I AM BECAUSE WE ARE BOOK LAUNCH

M E D I A A L E R T

I AM BECAUSE WE ARE
BOOK LAUNCH APRIL 2, 2009 - POWERHOUSE ARENA, DUMBO, BROOKLYN

WHO: Award-winning photojournalist Kristen Ashburn releases a new photography book - I AM BECAUSE WE ARE (PowerHouse Books, $49.95) - a companion volume to acclaimed documentary film by Madonna and Nathan Rissman that provides an intimate look at the AIDS pandemic in Africa.

WHAT: The book will officially launch at the PowerHouse Arena on Thursday, April 2, 2009, with a photo exhibition and fundraiser for the charitable organization Raising Malawi. This event is by invitation only. The photography exhibition is open to the public from March 25. All proceeds from the launch party will go to The Raising Malawi Academy for Girls.

WHEN: Book Launch: 6:00 - 9:00 p.m., Thursday, April 2, 2009 (invitation only)
Photography Exhibit (Open to the Public): March 25 - April 30, 2009

WHERE: PowerHouse Arena
37 Main Street
Dumbo, Brooklyn, NY

WHY: Through breathtaking images and the poignant voices of its subjects, I AM BECAUSE WE ARE, by award-winning photojournalist Kristen Ashburn, provides an intimate look at the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Both the book and Madonna's documentary film share the stories and images of seven children living with the effects of HIV/AIDS. These children are just a handful of the 1 million AIDS orphans in Malawi, a country of only 13 million people.

Madonna's forward in the book reads,
"As you read the pages and look at the breathtaking photography of Kristen Ashburn, I hope that you too will be inspired by the paradox of beauty and tragedy that exists today in Malawi, and in many other countries in Africa... I am grateful to Kristen Ashburn for her remarkable ability to capture the truth."

I AM BECAUSE WE ARE takes its title from the traditional African philosophy of ubuntu which speaks to the interconnectedness of humanity, reminding us that the fate of AIDS orphans in Malawi is inextricably tied into our own, that we all rise or fall together.

CONTACT: Jenifer Howard
                    203-273-4246
  jhoward1@optonline.net