A recent article in the “New York Review of Books” (“Lost Children of AIDS”, November 3, 2005) stated incorrect and misleading facts about RFFA, ANCHOR and Hope worldwide. Both myself and Mark Ottenweller have submitted letters to the editor correcting the information that had been published. My letter appears below. I felt that it was important for Rotarians, our members, and readership to know.
Marion Bunch
RFFA Founder and Chair
Click “read more” below for Marion’s letter.
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Letter to the Editor of the “New York Review of Books”
Re: Helen Epstein’s article/book excerpt “The Lost Children of AIDS”, November 3, 2005 issue
As the Founder and Chair of Rotarians for Fighting AIDS, Inc. (RFFA), A Rotarian Action Group, I would like to bring to your attention the misrepresentation of facts in this article that speak to the author’s obvious prejudices and unsubstantiated criticisms which could potentially impact a great humanitarian effort to help the orphans and vulnerable children in Africa.
I clearly remember receiving a phone call from Ms. Epstein, in particular because she called “out of the blue,” established no context for the call to encourage trust, and was evasive about why she wanted information about the ANCHOR program (the African Network for Children Orphaned and at Risk) and HOPE worldwide (RFFA’s partner in the ANCHOR program). With caution, I kept the conversation brief and referred her to our respective websites and USAID directly for program details.
Although Ms. Epstein prides herself on supporting her writing with interviews and extensive research via both public and private documents, she has made factual errors and came to wrong conclusions throughout her article.
Rotarians For Fighting AIDS, Inc. (RFFA) is a Rotarian Action Group approved by Rotary International enabling individual, like-minded Rotarians around the world to work on humanitarian service projects together. As a mother who lost a child to AIDS in 1994, I founded this organization to create a strong link of Rotarians around the world and partner with other organizations working on AIDS in Africa to focus on helping the children affected by HIV/AIDS.
RFFA was asked to partner with several NGOs (with AIDS expertise) because of Rotary’s proven history in battling the polio epidemic, our ethical reputation and our powerful and significant human resource capacity in Africa (20,000 Rotarians in over 160 clubs). Rotarians are known for their ability to mobilize communities into action. There are several reasons we chose to work with HOPE worldwide: we wanted to work with someone that lives there and actually does the work on the ground in Africa; we required someone with a long term history of success and a proven Best Practice model and who could scale up their capacity quickly in multiple countries; and most importantly, we wanted someone we could trust.
HOPE worldwide/Africa was founded by Dr. Mark Ottenweller, an American physician who took his family to Africa over 16 years ago to help fight the AIDS pandemic. Ms. Epstein made glittering generalities about “ill-conceived projects designed by foreign technocrats with little sense of African realities”, and then later used Dr. Ottenweller as an example. She obviously did not check out his background and experience. In addition, Dr. Ottenweller has surrounded himself with an excellent management team of young African men and women.
Together Dr. Ottenweller and I established the concept of ANCHOR – a unique blend of a public/private coalition to fight HIV/AIDS, with all partners offering expertise to help care, support and educate orphans and vulnerable children. Thus, Coca Cola/Africa became the multinational corporate partner helping ANCHOR with marketing and seed funds; Emory University School of Public Health became the premier monitor and evaluator of the work; and the International AIDS Trust provided assistance in public advocacy. ANCHOR approached USAID for funds and provided them with a multi-country plan. That is how and why we were awarded the $8.1 million USAID grant.
The HOPE worldwide model is holistic in approach because the ultimate answer to the AIDS issue must lie at the community level. Dr. Ottenweller and his staff work at all levels in the community - forming a council with the local schools, the hospitals/clinics, churches, community leaders (including Rotarians), corporate representatives, and finally the country government. The community council representatives work together to help the children. It is a sustainable model because it trains the local people in how to care and support the children.
I wonder why Ms. Epstein did not write about the positive things I told her about HOPE worldwide: why didn’t she go to a HOPE clinic (quite near the Sizanani clinic) so she could see the poor cinder block office from which they operate and learn more about the HOPE offering on site; or why she based practically all of her conclusions from speaking to a disgruntled ex-employee of HOPE worldwide. It appears Ms. Epstein’s short cuts in her discovery speak to a hidden agenda and a mind already made up before she wrote the first word.
Although I believe in the critic’s role, it saddens me when an American journalist does not take the responsibility to get her facts straight. An unfortunate consequence of her article will be that many readers, who have never set foot in Africa and do not know the organizations she attacked, will probably believe her. Perhaps Ms. Epstein would better understand the challenges of helping the families in Africa care for and support the AIDS orphans if she walked in the shoes of Dr. Mark Ottenweller for just one month.
Sincerely,
Marion Bunch
Founder and Chair of Rotarians For Fighting AIDS, Inc.
www.rffa.org
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Helen Epstein’s original article, “The Lost Children of AIDS” can be read by clicking here.
