Zaida Bastos

Mable Mashebo from the Soweto Home-Based Care Givers Co-operative, cares for client Anne Nombulelo, who has AIDS and sometimes suffers from pustules that can be so painful that she cannot put on any clothes. The group receives a grant from PWRDF.

The Anglican Church of Canada will mark World AIDS Day on Dec. 1 with activities ranging from prayer services and vigils to the launching of new initiatives for the Primate's World Relief and Development Fund's (PWRDF) campaign, Partnership for Life: For a Generation without AIDS.

In October, PWRDF mailed out HIV/AIDS resource kits to every Anglican parish across Canada. Information and ideas for AIDS-focused church services, an AIDS poster, and ways of helping PWRDF reach its goal of raising $1 million for the HIV-AIDS campaign by December 2006 are also available online at www.pwrdf.org.

The kit contains order information for PWRDF's new AIDS bracelets and pins. The PWRDF bracelet reads "Stop AIDS" and sells for $5 each, with $4 going directly to the work of PWRDF's partners. "This is a great reminder to all who wear or see it, that more work needs to be done to rid the world of the AIDS pandemic," said Jeannette Romkema, PWRDF HIV-AIDS education and animation co-ordinator.

The HIV-AIDS Hearts for Life pins were handmade by women with AIDSÂ who work with PWRDF's partner group, Points of Light homes in Etwatwa, South Africa. They sell for $5 each. Each pin contains about 100 tiny beads and is heart-shaped (white with a red border and a red AIDS ribbon in the middle).