Dollars for Alzheimer's Special to the Diplomatic Pouch contributed by Larry Luxner If the latest grim statistics are on target, then at least 90 of the 725 attendees at last Wednesday night’s National Alzheimer’s Gala will be struck with Alzheimer’s disease by the age of 65. Of those lucky enough to make it to 85, around half will have contracted the incurable, memory-robbing illness. Not a subject to be taken lightly, Alzheimer’s spares no ethnic or religious group. Blacks, whites, Hispanics, heterosexuals, gays, Christians, Jews, Muslims, Democrats, Republicans and atheists are all equally affected. From multimillionaire Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W. Va.) to the homeless, just about everybody has a parent, grandparent or relative suffering from this insidious disease. “This is a challenging time for our country, but it’s also a time to address fundamental issues like health-care reform,” said Harry Johns, president and CEO of the Fairfax-based Alzheimer’s Association and one of the many speakers at the March 25 gala. “We cannot fix health care without dealing with Medicare, and we cannot fix Medicare without dealing with Alzheimer’s. This association continues to move this cause forward by increasing public attention on the growing epidemic we face.” According to Johns, people with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia cost Medicaid nine times more than the average Medicaid patient in the same age group. “By the middle of this century, we will spend $20 trillion on Alzheimer’s. That’s equal to 25 stimulus bills,” he said. “That is not sustainable, folks. We must invest in solutions that’ll result in better care, and ultimately the prevention of Alzheimer’s. Making even big substantial investments in Alzheimer’s research is not only a humane imperative, but an economic necessity.” Alzheimer’s is now the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, where 5.1 million people age 65 or older and 200,000 under 65 already have the disease. Worldwide, some 30 million people are afflicted with Alzheimer’s, a number projected to exceed 100 million by 2050. Perhaps that explains why 20 ambassadors co-chair the National Alzheimer’s Gala, an annual event that has raised more than $6 million for Alzheimer’s research since 2003. Six of those foreign diplomats attended the glitzy dinner at the National Building Museum: Héctor Timerman of Argentina, Jan Matthysen of Belgium, Andreas Kakouris of Cyprus, Pierre Vimont of France, Ichiro Fujisaki of Japan, and João de Vallera of Portugal. Vimont was singled out for special recognition as he accepted the 2009 Chairman’s Leadership Award on behalf of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Last year, Sarkozy announced a $2.4 billion national strategic plan to fight Alzheimer’s in France, where as many as 860,000 people currently have the disease — a number expected to jump to 2.1 million by 2040. In addition to establishing a new Alzheimer’s foundation, Sarkozy also utilized his six-month presidency of the European Union to publicize Alzheimer’s and its long-term ramifications. “If we were dealing with people’s health only when there is global growth, it would be unacceptable,” the French president recently said, commenting on the need to continue the struggle against Alzheimer’s amidst worldwide economic uncertainty. “Whatever the context we are in, the fight of all Europeans against Alzheimer’s disease is a priority.” Over an elegant dinner of pistachio and hazelnut crisps, saffron couscous, spring pea stacks, peppercorn tenderloin and mushroom-crusted rockfish, attendees — who paid $500 a plate to be there — heard from gala co-chairs George and Trish Vradenburg as well as Thomas C. Nelson, chief operating officer of the American Association of Retired Persons, and TV personality Chris Matthews of “Hardball” fame. The event, which raised nearly $1.1 million for Alzheimer’s research, also featured an address by Maria Shriver, first lady of California, as well as from various celebrities, politicians and scientists racing to find a cure for Alzheimer’s. They also watched a short video, “Lost Faces-,” a tribute to famous Americans who died of Alzheimer’s. These include Peter Falk, Perry Como, Cyrus Vance, Aaron Copeland, Barry Goldwater, Charles Bronson, Sugar Ray Robinson, Rosa Parks, Charlton Heston and Ronald Reagan. During the evening, William E. Klunk and Chester Mathias of the University of Pittsburgh were bestowed with the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Award for their contributions to the advancement of Alzheimer’s research. Likewise, Sen. Rockefeller and his wife, Sharon Percy Rockefeller, were honored with the Sargent and Eunice Shriver Profiles in Dignity Award for their efforts to promote a greater understanding of Alzheimer’s disease. “I think of all the people in West Virginia who can’t afford professional care,” said Rockefeller, noting that caring for his afflicted mother costs $300,000 a year. “We have to pass a comprehensive health-care bill which covers it all. There can be no exceptions or parts left for later bills.” Sharon Percy Rockefeller spoke about her father, retired Sen. Charles H. Percy of Illinois, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who was known for his energy and determination. But in the early 1990s, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and it’s been a long, sad slide ever since. “This is the first time I’ve spoken openly about my father. For more than 15 years, I have protected him, because I thought it was the right thing to do. But of course I was wrong, and now I want my words to be a tribute to him,” said his daughter, noting that eventually, the former senator’s behavior became erratic and unpredictable. “He did not want a name on this awful thing. He did everything he could to push back this disease. He exercised eight hours a day, and cut his calories by a third,” she said. “He doesn’t know the Lehrer News Hour from the cartoons, but he knows he has to turn to Channel 26. He holds up a newspaper and has no idea what’s in it.” But the most moving speech came from Robert Blackwell, formerly a top CIA analyst whose expertise on the former Soviet Union proved crucial for three presidents: Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Cursed with a family history of Alzheimer’s, Blackwell told his audience how he gradually came to realize that he, too, had the disease. At 64, he was diagnosed with the feared illness and retired from the spy agency. “I decided I wanted to be a spokesperson for Alzheimer’s, and was soon approached by a reporter from USA Today to share my story,” said Blackwell, who has a blog on the newspaper’s Web site where he writes about living with Alzheimer’s. “Since then, I have received countless phone calls and letters from people with Alzheimer’s, and from caregivers. There’s a real sense of friendship and community among us.” Blackwell, whose 94-year-old mother also has Alzheimer’s and no longer walks or talks, urged gala attendees to open their wallets and pocketbooks and give generously. “Think of the next generation. Our children are at risk,” he said haltingly, at times forgetting a word or two. “There is a cure out there somewhere, and we must find it. I do believe that when a door closes, God opens us a window. God did not cause me to have Alzheimer’s, but since I have it, He wants me to use my voice to help others. I encourage all of you to do the same.” Top Photo: French Ambassador Pierre Vimont accepts the Chairman's Leadership Award from the Alzheimer's Assocation at the organization's Mar. 25 national gala. Photo: Franmarie Metzler / Reflections Photography Inc. Bottom Photo: Former CIA analyst Robert Blackwell speaks about his battle against Alzheimer's disease at the Alzheimer's Association national gala March 25. Photo: Larry Luxner Front Page: Maria Shriver, wife of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, speaks about her parents, Sargent and Eunice Shriver, at the Alzheimer Association's national gala. Photo: Larry Luxner Cape Verde's Jewish Roots Special to the Diplomatic Pouch contributed by Larry Luxner On March 18, more than 100 prominent local Jews crowded into the Potomac, Md., home of an Arab ambassador whose Muslim country has no diplomatic relations with Israel — to celebrate the Judaic roots of a Catholic West African nation that has no Jews. The eclectic event, held at the residence of Moroccan Ambassador Aziz Mekouar, was spearheaded by Carol Castiel, president of the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project Inc., a tax-exempt, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2007. The project’s goal is to raise $250,000 over the next three years. Priorities include restoring some 30 tombstones in four crumbling but historically significant Sephardic Jewish cemeteries dating from the mid-1800s; publishing books, articles, pamphlets and videos that document the community’s enduring legacy; and finally, promoting Jewish “heritage tourism” to Cape Verde. In addition to Morocco’s Mekouar, two other ambassadors were present for the event, which featured a photo exhibit and traditional Moroccan Jewish cuisine: Cape Verde’s Fatima Veiga and Portugal’s João de Vallera, along with Ambassador Herman Cohen, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, as well as Daniel Mariaschin, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith International. “I have never lost sight of my goal to honor the Jews of Cape Verde,” said Castiel, a Voice of America staffer who’s made the forgotten community her life’s passion. Castiel became fascinated with the subject 13 years ago while working with Portuguese-speaking students at the New York-based Africa-America Institute. That job introduced her to mixed-race Cape Verdeans with surnames like Levy, Cohen and Benchimol — and left her wondering how Sephardic Jews from Morocco and Gibraltar ended up in the remote island archipelago located 300 miles off the coast of West Africa. “We know so little about these Jews and their exodus to Cape Verde, which was primarily for economic reasons,” said Castiel, a Pennsylvania native who jokes that she’s “Sephardic in her heart” despite her European Jewish background. “In talking with their descendants, many of whom still bear the distinctive Sephardic names of their paternal forebears, I encountered a sense of pride and identity with their Jewish heritage.” Throughout the 500 years that Cape Verde was a Portuguese colony, the islands received thousands of Jews fleeing religious persecution in Spain and Portugal. But only after 1821 — the year the Portuguese crown officially abolished the Inquisition — were Jews free to practice their religion throughout Portugal and its many colonies (including Cape Verde, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and São Tome e Principe). They quickly became an integral part of local society, exerting a strong, enduring influence on Cape Verde that continues to this day. Later on, economic pressures forced many young men from Moroccan cities like Tangier and Tetouan to seek opportunities abroad. Once in Cape Verde, they married local Catholic women, meaning their offspring were no longer Jews despite their Jewish-sounding names. In the early 20th century, Jewish businessman and philanthropist David Benoliel, whose parents came from Rabat, Morocco, literally fueled the economy of the tiny island of Boa Vista. And in 1991, Cape Verde inaugurated its first democratically elected prime minister, Carlos Alberto Wahnon de Carvalho Veiga — a descendant of Moroccan Jews who came to Cape Verde via Gibraltar in the mid-1800s. Yet today, not a single practicing Jew is left in Cape Verde, even though their cemeteries bear witness to the once-thriving presence. “The Jews of Morocco and Gibraltar became entirely absorbed into Cape Verde,” said Castiel. “It was hard to know where their Jewishness left off and their Cape Verdeaness began.” Ambassador Mekouar became involved in the project in 1997, after a meeting with Castiel. “I thought Carol’s idea of restoring these cemeteries was wonderful,” said the envoy, pointing out that his birthplace, Fez, was also where the great medieval Jewish philosopher, physician and Torah scholar Maimonides studied and wrote his most important works. “Those who know Morocco, Portugal and Cape Verde know how these three countries have been interlinked for centuries,” Mekouar told his guests. “You cannot understand Moroccan culture if you don’t know there is a Jewish component in it, and today we have a huge Jewish Diaspora all around the world — in Israel, in the United States and in Canada. They are Morocco’s best ambassadors. That’s why this project is so important for all of us.” Adds John Wahnon, a descendant of Cape Verdean Jews who lives in Silver Spring, Md.: “When my generation passes, those who come after will not have any way to learn about their Jewish legacy. This project will give youngsters in Cape Verde a chance to learn where they came from.” There’s also a deeply spiritual component to the project, says Rabbi Joshua Maroof of Magen David Sephardic Congregation in Rockville, Md. “Long after the memory of a particular person may have been forgotten, their influence will still be felt. So when we preserve burial grounds, we’re not doing something morbid or negative,” said Maroof, many of whose congregants are of Moroccan origin. “Every individual, Jewish or not, has a share in eternity. Only if we take the initiative to respect our predecessors can we be sure the same respect and honor will be accorded to us,” said the rabbi. “Together, we can make a statement not only about those buried in Cape Verde, but about the sanctity and significance of every human life.” For more information on the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project, please call (202) 841-9925 or visit www.capeverdejewishheritage.org. Inside Photo: From left, Carol Castiel, president of the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project Inc., and two of her diplomatic supporters, Ambassadors Aziz Mekouar of Morocco and Maria Fátima Lima da Veiga of Cape Verde, hosted a reception in honor of the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project. Photo: Larry Luxner Front Page: Carol Castiel, president of the Washington-based Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project Inc., left, poses with Salamith Spencer, a descendant of Hillel Benchimol, whose 19th-century tombstone on the island of Santiago in Cape Verde remains a testament to the African country’s enduring Jewish influence. Photo: Larry Luxner Congo: The Women of Africa's Forgotten Conflict Special to the Diplomatic Pouch contributed by Patrick Haggerty In the past 20 years, Africa has seen more conflicts than most of the world has seen in the past century. The 1990s saw the genocide of Rwanda, and today, Somalia remains lawless, while the conflict in Sudan continues to dominate the headlines. But there has been a perennial conflict raging in the heart of the continent since the 1960s, a conflict that in the past decade alone has claimed more than 5 million lives — greater than the whole of World War II: the forgotten, brutal and incredibly complex conflict of the Congo. And underneath Congo’s suffering is another layer of forgotten victims: its women. Perhaps in no other conflict in the world has rape and sexual violence been used not just as a weapon of war, but as an appallingly effective strategy. The advocacy group Enough has been working to raise awareness not just of Congolese politics but also its people. To that end, last month Enough put a face on Congo’s victims with “Congo/Women Portraits of War: The Democratic Republic of the Congo,” a small but powerful photo exhibition in the foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building. Part of a two-year tour around North America, Europe and Africa, the exhibit then travels to the James Cohan Gallery in New York City before moving to the United Nations in the fall. Four photographers — Lynsey Addario, Marcus Beasdale, Ron Haviv, and James Nachtwey — pitched in to help Enough’s education campaign on the plight of women in the Congo, where sexual violence and rape exist on a scale seen nowhere else in the world. These “portraits of war” bring home the reality of daily life in the Congo — political, economic, cultural, medical and personal. But portraits of war may not be the best description for these images. You don’t see war in these photos, but rather what has been left behind, the remnants of humanity in an inhumane situation. These photos give a name and a face to the victims which once had neither. All of the images, ranging in size from entire walls to small snapshots, have a story to tell, a piece of the puzzle that most of the world has left unsolved. But to the few people who spoke at the event in Rayburn — Stephen Lewis, co-director of the nonprofit AIDS-Free World, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Enough co-chair John Prandergast — these photos are merely scratching the surface of an intractable situation. But it’s the pictures that do most of the talking, from the blank helpless stares of defeated women holding their starving children, to a rape victim’s elephantitis-swollen feet. The perpetrators of Congo’s decline are many. Currently, the United Nations has upward of 17,000 troops stationed in the country, the largest contingent of U.N. peacekeepers in the world — who have been in the country since the end of its five-year civil war in 2003. Before that, Congo was mired in massive upheaval during years of war from 1998 to 2003 that sucked in eight other African countries, notably neighboring Rwanda; resulted in a presidential assassination and several coups; changed the country’s official name of Zaire to the Democratic Republic of Congo; and utterly devastated this enormous nation of nearly 60 million. Beginning in 1998, the country’s new leader, Laurent Kabila, sought to gain control over the rebel groups who helped to place him in control of the country after throwing out longtime dictator Mobutu Sese Seko from power. But his allies turned against him and five years of fighting and millions of deaths ensued until 2003. After the United Nations arrived to help re-establish order, free elections were held in 2006, in which Kabila’s son, Joseph, was formally named as head of the country. And while the government has secured a majority of the country, the Eastern sector remains one of constant strife, especially in recent months. In December, troops from the neighboring Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), participated in what are now referred to as the “Christmas Massacres.” On Dec. 24 and 25, members of the LRA entered numerous towns in Eastern Congo and proceeded to murder and kidnap hundreds of civilians. After the dust settled, more than 600 people were killed, according to Human Rights Watch. More recently, a joint Congo-Rwanda offensive against ethnic Rwandan Hutu militias heightened tensions in South Kivu province, displacing thousands of civilians, yet again. Still, the rare show of cooperation between the two countries managed to topple Gen. Laurent Nkunda, part of a band of rebels accused of killing civilians and using rape as a weapon during their 14-year presence in Congo. But Nkunda’s fate — or even exile — is far from certain, and Congo and Rwanda have a long history of enmity, which makes many experts question the real motives behind the sudden cooperation. Meanwhile, the United Nations says it is simply outmanned in a country the size of Western Europe. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon complained that member states have so far failed to provide nearly enough troops after he called for 3,000 additional peacekeepers in November in the face of mounting violence in the east of the vast country. He noted that of the 49 troop-contributing countries and 12 potential troop contributors approached, until now only Bangladesh has come forward with one infantry battalion, one engineer company and one formed police unit. Enough’s Prandergast says that although the conflict seems overwhelming from the outside, there are many small contributions people can make to help. He noted for instance that cell-phone and laptop companies should stop buying materials such as cobalt from the mines controlled by rebels in Eastern Congo. Enough hopes its exhibit also makes a dent in awareness. It’s part of a campaign the group has launched called “Raise Hope for Congo,” a grassroots lobbying movement centered on the “4Ps” — peace, protection, punishment and prevention (www.raisehopeforcongo.org). Seeing the vivid chaos and specifically the women and girls left behind by this forgotten conflict, it’s difficult to comprehend how the world can watch so many continue to die (20 percent of Congo’s children never make it past age 5). At the same time, Enough is trying to keep the conversation on Congo from fading out, and if these photos continue to tell their stories around the world, these women will at least have a voice, and the hop that change will come. Anna Gawel contributed to this report. Top Photo: A young girl carries a baby in a village in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photos: UN Photo / Martine Perret Bottom Photo: Women residents wander around a Congolese camp in North Kivu for internally displaced crisis. Photos: UN Photo / Marite Frechon Front Page: Girls are fed at the NGO “Solidarite des Hommes,” a center for men, women and teenagers in Buka, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo: UN Photo / Miriam Asmani THE WASHINGTON DIPLOMAT P.O. Box 1345 Silver Spring, MD 20915-1345 Tel: 301.933.3552 Fax: 301.949.0065 www.washdiplomat.com