NORWAY – Norway Memorial Library will host a presentation about “The Plight of Children Affected by HIV/AIDS” at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18. The speakers will be Hilary Ware and Alison Whitney, who traveled to Kigali, Rwanda, and Johannesburg, South Africa, in May and June with the nonprofit organization, Children Affected by HIV/AIDS. They will share their experience with pictures, demonstrations and conversation.

The organization was founded in 2003 by Susan Grannis, sister of local retired physician Dr. Tom Whitney and sister-in-law of Alison Whitney. The organization works to raise awareness in the U.S. of the plight of children in Africa who are affected by HIV/AIDS and to support linked projects for orphaned children.

More than 6,500 orphans, children affected by HIV/AIDS and child-headed households have been positively affected by its efforts.

Grannis said, “We are not in the business of raising funds simply to (take) to Rwanda – we are in the business of learning, preparing to make a difference here in the U.S., leaving behind good will among people we meet, and leaving behind evidence of our work. Otherwise we are just voyeurs to tragedy, and none of us wants that.”

Ware said she and Whitney “hope to convey just what the plight is of the orphans and families we met, and show the courage and joy with which they are able to cope. So much more can be done to help an entire generation of Africans deal effectively with the preventable disease that is the scourge of these two countries.”

The program is free and open to the public. For information, call 743-5309 or visit the library’s Web site at www.norway.lib.me.us.