antiretrovirals and against TB) that were alive and on treatment one year after the initiation was 96,4%, representing the highest figure in the country since detailed records have been kept.
Child Care: Hostel for OVC (orphaned and vulnerable children). In 2014 Cabrini Ministries’ staff cared for 800 orphans and vulnerable children also offering shelter to albino children of the area.
Social Services: Cabrini employs local Swazi people to help run all the activities. Training is provided as well as income and other benefits for the employees. An after-care programme has also been established to help hostel children 18+ build the job and life skills they need to take care of themselves as adults. As the field of action of Cabrini Ministries Swaziland is within a setting of Traditional Chiefdoms, and people served are entrenched in traditional beliefs which include the consultation of Traditional Healers, Cabrini has provided a local nurse to follow meetings of Traditional Healers and explain to them how ARVs (Antiretrovirals) work, health concerns of HIV positive patients as well as the way of identifying warning signs of HIV and TB.
~
Cabrini Ministries Swaziland
Box 5183 | Manzini, M200 | Swaziland, Africa –
Tel.+268.2343.4944/+268.7693.3582
For informations and donations:
See also about Cabrini Ministries Swaziland : http://youtu.be/3r9jFwCyW6k