World AIDS Day

I fredags var det World AIDS Day.

Hiv/aids är fortfarande en av världens mest växande sjukdomar. Var tionde sekund dör någon till följd av det. I Sverige rapporteras fortfarande ca 300 nya fall varje år, en siffra som inte sjunker.

Många tror att hiv/aids i dag går att bota, och att det "inte är hela världen" att drabbas. I min omgivning har 14-15-åringar påstått att sjukdomen inte finns längre, för att medicinerna har kommit så långt att det "utrotats". Det säger ganska mycket om det osynliggörande av sjukdomen som än i dag pågår.

Den japanska engelskspråkiga veckotidningen Metropolis skriver:

"It was a life-changing moment Barbara Rosasco will never forget when, in 1991 on a vacation to Bangkok with her husband Mark, she stepped over a destitute beggar and pretended not to see him.
'As a human race, we all do it,' she admits. 'We all tend to say ‘too bad’ when thinking about the poverty we see outside our hotel walls. Back in Tokyo, it’s far away.'

But a feeling inside her never disappeared, and in 1997, after further travels of discovery through Southeast Asia, the Rosascos decided to change careers and start a business supporting handmade crafts from the countries they had visited.
'Our idea was to set up a business, emphasizing handmade goods, preserving traditional crafts and skills, to provide sustainable employment for women, ethnic minorities and smaller, family-based producers,' she says. 'My husband and I felt that the idea should not simply be to enrich ourselves at the expense of the poor, but to be good corporate citizens by giving something back.' She goes on: 'I want to say I was motivated only by altruism, but in fact, I am ashamed to say that I was motivated by guilt.'

In 1998, the Rosascos established a Japanese company and shop, Kasumisou Gallery, and a tax-exempt, charitable NPO registered in California, the Kasumisou Foundation. The gallery and shop, located in Minami-Azabu, not far from Hiroo Crossing, offers an irresistible variety of finely made and reasonably priced items produced in Thailand, Burma, Laos, Vietnam, India and—the focus of their charitable efforts—Cambodia. Finely made silk fashions, home décor, antiques, sterling silver and gold jewelry, hand-embroidered children’s smock dresses and products made from silver, exotic woods and lacquerware vie for attention amid quiet displays of postcards, pamphlets and information explaining the Kasumisou Foundation programs.

The foundation’s four main programs have provided assistance to thousands of families and children on an extremely tight but efficient budget made possible by private and corporate donations. Fundraising is a constant challenge. With an annual budget of $200,000, the programs are too big to self-fund, yet too small to be eligible for most institutional aid.
'Over the past seven years we’ve also had to ‘compete’ for funds with many other worthy charities because of disasters like 9/11, Katrina, and the Indian Ocean tsunami,' explains Rosasco. 'But each time the Kasumisou Foundation ran low on funds, somehow a generous donation arrived just in time to help us through. I call it divine intervention.'

Another driving force is an unshakable feeling of responsibility she has for the people who depend on the foundation’s projects. 'Small foundations like us are the safety net of the communities we support. If our funds dry up, our families and kids are out on the street immediately.'
Among the four programs is a dance school for impoverished kids age 7-20; a rural assistance self-help program teaching organic farming, land conservation and assisting in water-well drilling in drought-affected areas; and two effective AIDS support programs for families and children.

'Just like an empty can or bottle, AIDS victims have become the throwaways of their society,' says Rosasco. 'Our Family Support Program provides food and shelter to indigent mothers with late-stage AIDS and their children. We send the kids to school and our home-care team makes weekly visits.'

Although extremely rewarding, Rosasco admits that she and her husband have chosen a challenging road to travel: 'God watches over fools and old people. We’re old enough to be foolish.'

World AIDS Day is this December 1, and the Kasumisou Foundation would welcome your support, and 100 percent of donations go to direct program expenses.
www.kasumisougolf.org
For more information about World AIDS Day, see http://worldaidscampaign.info/