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Responding to the AIDS problem

Vatican Radio: Interview with Father Gérard on 27 July 2009 and broadcast on 07/08/2009 at 17.23.57. Responding to the AIDS problem in kwaZulu-Natal, the Blessed Gerard's Care Centre. Today we are going to visit a centre which has developed in response to the problem of AIDS in rural South Africa. The centre is found in KwaZulu-Natal, just over 100 kms north of Durban, in the town of Mandeni, in an area which is said to have the highest rate of AIDS anywhere. Mandeni lies on the trucking route between Durban and Mozambique, a fact that contributed to this high rate of infection. The Blessed Gérard's Centre is named after the founder of the Knights of Malta who have contributed greatly to the construction of the centre through the foundation, Brotherhood of Blessed Gerard, first set up in 1992. The building was opened in 1996 and since then has grown in response to the needs of the people. Fr. Gerard Lagleder is a Benedictine missionary and it was he together with a local doctor, who saw that something had to be done to help relieve the suffering of the people in Mandeni. Fr Gerard shared with us about what led him to see the need for the Blessed Gerard Centre. That was the first part of an interview with Benedictine missionary, Fr. Gérard Lagleder, telling us about the work of the Blessed Gerard Care centre in Mandeni. If you would like to learn more abut their work you can visit their web site. The address is www.bbg.org.za You can contact Fr. Gerard by writing to: father@bbg.org.za [quoted from: http://www.radiovaticana.org/en3/Articolo.asp?c=307638]

Misinformation about HIV AIDS

Vatican Radio: Interview with Father Gérard on 27 July 2009 and broadcast on 17/08/2009 at 10.59.01. Misinformation about HIV AIDS is considered in the second part of our interview about the Blessed Gérard's Care Centre in Mandeni, South Africa. In this second part of our interview with Fr. Gérard Lagleder, we consider what could be done to confront the problem of misinformation about AIDS. We look at the lives of young women and their babies and how the Blessed Gérard's Care Centre is trying to alleviate their difficulties. [quoted from: http://www.radiovaticana.org/en3/Articolo.asp?c=309943]

At the forefront of Anti-retroviral Therapy

Vatican Radio: Interview with Father Gérard on 27 July 2009 and broadcast on 21/08/2009 at 16.37.03. At the forefront of Anti-retroviral Therapy in South Africa, the Blessed Gérard's Care Centre. Part 3. HAART is the name of one of the main projects of South Africa’s Blessed Gérard's Care Centre. HAART stands for Highly Active Anti-retroviral Therapy and this particular project is part of one of the world’s largest NGO programmes of this kind and that is the AIDS treatment programme of the Catholic Bishops Conference of South Africa. We shall learn more about HAART shortly. First let's reflect on our interview with Fr. Gérard Lagleder last week on this feature, when he shared about the need to inform people about how HIV AIDS can be transmitted so as to combat misinformation, which as we heard, can lead to the tragic abuse of children. Traditional healers should learn the truth and help combat misinformation and we heard that Catholic youth groups and schools are trying to guide the youth with the right information. Another branch of the Blessed Gérard's Care Centre is the Hospice and Fr. Gerard begins today with an outline of their work. From the work of the Hospice, Fr. Gerard turned to the HAART project, which as we mentioned earlier stands for Highly Active anti Retroviral Therapy. The danger of forgetting to take antiretroviral therapy for just one day, pointed out by Fr. Gerard Lagleder, in this third part of an interview he gave to the Africa Service of VR about the work of the Blessed Gerard Care Centre which is located in Mandeni, South Africa. To find out more visit their web site, www.bbg.org.za [quoted from: http://www.radiovaticana.org/en3/Articolo.asp?c=310727]

Blessed Gérard's Care Centre

A TV report about Blessed Gérard's Care Centre, filmed on 6 April 2006, the day when Clare Kalkwarf, the Vice-President of the Brotherhood of Blessed Gérard, who features in the film, was murdered.

The reality of AIDS in Africa today

30 April 2004: Neill Connery reports on Blessed Gérard's Hospice and Blessed Gérard's Children's Home in Mandeni, South Africa.

Pioneering AIDS treatment in South Africa

The 1st National AIDS-Conference in South Africa was the occasion that a TV crew from BBC London visited Blessed Gérard's Hospice and filmed scenes from our palliative care. Hilary Andersson's impressive report on the inequality of access to antiretroviral medication was broadcast in the BBC Newsnight programme on 5 August 2003 and surely played a role to persuade the South African Government to make a declaration of intent to roll out antiretroviral medication to the public in future. Hilary Andersson reported from the first national AIDS conference in South Africa, and asked why the Pretoria government's own policies mean that drugs which are saving lives in developed countries are being denied to the poor.

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development The statement of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta delivered to the plenary session on 30 August 2002 by the Representative of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta at the World Summit: Father Gérard T. Lagleder O.S.B.

An everlasting brotherhood


Blessed Gérard, the founder of the Order of Malta, said: "Our brotherhood will be everlasting, because the ground which this plant is rooted in, is the misery of the world - and because, God willing, there will always be people, who want to work towards the alleviation of these sufferings to make this misery more bearable." The Brotherhood of Blessed Gérard in Zululand / South Africa revitalises this charism in Blessed Gérard's Care Centre and Hospice, Children's Home, Community Development Centre (Sewing School), Pre-Primary School and Crèche, Malnutrition Clinic, AIDS Education, Poor-Sick-Fund, Disaster Relief, First Aid and Emergency Service, Reflief Fund, Club for the elderly and Bursary Fund. This film, filmed in 2001, wants to introduce you to this work.

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism

Intervention of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta to the General Assembly of the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, 3 September 2001: Introduction by: Rev. Father Gérard T. Lagleder, M.Th., O.S.B., Magistral Chaplain of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, President of its Relief Organisation in South Africa and Representative of the Order to this World Conference.

A piece of South Africa - no tourist ever sees

The Relief Organisation of the Order of Malta in South Africa. A "historic" Film on its Origins, Work and Plans (from 1993).

The Order of Malta / Knights of St. John

A film on its history