2008 Woodie Awards
The Daily OrangeProject It Takes a Village, Inc. teaches AIDS awareness
By Venise Toussaint
Posted: 12/3/08, 1:14 AM EST Section: Feature
When Joylyn Fashu Kanu came to the United States from Zimbabwe in 1997, she had no idea she would return to her homeland only seven years later for the same reason she left: empowerment through education.
Fashu Kanu started the non-profit organization Project It Takes a Village Inc. (PITAV) in 2004 as a class project in the Whitman School of Management to provide support for children in Zimbabwe and hasn't looked back ever since.
"I never forget that I am here because of people that have sacrificed a lot. They saw something in me that motivated them and made it ok for them to help me, so it's only fitting that I give back," she said.
The name Project It Takes a Village comes from the African proverb "It takes a village to raise a child," meaning the collective effort of the community is needed to raise a child, a phrase Fashu Kanu said is a personal inspiration to her.
Since its incorporation, the organization has raised more than $7,000 to provide food and pay the $30 per year tuition for children to attend the Glenview Primary School in Zimbabwe, where Fashu Kanu was once a student.
Project It Takes a Village currently serves 38 children, all of whom are orphans and some of whom are infected with AIDS. Fashu Kanu said she gets depressed about the AIDS situation in Africa.
"As much as the world is doing to fight the epidemic, I don't think that there is enough being done"
PITAV hosted its first fundraising luncheon on World AIDS Day Monday to bring attention to the children who are left parentless and to raise awareness of the devastating effects of the AIDS epidemic in Africa.
According to the 2008 United Nations AIDS report, 33 million people worldwide live with HIV, with sub-Saharan Africa alone accounting for more than 22 million of those people. Countries in Southern Africa, where Zimbabwe is located, account for as much as 67 percent of the global total.
"When you look at poverty and disease, it is mostly the poor and disenfranchised who suffer," said the 37-year-old mother of two, full time SU graduate student and part time sociology instructor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship.
"When I went there (to Zimbabwe) in 2005, I did visit two children who were sick. Most of these children get the disease from their mother. … And there is no reason for that, because there are drugs to stop mother to child transmission."
Kanu credits the rapid spread of the disease in her homeland to misinformation and poverty-stricken state of the people of Zimbabwe.
She spoke about a girl in grade school who was caught by her teacher selling her body to afford tuition. She also discussed some people's philosophy that having sex with virgins will cure them of AIDS.
She said that type of misinformation must be undone.
"We really believe that these children are the future, and they have huge dreams… if it took that whole village to raise me, a bigger global village can raise all of Africa's disenfranchised kids… one child at a time."
vltoussa@syr.edu
Fashu Kanu started the non-profit organization Project It Takes a Village Inc. (PITAV) in 2004 as a class project in the Whitman School of Management to provide support for children in Zimbabwe and hasn't looked back ever since.
"I never forget that I am here because of people that have sacrificed a lot. They saw something in me that motivated them and made it ok for them to help me, so it's only fitting that I give back," she said.
The name Project It Takes a Village comes from the African proverb "It takes a village to raise a child," meaning the collective effort of the community is needed to raise a child, a phrase Fashu Kanu said is a personal inspiration to her.
Since its incorporation, the organization has raised more than $7,000 to provide food and pay the $30 per year tuition for children to attend the Glenview Primary School in Zimbabwe, where Fashu Kanu was once a student.
Project It Takes a Village currently serves 38 children, all of whom are orphans and some of whom are infected with AIDS. Fashu Kanu said she gets depressed about the AIDS situation in Africa.
"As much as the world is doing to fight the epidemic, I don't think that there is enough being done"
PITAV hosted its first fundraising luncheon on World AIDS Day Monday to bring attention to the children who are left parentless and to raise awareness of the devastating effects of the AIDS epidemic in Africa.
According to the 2008 United Nations AIDS report, 33 million people worldwide live with HIV, with sub-Saharan Africa alone accounting for more than 22 million of those people. Countries in Southern Africa, where Zimbabwe is located, account for as much as 67 percent of the global total.
"When you look at poverty and disease, it is mostly the poor and disenfranchised who suffer," said the 37-year-old mother of two, full time SU graduate student and part time sociology instructor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship.
"When I went there (to Zimbabwe) in 2005, I did visit two children who were sick. Most of these children get the disease from their mother. … And there is no reason for that, because there are drugs to stop mother to child transmission."
Kanu credits the rapid spread of the disease in her homeland to misinformation and poverty-stricken state of the people of Zimbabwe.
She spoke about a girl in grade school who was caught by her teacher selling her body to afford tuition. She also discussed some people's philosophy that having sex with virgins will cure them of AIDS.
She said that type of misinformation must be undone.
"We really believe that these children are the future, and they have huge dreams… if it took that whole village to raise me, a bigger global village can raise all of Africa's disenfranchised kids… one child at a time."
vltoussa@syr.edu
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Mr. Kinyatta King
posted 12/03/08 @ 1:24 PM EST
Thank you Daily Orange for covering our organization's efforts on World Aids Day 08. I am co founder of Project It Takes A Village, and also an SU music industry major alum. (Continued…)
Post a Comment