Portrait of a President
It’s too easy to count the stains and scars left behind by Bush’s eight-year stint in the White House. In his final weeks, the likes of Colbert, Leno and Stewart will do it enough for all of us.
While the words Iraq, economy, 9/11, war, bankruptcy and terrorism will make up the large part of the vocabulary defining his legacy, one word will most likely be missing: PEPFAR.
The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is a historic initiative that Bush began in 2003 to fund the prevention, treatment and care of AIDS around the world. Active in 114 countries, with 15 focus countries like Ethiopia, Vietnam and Rwanda, PEPFAR has given care to almost 10 million, prevented around 240,000 infant infections and distributed ARVs to more than 2 million.
By working with thousands of local organizations, Bush’s initiative has directly touched countless individuals. Individuals like Edward Mupunga, an HIV-positive counselor in Zimbabwe. With support from PEPFAR, the Zimbabwe Association of Church Hospitals is training Primary Care Counselor’s like Mupunga to give crucial HIV counseling in their communities.
“Helping others keeps me going,” Edward said. “Every time I counsel someone, I grow from the experience because I know that I’m helping that person face his fears and live more positively.”
With his presidency, Bush did do some good. So while we see one president go and another take his seat it seems only right to acknowledge the positive as we paint the last portrait of a president.
Are we too hard on our leaders when we judge them? How much of what happens in government do you think the President controls?
image credit: MastaBaba
Tags: 9/11, aids, arvs, bankruptcy, bush, colbert, counseling, economy, ethiopia, hiv-positive, Iraq, Legacy, leno, pepfar, Rwanda, stewart, terrorism, Vietnam, war, white house, zimbabwe
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Thanks for sharing that Dani…I had never heard that about President Bush and it’s neat to hear that he left a lasting legacy in an area that is soooo needy. I would say that we are definitely too hard on our leaders……they age very fast once they get in office.