HIV/AIDS Interfaith Event Held in St. Petersburg
On November 29, 2008, U.S. Consul General Sheila Gwaltney spoke at “From Family Traditions to a Healthy Future,” an interfaith event for youth and families hosted by Russian charitable foundation Diaconia. Gwaltney remarked that it was “an excellent event, filled with your positive messages and the energy and enthusiasm of all the folks who participated.”
With U.S. Government support through the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Diaconia implements projects to involve the Christian community more actively in caring for those affected by HIV/AIDS. Diaconia, led by a Russian Orthodox priest, is a member of an anti-AIDS faith-based network created by religious leaders in St. Petersburg that holds this interfaith event each year on World AIDS Day.
One hundred families turned out for the 2008 event at the St. Mary Lutheran Church to enjoy concerts by the Bulgarian pianist A. Kurtev and children’s choirs from Lutheran and Russian Orthodox Churches. The families and young people participated in the event to demonstrate their compassion and commitment to working together to prevent and ease suffering and save lives.
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| Russian children’s choir performing at an interfaith HIV/AIDS event in St. Petersburg. |
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