Uganda outreach project for Orphans Club

   
“Walking in Evan’s Shoes”– an outreach project for the AIDS orphans of Tororo, Uganda

In 2004 NiteStar created a theatricalized version of Rory Kennedy’s award winning documentary film, “Pandemic:  Facing AIDS.”  In both Kennedy’s and NiteStar’s versions, there are portrayals of individuals infected and affected all over the world, with profiles from Uganda, Brazil, Thailand, Russia and India.  In the process of adapting the film for the stage, we reached out to Margaret Boogere, director of the Orphans Club, an AIDS orphanage in Tororo, Uganda.  Those initial emails led to ongoing correspondence and The Orphans Club have become valued friends. 

In 2005 we began an outreach campaign for the orphans, and, to this end, raised $2,200 through a fundraiser at The Bowery Poetry Club, a venue in downtown Manhattan.  It is a mission we have continued, committing time and energy to sending support to them each year. 

This year we are reaching out to the business community, as well as collecting our own personal donations, in order to send the Orphans Club shoes, as most of them have never owned a pair of shoes.  We are dedicating this effort to the memory of a remarkable activist and NiteStar family member, Evan Ruderman, who advocated for women and children worldwide and sadly, succumbed to the illness in November of 2003.