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"My laptop was completely ruined when my office flooded. Even the hard disk was wrecked; but I didn't lose a single document."
 | Beyonce knowles News - 2-December-2003 |  |
 Beyonce joins Mandela/celebs to fight AIDS in South African Concert
Beyonce, Bono Top S. African AIDS Benefit
Yahoo News, December 1, 2003
By ELLIOTT SYLVESTER, Associated Press Writer
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Beyonce Knowles, Bono, Peter Gabriel and
other musicians from around the world took to the stage for an AIDS
(news - web sites) benefit concert hosted by former South African
President Nelson Mandela.
More than 30,000 people, among them Oprah Winfrey and other
celebrities, filled Cape Town's Greenpoint Stadium on Saturday for
the show, part of Mandela's 46664 campaign to fight AIDS, named after
his number when he was imprisoned for his fight against apartheid.
With a massive bronzed image of his face as a backdrop, Mandela came
on stage dressed in a black shirt with the number emblazoned across
his chest.
"For the 18 years that I was in prison on Robben Island I was
supposed to be reduced to that number," Mandela said. "Millions
infected with HIV (news - web sites)/AIDS are in danger of being
reduced to mere numbers if we don't act now. They are serving a
prison sentence for life."
The concert — broadcast live by the South African Broadcasting
Corporation's Africa channel and on the internet — is part of an
appeal to governments to declare a global AIDS emergency.
Between 34 million and 46 million people around the world are
infected with HIV, including 5.3 million South Africans — more than
in any other country. The pandemic killed more than 3 million people
this year, according to U.N. figures.
Bob Geldof, organizer of the Live Aid concerts that raised millions
of dollars for famine victims in Ethiopia in the 1980s, said
governments around the world need to make life-prolonging medicines
available to all who need them.
"The condition is medical, but the solution is political, and that is
why we are here today," he said.
Beyonce urged the world's youth to practice safe sex and use condoms.
"There is nothing sexier than being confident and taking care of
yourself," she said. "Protect yourself."
The artists, who also included the Corrs, Anastacia, Yusuf Islam,
formerly known as Cat Stevens, and Annie Lennox, performed free
Saturday night.
Gabriel and the Soweto Gospel Choir stilled the crowd when they
performed "Biko," a tribute to slain anti-apartheid icon Steve Biko.
Brian May from the group Queen performed the song "46664," featuring
Mandela's voice saying: "The struggle is my life. I will continue to
fight.
Messages from former President Clinton (news - web sites) and civil
rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson (news - web sites) were
broadcast on a screen at the back of the stage.
Earlier, Bono and Beyonce visited a maternity unit and a childrens'
home caring for HIV sufferers in Cape Town's impoverished township,
Khayelitsha.
Bono said he was incensed by the suffering of hundreds of thousands
of Africans who cannot afford treatment.
"This is an obscenity," he said. "This is like watching the Jews
being put on trains."
The 46664 campaign, conceived by Dave Stewart, was put into place in
partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, as well as May and
Roger Taylor of Queen.
The concert will be screened globally by MTV on World Aids Day on
Monday. Proceeds are going to the foundation, whose work includes
funding research on HIV and AIDS in South Africa and supporting
services for sufferers.
News Courtesy of Yahoo News
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