Tuesday, October 16, 2007
AN AMERICAN anti-Aids campaigner plans to make a second attempt to row across the Atlantic starting on World Aids Day on December 1 to raise global awareness about the killer disease.
Victor Mooney, 42, said he had so far collected close to US$10,000 of the US$100,000 ($143,000) needed for the 12,900km voyage from Goree Island in Senegal to New York.
His first attempt to complete the feat in May 2006 failed when his hand-made boat sank.
Mooney, executive director of New York-based non-profit organisation South African Arts International, said his trip, which was expected to take between six and eight months, was meant to "raise awareness of Aids and support the UN Millennium Goals to reverse the spread of HIV/Aids by 2015".
"I'm hoping that the royal family of Abu Dhabi will help out in this project," he added.
The ocean-going vessel in which Mooney will make his new attempt to row the Atlantic will be named "Spirit of Zayed" after the late ruler of oil-rich Abu Dhabi and UAE founding president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan.
The choice was made because of Zayed's "humble nature and humanity, not only with his countrymen but with people all over the world", Mooney said.
If he succeeds in rowing from Goree Island to New York, Mooney's boat will then be airlifted to Djibouti from where he plans to row to the UAE.
Mooney said he would buy the 24-foot (7.3m) boat in England while logistics for the journey would be handled by the US State Department.
At the end of 2005, around 40 million people lived with Aids or HIV, nearly two-thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa, according to UN figures.
Two million people died of Aids in 2006. AFP
Victor Mooney, 42, said he had so far collected close to US$10,000 of the US$100,000 ($143,000) needed for the 12,900km voyage from Goree Island in Senegal to New York.
His first attempt to complete the feat in May 2006 failed when his hand-made boat sank.
Mooney, executive director of New York-based non-profit organisation South African Arts International, said his trip, which was expected to take between six and eight months, was meant to "raise awareness of Aids and support the UN Millennium Goals to reverse the spread of HIV/Aids by 2015".
"I'm hoping that the royal family of Abu Dhabi will help out in this project," he added.
The ocean-going vessel in which Mooney will make his new attempt to row the Atlantic will be named "Spirit of Zayed" after the late ruler of oil-rich Abu Dhabi and UAE founding president, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahayan.
The choice was made because of Zayed's "humble nature and humanity, not only with his countrymen but with people all over the world", Mooney said.
If he succeeds in rowing from Goree Island to New York, Mooney's boat will then be airlifted to Djibouti from where he plans to row to the UAE.
Mooney said he would buy the 24-foot (7.3m) boat in England while logistics for the journey would be handled by the US State Department.
At the end of 2005, around 40 million people lived with Aids or HIV, nearly two-thirds of them in sub-Saharan Africa, according to UN figures.
Two million people died of Aids in 2006. AFP