About the 2006 Marathon, Orphan Dinner, Concert
World AIDS Marathon
offers hope to 500 orphans
On the eve of World AIDS Day, the Richard M. Brodsky Foundation
sponsored a dinner for 500 orphans at the YMCA in Kisumu, Kenya. These orphans entertained
and educated each other by performing AIDS related skits. Their caretakers also
spoke about AIDS prevention. Transportation was
provided to and from the YMCA site. When one of the caretakers mentioned that
it was not just a dinner for the orphans, it was a window of hope for the orphans―that comment alone made the trip to Kenya
worthwhile.
Runners traveling from outside Kisumu, Kenya
were invited to the dinner and approximately 50 runners had their lodging paid
for and their meals as well. If the runners could not afford the $3
registration fee, the fee was waived. However, these runners would not be
eligible for the $1,000 prize package for the fastest runners competing in the
marathon & half marathon. Special thanks to Mayor Prisca
Auma for flagging off the marathon as well as her
hospitality.
On World AIDS Day, the Richard M. Brodsky Foundation in conjunction with
the Kisumu AIDS Marathon
Organization sponsored a marathon, half marathon and a 5K fun walk. After the
marathon there were free voluntary HIV testing and
counseling tents set up for people to determine their HIV status. There were
dancers, bands and speakers after the marathon. I may not have witnessed it
firsthand but we do have tapes of the day’s events. As an HIV-positive, brain
cancer survivor, I did finish the marathon at 06:15. The good news was that as the oldest runner there
were some runners who finished even after me. The bad news was that even my
HIV-negative wife beat me by a half hour. What shocked me during the run was
the fact that a five year old boy jogged barefoot with me for eight miles on
some of the roughest, bumpiest terrain I had ever run on. These children
desperately need shoes, clothing, food, clean drinking water, education and
many are orphans who need homes. Even more shocking was the fact how AIDS has
affected everyone’s life. Here, in America, a minority of people know
of a sibling, parent, aunt, uncle, cousin or friend who has died of AIDS. In Kenya,
the vast majority of people know of multiple people who have died of AIDS.
What’s even more tragic is that for approximately $150 a year AIDS medicine can
be provided to an adult and for approximately $200 a year AIDS medicine can be
provided to a child.
On December 2nd, the Richard M. Brodsky Foundation sponsored a free
concert. Special
thanks to Limpopo
International, Kenyanna, and His Majesty, The Mighty
King Kong for performing free. The foundation did incur booking fees for Jomo Kenyatta Sports Stadium as
well as Moi Stadium for the concert as well as
transportation, meals and lodging costs for the musicians. It seemed that no
matter how hard my foundation tried to help the people of Kenya, there were always
obstructionists. Two days before the concert we were told that someone,
obviously unauthorized, cancelled our booking for Jomo
Kenyatta Sports Stadium.
My foundation kept its promise by making World AIDS Weekend a memorable
event to orphans, runners, people whose lives have been affected by AIDS, and
the people of Kisumu. We hope that others will help
contribute towards these expenses so money can be donated to various AIDS
projects,
http://www.richardmbrodsky.org/support.html
and these events can happen more often.
Donations can be made via either website, www.richardmbrodsky.org
or www.worldaidsmarathon.com or
by mailing a check to:
The Richard M. Brodsky Foundation
1247 Mara Court
Atlantic Beach, NY 11509
Senator Barack Obama
has wished me success for all three World AIDS Marathons since 2004. It would
be my greatest wish to inform Senator Obama that
people in America
are truly supportive of people whose lives have been affected by AIDS.
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