SA's America's Cup Aids ribbon
3 January 2007
It's one of the biggest Aids ribbons in the world, and South Africa's Team Shosholoza will be flying it in support of the fight against HIV/Aids in the country when they return to Valencia, Spain in April to race in the 32nd America's Cup.
In a statement issued on World Aids Day, 1 December, Shosholoza managing director Salvatore Sarno said every opportunity had to be taken to tell the world about the challenges facing "each and every one of us living and working in Africa, where so many millions of people are stricken by HIV/Aids.
"As a sporting event the America's Cup is on a par with the Olympics and the Soccer World Cup," Sarno said. "Media coverage is huge, with the cumulative television viewership alone expected to top 4-billion worldwide by next year. It would be hard
to find a more influential platform."
Team Shosholoza's red ribbon - emblazoned across a 350 square metre spinnaker flown from yacht Shosholoza's 35 metre high mast - caused a stir when it was used for the first time during America's Cup class racing events in Valencia last year.
The concept was first launched in Cape Town on World Aids Day in 2004, when Shosholoza's original training yacht flew an "Aids spinnaker" in Table Bay in support of a campaign by local non-profit organisation Wola Nani, which assists people living with HIV/Aids.
Sarno, who is also chairman of the Mediterranean Shipping Company South Africa, says: "We see people dying every week from HIV/Aids-related diseases in our company. It is very real and very close to us. These are people that we know, who are part of our close environment. It is not something we just read about in the papers."
For Sarno, his company's commitment to HIV/Aids awareness programmes is a way of paying back its debt
to the country for the opportunities it had given the company to grow into one of the biggest shipping lines in the world.
"In 1990, when others were losing faith in the country, we showed our optimism for the future in South Africa by investing heavily here, and it has paid off enormously for us," says Sarno.
"South Africa has been the backbone of our business and become our most important trading area, with over 60% of our revenue coming from the region."
SouthAfrica.info reporter
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