NEW YORK: African-American Rower to Cross Atlantic Ocean to Raise AIDS Awareness

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

NEW YORK: African-American Rower to Cross Atlantic Ocean to Raise AIDS Awareness

Associated Press (02.06.04) - Monday, February 09, 2004
Todd Pitman

Victor Mooney, an African-American rower, recently crawled through a crumbling brick and clay slave house on Goree Island, Senegal - wearing black leg, wrist and neck shackles - to reach a rowing machine. The event was part of an effort to call attention to the 39-year-old New Yorker's planned solo rowboat voyage across the Atlantic Ocean next year to raise awareness of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Other professional rowers have crossed the Atlantic Ocean, but most began in places like Spain's Canary Islands, farther north off Africa's western coast. Mooney, a communications officer at Brooklyn's College of Advanced Technology, chose Goree Island, off the coast of Dakar, Senegal's capitol, because he felt a connection to his ancestors' history. The Goree Island house he crawled through is said to have been one of the West African departure points for slaves headed across the Atlantic.

Mooney estimates it will take two to three months to reach Brazil, then another five months to row north through the Caribbean and up the US east coast to New York. The 8,000-mile route pays homage to millions of African slaves forced to make the journey to the Americas in shackles. The trip will begin in February 2005 to coincide with US Black History Month.

Mooney will travel in a 24-foot-long plywood boat stocked with military rations and equipped with a satellite phone and an Internet link. A larger support boat will travel behind and videotape the voyage. The other boat will not offer aid except in case of emergency.

The trip will cost about $200,000, Mooney estimates. So far, corporate and other sponsors have given only $3,000. Mooney will donate all money above the trip's cost to HIV/AIDS charities worldwide.
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