NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Jack Calhoun at 603.283.2108 or Jan Fiderio at 603.283.2107

March 12, 2008 for Immediate Release

South African Children and the AIDS Pandemic

Antioch Professor to tell of her journeys to Johannesburg and Capetown and her work with children and families devastated by HIV/AIDS on March 31

Keene, NH - Antioch University New England Professor Susan Hawes will speak on March 31 at 7:00 p.m. about her experiences volunteering for a Johannesburg orphanage that cares for children and their extended families devastated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

South Africa is believed to have the most severe epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the world with almost 20 percent of its people infected with the virus. The poorest of that country, black Africans, have the highest prevalence. Most of the infected are between 25 and 35 years old. Fourteen percent of children between the ages of two and14 have lost one or both of their parents to the virus, and three percent of households are headed by children between the ages of 12 to 18. Of the 2.3 million children living with AIDS in the world, 2.1 million live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Of the estimated 380,000 children across the globe who became infected with the virus in 2006, 340,000 lived in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Dr. Hawes, Professor at Antioch University New England's Department of Clinical Psychology, will be making her second trip to volunteer for the non-profit Cotlands Orphanage in Johannesburg this coming summer. Last August, Dr. Hawes took four students on a service learning trip to Cape Town and Johannesburg. They volunteered briefly at Cotlands Hospice in the Western Cape, and then for two weeks at Cotlands Orphanage in Johannesburg. The orphanage, which cares for children infected with and/or orphaned by AIDS, also provides home-based care for families caring for children with AIDS. On her next trip, Dr. Hawes hopes to provide pro-bono developmental and psychological assessments for children associated with the orphanage.

Her talk on the March 31 will introduce the scope of the AIDS pandemic in South African today and will describe some of the efforts made by both South Africans and members of the international community to respond to what, in effect, is a tsunami of disease ravaging children and young adults across Sub-Saharan Africa. The talk will conclude with suggestions how each of us may find ways to help.

An exhibit of Dr. Hawes' photographic portraits of resilient South African Cotlands children, mothers and grandmothers will be on display in the corridor between the Community Room and the Library. This exhibit will be up during the week before and the week after the talk.

Antioch University New England invites the public to attend this free event as part of its Spring Speakers Series. The talk, held in the University's Community Room at 40 Avon Street, will begin at 7:00 p.m. on March 31. For more information, please contact Jack Calhoun at 603-283-2108.

About Antioch University New England
Antioch University New England offers rigorous, practice-oriented, values-based Master's, Doctoral and certificate programs to more than one thousand students. Programs in education, environmental studies, management, and psychology reflect a dedication to activism, social justice, community service, and sustainability.

Last Updated: 3/4/10