30065: Hermantin(News)S. Florida minister and rabbi join to help Haiti's AIDS orphans (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

S. Florida minister and rabbi join to help Haiti's AIDS orphans




By Tim Collie
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

February 19, 2007



HOLLYWOOD -- Inspired by a Hollywood man single-handedly supporting Haitian 
orphans, a minister and a rabbi are leading a Christian-Jewish delegation to 
Haiti next month to see how they can rescue children left homeless by HIV/AIDS.

The Rev. Kennedy McGowan, of First Presbyterian Church, and Rabbi Allan C. 
Tuffs, of Temple Beth El, hope their four-day mission will result in the 
sponsorship of one or more orphanages in Haiti, which has one of the highest 
rates of HIV infection in the world.

Both became aware of the situation in Haiti after reading the South Florida 
Sun-Sentinel's four-part series, "AIDS Orphans," which was published in 
November and December.

Among other efforts, the project profiled the work of Aaron Jackson, 24, an 
activist with the Homeless Voice organization in Hollywood who has established 
two small orphanages in Haiti.

Two members of McGowan's congregation have already visited Haiti for a 
firsthand look at Jackson's work. Jackson also has spoken with members of 
Temple Beth El.

"These children could have been any one of us. They were just unlucky enough to 
be born in these circumstances," said Sharon Tanenhaus, who will be making the 
trip as head of the temple's social action committee. "They were born into the 
world innocent, and I think that's affected everyone who became aware of 
Aaron's work.

"Although Aaron Jackson is not Jewish and doesn't know the meaning of tikkun 
olum [a Hebrew term that means to "repair the world"], he is living it every 
day," Tanenhaus wrote on the synagogue's Web site after meeting Jackson.

About eight people from the synagogue and church are scheduled to depart on 
March 5 and return on March 8. They plan to visit orphanages, charities and 
hospitals in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, and its surrounding slums, 
where people live on as little as $1 a day with no access to medical care.

"We know we can't save everyone, but if you can look back a year from now and 
say that because of your efforts 10 children are alive who wouldn't be, well, 
that's an incredible result for a church," said McGowan, who has been minister 
at the church for just 11 months.

The interfaith partnership is the result of conversations between the rabbi and 
minister, who want to steer their respective congregations toward greater 
social action. McGowan had been discussing a mission to Africa with his church 
elders when he read the Sun-Sentinel's series.

Gerald Little, a Miami-Dade County firefighter, and his wife, Kelly, hopped on 
a plane several weeks after hearing about Jackson's work during a Sun-Sentinel 
presentation at the church. They flew to the nation in January to visit the 
orphanages and the slums, where he found many children living on the streets or 
in shanties with sick mothers.

"I wanted to get a look for myself at what Aaron was doing, whether he was the 
real thing or not," said Little, 35, who had done charity work with Haitian 
students in Miami but had never visited the country. "I can tell you the 
orphanages he has are just amazing. I was just really surprised at how 
well-behaved the children were, how they helped each other going to school."

Little and his wife were shocked by the poverty.

"The air down there, I can tell you, is really toxic with fires and trash and 
dust and everything else down there just blowing around," Little said. "The 
poverty is immense, and I can tell you these kids on the street aren't going to 
live very long breathing all of that pollution in these slums."

But the sight of the children at Jackson's orphanage showed them what could be 
accomplished with few resources.

"You see these kids, how happy they are in the orphanage, and then you realize 
everything they've been through," Little said. "It just tugs at your heart. 
Right then and there, my wife and I realized we just had to do something, that 
now was the time."

McGowan hopes that type of spirit spreads through his congregation. After 
attending a meeting last year in which rock star Bono issued a call to churches 
to engage more fully in the world AIDS crisis, McGowan started a series of 
sermons and discussions with congregants on how to make First Presbyterian a 
church that would have a major impact in Hollywood.

"We know there's a huge, very serious problem in Haiti, and what we want to 
find out on this trip is what's the best way we can help," said Tuffs, the 
rabbi. "I can tell you from conversations I've had here with children and the 
adults, people are chomping at the bit to help."

Staff Writer Tim Collie can be reached at tcollie@sun-sentinel.com or 
954-356-457.

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