News and Events : News 05-06

Volunteers to Speak on AIDS Orphans in Ethiopia at NMH

GILL, MA—Randolph and Grace Knight spent a month in Ethiopia last fall administering antiretroviral drugs to orphaned HIV-positive children whose parents died of AIDS. They will talk about their experiences at Northfield Mount Hermon School as the year’s final State of the World address May 10 at 6:45 pm in the Rhodes Room of Beveridge Hall on the Mount Hermon campus in Gill, MA.

The Knights traveled to Ethiopia as volunteers for the Worldwide Orphans Foundation. They spent their time in the east African nation with 53 children at an orphanage called AHOPE. This was the culmination of two years of clearing bureaucratic hurtles to delivering the antiretrovirals. They gave medical exams to the children and taught the staff how to administer the drugs. They also set up a method of getting drugs from the pharmacy to the orphanage in a country where logistical barriers abound.

While AIDS has devastated Ethiopia, the country’s people inspired the couple. “We found a vibrant country dealing incredibly well with the most important health crisis of our time,” said Grace Knight. “Ethiopia has a phenomenally rich history and an independent culture.”

Still, AIDS has caused a crisis there: In a nation with 72 million people, 1 million children are orphaned by HIV and one in six of those children are HIV positive. At the time of the Knights’ visit in September 2005, fewer than 150 children were taking often-life-saving antiretroviral medicine.

Grace Knight is a registered nurse who is a school nurse in Weathersfield, VT. Randolph Knight is an emergency room physician in Claremont, NH. They are parents of two NMH students.

For directions to the talk, go to [ http://www.nmhschool.org ]www.nmhschool.org or call 413-498-3000.

Northfield Mount Hermon is an independent coeducational boarding and day high school in Gill, MA.

CONTACT: Grace and Randolph Knight, 802-263-9613, knightmd@sover.net
Kathryn Bridge, 413-498-3251, kbridge@nmhschool.org
or Kate Snyder, 413-498-3357, ksnyder@nmhschool.org

Kate Snyder, writer
Communications Department

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