Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
September 11, 2002
Renowned doctor to speak in Denver on HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa
Dr. David Abdulai has been called the "Mother Teresa of Africa" for his work offering free health care to people who are poor, abandoned or mentally ill. He is known especially for his outreach to people with AIDS.
As part of Catholic Relief Services' Africa Rising Campaign, Dr. Abdulai will make two appearances in Denver to speak on HIV/AIDS in Africa. He will speak at the 10 a.m. Mass Sept. 29 at St. Ignatius Loyola Church, 2301 York St., a reception follows. He will speak from 7-9 p.m. Sept. 30 in the Science Amphitheater at Regis University, 3333 Regis Blvd. There is no cost to attend either event. Everyone is invited.
Through Dr. Abdulai's experience ministering to AIDS victims who cannot afford treatment, he puts a human face and Christian call on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Globally, 70 percent of all AIDS victims are from Africa, where the disease is the number one killer.
"Dr. David" as he is affectionately known opened his Shekhinah Clinic in 1989 in the village of Tamale in Ghana. In addition to being a medical facility that serves people throughout Ghana and surrounding countries, it is a hospice of sorts, where people with HIV/AIDS can die with dignity among loving caregivers.
"To let people die in peace is why I'm here," Dr. Abdulai told The Catholic New World, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago. "We want to give people a real feeling of love, of God."
Born in Tamale in 1951, Dr. David knows the struggle of the people he serves first-hand. His parents lived in crushing poverty, and all 10 of his siblings died of poverty-related diseases. Often relying on the financial help of family members and benefactors, he made his way through the educational system of Ghana, completing his medical degree in 1979.
For more information, contact the archdiocesan Social Concerns Office, 303-715-3162.
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