Rev. Tom Lank (right) honors the late Peter Meggitt by presenting Liz Meggitt and her son, Hugo, with a symbol of the United Front Against Riverblindness at the African Soiree on March 1, 2014. This statuette of a child leading a blind adult made by a third-generation sculptor from Burkina Faso represents the tragedy of the disease that affects more than just the infected person.
United Front Against Riverblindness raised $16,000 at the fifth annual African Soiree at Princeton Theological Seminary March 1.
The Lawrenceville-based non-profit organization aims to eliminate riverblindness as a major public health and socio-economic problem in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
During the event the UFAR honored late Princeton resident Peter Meggitt.
In 2010, Meggitt traveled with a Princeton United Methodist church mission team to the Democratic Republic of Congo. He made significant contributions to UFAR’s fundraising efforts for the past five years.
Rev. Tom Lank presented Meggitt’s wife and son with a certificate indicating that a village has been sponsored in Peter Meggitt’s name.
According to UFAR founder Daniel Shungu, more than one-third of the 60 million people in the DRC are at risk for contracting riverblindness. The disease is caused by a parasite and transmitted by the black flies that live near the river
Merck & Co. provides riverblindness medicine for free, but distribution is a challenge. Using a community-directed approach that involves villagers who are appointed by their village chief, UFAR is able to treat more than two million people each year. Annual treatment for each person is required for ten years to eliminate the disease.
More information is online at riverblindness.org.
