This month head over to Washington DC’s Corcoran Gallery of Art and check out a featured exhibit, Access to Life. This is a photographic display that documents the so-called ‘Lazarus effect’ of anti-retroviral drug therapies on people living with AIDS. The Corcoran website describes the exhibit as such,
In 2007, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria initiated a joint project with Magnum Photos to graphically document the positive impact that free antiretroviral drug treatment is having on the lives of millions of AIDS patients around the world.
To document its efforts, the Global Fund turned to photographic cooperative Magnum Photos in order to utilize the talents of the some of the best photographers in the world. An international team of eight noted photographers traveled to nine countries to document the transformative effects of treatment on more than thirty individuals and their families.
The Magnum photographers disbursed to India, Haiti, Mali, Peru, Russia, Rwanda, South Africa, Swaziland and Vietnam, and, “created visual chronicles that encompassed their subjects’ lives both before and after drug treatments.” To view images and read stories from the project, go to The Global Fund Access to Life website.
India-Jim Goldman/Magnum Photos
Mali-Paolo Pellegrin/Magnum Photos
The exhibit will be displayed at The Corcoran Gallery through July 20th. From there, it will move through Mexico City, Paris, London, Berlin, and Rome. A book will be produced to coincide with the European leg of the tour.
About a year-and-a-half ago, my mom bought me a t-shirt from The Gap as a gift. It was a faded red v-neck with the word INSPI[RED] emblazoned across the chest. My mom told me how she saw it at the store and thought of me, because the clothing was part of a new campaign that donated proceeds to fight AIDS in Africa. That’s when I first learned about the RED Campaign, and discovered that it’s much more complicated than the (PRODUCT) RED Razr and iPod commercials make it sound.
GAP (PRODUCT) RED word T $28.00
A bit of background courtesy of the (PRODUCT) RED website: ”(RED) was created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, Chairman of DATA to raise awareness and money for The Global Fund by teaming up with the world’s most iconic brands to produce (PRODUCT)RED branded products. A percentage of each (PRODUCT)RED product sold is given to The Global Fund. The money helps women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa.”
Here’s what a (PRODUCT) RED transaction looks like (for a larger view click on the image):
Say you bought that $28.00 t-shirt from The Gap like my mom did. You might wonder what percentage of the profit is being sent to The Global Fund. It can be tricky to find out, because the amount donated varies by item and company. An example from a New York Times article on (PRODUCT) RED observes,
…1 percent of all spending on American Express’s Red cards goes to the fund, as do 50 percent of net profits from the sale of Gap Red items and $8.50 from each sale of aMotorola Red Motorazr.
50% of the profit donated from some items sounds pretty good, but you have to remember the benefits that participating companies reap as well. They’ve seen profits, new advertising, partnerships, and good karma come their way. Speaking of advertising, the margin between money spent on promotions and funds raised to fight AIDS, is massive. Author Ron Nixon of the aforementioned Times article observes,
In its March 2007 issue, Advertising Age magazine reported that Red companies had collectively spent as much as $100 million in advertising and raised only $18 million. Officials of the campaign said then that the companies had spent $50 million on advertising and that the amount raised was $25 million. Advertising Age stood by its article.
Even if the RED Campaign figures are correct, that’s still ridiculous. Another thing that’s disturbing is that RED and the affiliated companies refuse to disclose their revenue and total contributions. There’s absolutely nothing on the RED website related to fiscal practices. What are they hiding?
Another issue is RED’s almost complete fixation on products, brand names, and simple messages rather than awareness. Watch this (PRODUCT) RED Dell Laptop commercial and see how much you learn about the campaign.
I bet you didn’t find out that donations end up in only three African countries: Rwanda, Ghana, and Swaziland. You probably didn’t discover that the money raised provides HIV/AIDS education, counseling and treatment or that these efforts are targeted towards women and children. The only thing I found out is that I’ll become some sort of sex goddess if I carry around a Dell.
You can talk to me until you’re blue in the face about how RED has contributed lots of money to a deserving cause, and has impacted the lives of countless people. I’ll revert back to the evidence stated above, and contend that it’s a sad thing to promote consumerism as even a partial solution to funding the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
If you want to do something truly charitable and socially conscious, make a direct donation to The Global Fund or a similar organization. You’ll know that your money is being put to good use rather than lining the pockets of the CEOs at American Express, Gap, and the other RED companies.
If you are looking for a super depressing book to read, then look no further. Never has a piece of literature caused me to sink so low as Say You’re One of Them. It is truly relentless in its misery.
The author, Uwem Akpan, has been the darling of literary critics since the first story in this collection, “An Ex-Mas Feast,” appeared in The New Yorker’s debut fiction issue in 2005. Another story from the book, “My Parent’s Bedroom,” was shortlisted for the the 2007 Caine Prize for African Writing. Somehow, I picked up my copy before I read the copious praise for Akpan’s prose. I simply perused the back cover: a brief except from “My Parent’s Bedroom.” It looked like a compelling read with a unique twist: stories about African conflict told through the eyes of children. I was sold.
“An Ex-Mas Feast” and “My Parent’s Bedroom” are the two best reads, and they are bookends on this five-story collection. The former follows a Kenyan family that survives on the wages of their twelve-year-old daughter, who prostitutes herself in the slums of Nairobi. The latter describes the terrible choice that must be made by a family caught in the middle of the Rwandan genocide. The three other stories included (two of which are book length) are not as well balanced or written, and drag out towards inevitably awful conclusions.
If Akpan had packaged this book to include only “An Ex-Mas Feast” and “My Parent’s Bedroom,” it would be outstanding work worthy of all the buzz it has generated. Even with a few pieces that are not quite as stellar, it’s obvious that Mr. Akpan is a tremendous talent. I will be looking forward to his future work.
An excerpt from “An Ex-Mas Feast” p. 7
Mama smiled at the glue and winked at me, pushing her tongue through the holes left by her missing teeth. She snapped the tin’s top expertly, and the shack swelled with the smell of a shoemaker’s stall. I watched her decant the kabire into my plastic “feeding bottle.” It glowed warm and yellow in the dull light. Though she still appeared drunk from last night’s party, her hands were so steady that her large tinsel Ex-mas bangle, a gift from a church Ex-mas party, did not even sway. When she had poured enough, she cut the flow of the glue by tilting the tin up. The last stream of the gum entered the bottle weakened and braided itself before tapering in midair like an icicle. She covered the plastic with her palm, to retain the glue’s power. Sniffing it would kill my hunger in case Maisha did not return with an Ex-mas feast for us.
Ben Affleck has joined the swelling ranks of celebrities out to save Africa, and he’s doing it by producing a TV report on the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His documentary aired as an episode of “Nightline” on Thursday June 26th. You can watch it in its entirety on the “Nightline” website.
[Filming in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo]
Affleck visited DRC three times within the past year, as part of what he defines as,
a long and ongoing learning experience to educate myself before making any attempt to advocate or speak out.
Oddly enough, his learning experience in DRC is what the documentary is all about. Mr. Affleck claims he’s out to “give exposure to voices which might not otherwise be heard.” Why then is he front and center in all of this? Ben Affleck is an Oscar winning actor who gets plenty of exposure, so why not try simply narrating or directing the film? “Nightline” executive producer James Goldston puts it this way,
The idea was to present the story as a personal journey, following Affleck as he met with survivors of the conflict, relief officials, and even some warlords.
And that’s exactly what happened. Ben Affleck actually met with Laurent Nkunda, the Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR), officials from Medecins Sans Frontieres and the United Nations, and scores of rape survivors. The interviews do make for a compelling piece, but what about basic ethics? How is okay to interview a fourteen-year-old rape survivor on camera? Will this girl have access to support services if the interview causes trauma? ABC News which produces “Nightline,” is not known for having the best judgement when it comes to mixing celebrity with international affairs. For example, they let Leonardo DiCaprio interview President Clinton. By the way, my favorite part of the film was when Ben attempted to negotiate with the FDLR to leave Congo and go back to Rwanda. Sadly, he wasn’t successful.
In my opinion it seems like the best way to tackle an issue is to get educated and then take action. This film focuses on the getting educated phase, leaving viewers who have become engaged to wonder what they should do in the face of such a crisis. Even some links to the advocacy and volunteer organizations that Affleck shadowed would have been appropriate.
Watch the film and see what you think. I’m sure some people will learn a lot from it, and commend Mr. Affleck for his efforts. In the end, I do think it’s a positive thing to focus attention on the humanitarian situation in DRC, even if the spotlight has to be shared with a celebrity.
Here are links to some organizations working in Democratic Republic of Congo. You can make monetary donations to all of them, and some of them have suggestions for how to fundraise, advocate, and pressure our government on issues related to DRC.
