What happens to a country where one-third of the adult population is HIV positive? Who runs the stores...the government...takes care of the children???

Forty years after independence, the Republic of Botswana finds itself in a fight for its life. Fully one-third of the adult population is HIV positive. As my quilt shows, this dread disease is beginning to unravel the fabric of society. Yet, there is still hope. The government has stepped up to the challenge, establishing clinics and treatment centers throughout the country, and working to change the basic culture with the message “ABSTAIN, BE FAITHFUL, and CONDOMIZE.” The final chapters of this story remain to be written – can the country heal itself?

This quilt won Best of Show at the opening exhibition of the Alpha-Omega Gallery, Columbus. It also was accepted for the 2009 Sacred Threads juried exhibition in Reynoldburg, Ohio.