Published by Communications and Public Affairs 519 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338

News Release

February 27, 2007

Forum, Concert to Benefit Masai Project

The University of Guelph continues to raise funds in support of the Masai Project’s fight against AIDS and poverty in Africa. It is helping to sponsor two events in March: a public forum featuring doctors and others volunteering in Africa and a benefit recital by renowned Scottish organist Marjorie Bruce.

The public forum, “Sharing Hope: Stories From Tsepong,” March 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Peter Clark Hall. It will feature stories from doctors and volunteers on the front lines in Africa, including local doctor Anne-Marie Zajdlik, who is spearheading the Guelph-wide Masai Project.

The forum is free and open to the public, but organizers are encouraging participants to buy a Bracelet of Hope. The $5 red and white beaded bracelets are produced by a rural women's co-operative in Eshowe, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, and are being sold on campus in the bookstore and in the Guelph community to support the Masai Project.

The organ recital by Bruce is March 11 at 4 p.m. at Knox Presbyterian Church, 20 Quebec St., in Guelph. There is no charge for the recital, but donations will be gratefully received, with all proceeds going to the Masai for Africa Campaign.

Bruce’s visit is being sponsored by U of G’s School of Fine Art and Music and Scottish studies program and Knox Presbyterian Church. She studied organ and harpsichord at the Royal College of Music in London, then continued her training as an organist, which included studying under the distinguished French composer and organist Jean Langlais. She has given recitals throughout Britain and Europe, including at the Royal Festival Hall, St. Paul’s Cathedral, York Minster and Chichester Cathedral. For more information, call Edward Phillips at 519-824-4120, Ext. 58452.

The University’s Masai Project: For Africa, for AIDS, for Hope aims to raise $100,000 on campus as part of a larger community effort headed by Zajdlik to raise $1 million for an AIDS clinic in Lesotho, the epicentre of the AIDS epidemic in Africa. To date, U of G has raised close to $50,000, partly by selling Bracelets of Hope.

More information is available online.