90-90-90 Village by Village:
A Garden Party for GAIA
Meet our friend Dr. Address Malata and other special guests!
This month, GAIA goes back to its garden party “roots” for its annual spring fundraiser. I hope you’re planning to join us on April 30 in the lovely garden of Maria Pitcairn in Ross. The afternoon will raise critical funds to operate GAIA’s programs on the ground in Malawi designed to reach the UNAIDS 90-90-90 HIV targets (90% of all people living with HIV learn their status, 90% of those individuals are on treatment, and 90% of those on treatment achieve viral suppression) in remote and rural Malawi and help usher in the end of the AIDS epidemic.
On the 30th, we’ll present The GAIA Global Citizen Award to Bob McCaskill, active trustee and chair of GAIA’s finance committee for the past six years, as well as to The Miner Foundation, for spreading hope, healing, health and happiness through its partnership with GAIA. We’ll also have a special musical appearance by local artist, Caroline Sky, a contestant on this season of NBC’s The Voice.
I’m especially excited for you to meet our Malawian guest and keynote speaker, Dr. Address Malata. Having worked closely with us since the early days helping GAIA successfully launch its Nursing Scholarship Program to increase healthcare capacity in Malawi, Dr. Malata is a long-time GAIA friend. She has built an esteemed career spanning clinical service, academia and health policy work. In her current role as Vice-Chancellor of the Malawi University of Science and Technology, she is the first woman to hold such a high position in Malawi. As vice president of the International Confederation of Midwives, and a former nurse, midwife, and principal of Kamuzu College of Nursing, Dr. Malata is an expert in healthcare capacity building in the country. With her early guidance and ongoing support, our GAIA Nursing Scholarship Program has been working to meet the urgent need for trained health professionals and, to date, has trained 10% of all registered nurses working in Malawi.
In addition to building the nursing workforce, GAIA’s program empowers young women both economically and as leaders in their communities. More and more, gender equity is understood to be a key driver of HIV transmission in southern Africa. Dr. Malata believes the only way to overcome cultural gender inequity is through education: “We have to do everything in our power to help girls get educated, as we know that it is educated women who are more likely to control their reproductive health, and will be more likely to leave a relationship if it becomes abusive.”
We couldn’t agree more. We are looking forward to seeing you, and introducing you to our friend Address Malata on April 30th! Thank you for your support!
Todd Schafer
GAIA President & CEO
