Haleh is Freed!

Some of you may recall my post about the Iranian scholar (Free Haleh! May 15, 2007) who was imprisoned by the Iranian government earlier this year while visiting her mother. I am very happy to report today that she has indeed been freed from the notoriously brutal prison where they kept her for the last few months. She has since flown to Austria, and this BBC article reports that she is due back in the US shortly.

Scholars and activists across the globe continuously face persecution for their beliefs and their work, always remember there are many people out there actively engaged in fighting for the freedoms we so often take for granted.

Help an AIDS Orphan in South Africa

While this site is not intended for commercial or soliciting purposes, sometimes exceptions are definitely in order. I share with you a little information about an organization very close to my heart. I have been involved with this particular group of amazing individuals since 2003 as an activist, volunteer and fundraiser.

There are more than 1 million AIDS orphans in South Africa today, more than in any other country in the world. These children often face a hard life on the streets if their extended families cannot take them in to care for them. The problem being that most families are already spread so thin, they simply cannot care for any additional children.

Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA) is a non-profit organization based in West Los Angeles. Established in the 1980s to raise awareness and mobilize against apartheid, the organization turned its attention to HIV/AIDS following the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994. From ANSA's website: "ANSA strategically mobilizes the participation of well-known actors and performing artists to raise public awareness, mobilize increased action and advocate for just government and corporate HIV/AIDS policies and programs. ANSA works in partnership with a wide range of organizations on advocacy efforts on the Global AIDS pandemic and AIDS in South Africa."

Photo: Danny Glover visiting with locals in a township in South Africa, courtesy of www.ansafrica.org

ANSA's AIDS work includes raising awareness about the disease, advocating for access to proper treatments, fundraising, and the provision of essential services such as water. Some of their most recent collaborations and projects include the close partnership with the South African advocacy NGO, the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), who is committed to lobbying the South African government and private companies to provide access to much-needed medication to all HIV/AIDS sufferers. Through "It Takes a Village" (ITV) ANSA works with a dedicated team of child welfare organizations, community development experts, health care professionals, educators and activists to address the issue of AIDS orphans in South Africa. From ANSA's website:

"ITV is a groundbreaking collaboration providing comprehensive services to orphaned children in South Africa who have fallen through society’s safety net: those living in child-run households, where the eldest child is raising his or her siblings; orphans taken in by neighborhood families or elderly relatives with scant resources; and vulnerable children whose parents are dying. ITV was developed to ensure that the physical, emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual needs of these children are met in meaningful and long-lasting ways.

ITV is implemented by local community-based organizations and overseen by the highly respected AIDS Foundation of South Africa (AFSA). ANSA provides the funding and resources and AFSA provides the training and oversight to build local capacity to provide vital services to orphans, their caregivers, and community. "

And now, to my shout-out to you. ANSA's AIDS orphan project is currently in the top 50 projects, out of 7,018 original submissions in the American Express Members Project. If you are an American Express card holder and are moved by the story of the AIDS orphans in South Africa, please consider voting for ANSA's project. They are in the running for $5 million to help these children.

To visit the Members Project and vote for ANSA's Orphan Project, go to: www.membersproject.com

and vote for ANSA's project:

#6841 "Help African Children Orphaned by AIDS"

Free Haleh!

On December 30th Dr. Haleh Esfandiari, Iranian-American Director of the Middle East Program at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, was traveling in a taxi from her mother's house in Tehran to the international airport to return to Washington D.C. when she was ambushed by masked gunmen and her passports, both Iranian and American stolen. For the past five months Dr. Esfandiari has lived in near house-arrest in Tehran, undergoing frequent eight-hour interrogation sessions by Iranian officials urging her to "cooperate" (i.e., confess), which she has refused.

On May 8 however, she was taken from her 93-year old mother's home to the notorious Evin Prison, the site where Iranian-Canadian photo-journalist Zahra Kazemi was killed during her own interrogation in 2003.

Dr. Esfandiari is particularly lauded for her tireless work in furthering the rights of women in the middle east, and is described as "...held in high regard by academics and civil society professionals across the Middle East. She has organized many seminars in the region bringing together diverse Middle Eastern thinkers, particularly women’s rights experts. She is known for her kind demeanor, academic integrity, and enthusiastic networking."

The "Free Haleh" campaign is organized by the American Islamic Congress in conjunction with Ibn Khaldoun Center in Cairo, the Initiative for Inclusive Security in Washington, and the Kuwaiti Economic Society. I urge you to visit the site: www.freehaleh.org to read more about Dr. Esfandiari's work and the situation surrounding her detention. Please also consider signing the petition in the top right hand corner of the home page. The petition will be sent to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, once again urging him to ensure the release of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari.