MARKHAM SENDS AMBULANCE TO HIV/AIDS SUFFERERS IN AFRICA

MARKHAM, ON, July 7, 2008 – Markham residents, who were part of a nationwide effort to raise $23,000 to ship an ambulance, medical supplies, and other equipment to HIV/AIDS sufferers in Ethiopia, can now see the results of their efforts as the ambulance makes it way through Markham on its cross country journey to board a ship in Halifax.

“We called on residents in Markham to help us.  A Canadian business generously donated an ambulance to us, but we desperately needed assistance to get it to dying AIDS sufferers in Ethiopia,” said Bruce Herzog CEO, Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), an international development organization.  “Markham families responded immediately to our request - thinking of others a world away - and generously gave what they could to help get this ambulance to those who need it.”

The ambulance, marked with Canadian and Ethiopian flags, will immediately be put into use as part of CCFC’s HIV/AIDS program in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  It is estimated that there are 7,500 bedridden patients in need of transportation to medical care.  Currently, patients who are sick or dying from HIV/AIDS are pulled on mats by donkeys, loaded onto bikes, or carried in the arms for many hours by family members to hospital.
The ambulance, loaded with $25,000 in medical supplies and equipment donated by Canadian businesses, started its journey in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on July 3rd and will arrive in Halifax, Nova Scotia on July 10^th, where it will be loaded onto a waiting ship for the month long journey to Ethiopia.  
“Even though families in Markham may never see the hundreds of sick children and parents they are helping, they should take tremendous pride and satisfaction in seeing the ambulance make its way along the 404 and 401 – the first step of many on its journey to Africa,” Herzog added.