Business Wire - October 13, 2003

In its nearly five decades of service, Pathfinder International has solidified its role as a leading international family planning and reproductive health organization. Additionally, Pathfinder has programs offering prevention, care and support to people living with HIV/AIDS, their families, caregivers and communities.

"Every day, women and men in developing countries around the world face issues of hunger, health and poverty that stem from their lack of access to family planning and reproductive health services. More than 500,000 women die each year from a lack of maternal health care, often leaving young children who are unlikely to survive," said Daniel Pellegrom, president of Pathfinder International. "The Visionaries program paints a realistic picture of reproductive health issues affecting populations across the globe. We are privileged and pleased that they have selected our organization to be a part of this series that so clearly brings these compelling global issues to the attention of the American public."

The program follows the work of Pathfinder representatives in India and Kenya. In a Muslim village in Rajastahn, India, the focus is on Pathfinder's efforts to educate the community about family planning and reproductive health. The Visionaries' film crew interviewed village elders, religious leaders and local families, tracing the evolution in attitudes from apprehension to acceptance and finally, to recognition of the benefits of reproductive health teachings. The show spotlights one young couple who opted to have only two children, detailing their reasoning as well as the support they received from their families.

The Kenya segment highlights Pathfinder's effort to care for people living with HIV/AIDS. The segment profiles Asunte Sagnuna, the founder of the Kenyan Network of Women with AIDS, and shows her counseling a group of HIV-positive women who are creating memory books for their children. It also follows one of Pathfinder's representatives as he provides home-based care and support to a man living with AIDS.

"More than 150 women in the developing world want - but don't have access to - modern contraceptive methods." continued Pellegrom. "And over 150 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS - over 3 million under the age of 15. The Visionaries' program enables me to take the critical projects that Pathfinder supports to people who will likely never be able to go to India or Kenya or Peru to see them. Once people can actually witness our work, it grips them forever."

About Pathfinder International

Pathfinder International provides women, men, and adolescents throughout the developing world with access to quality family planning and reproductive health information and services. Pathfinder works to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS, to provide care to women suffering from the complications of unsafe abortion, and to advocate for sound reproductive health policies in the U.S. and abroad. For more information about Pathfinder, please visit www.pathfind.org.

About Visionaries

Since 1995, Visionaries production crews have traveled across six continents and to more than 50 American cities to profile the extraordinary work of true philanthropists - people dedicating their lives and careers to the service of others. Each 30-minute documentary episode features "ordinary" individuals actively engaged in building homes, providing medical care, feeding the hungry, educating children and adults, creating economic opportunity and offering hope to people around the globe. The Visionaries is presented by public television station WYBE, Philadelphia and distributed to public television stations throughout the U.S. by the National Educational Telecommunications Associations (NETA). To find out when The Visionaries series is airing in your area, check www.pubtv.net/online/visionaries/ for national broadcast schedules.

CONTACT: Pathfinder International

Patricia Collins, 617-924-7200 x502

pcollins@pathfind.org

or

causemedia, Inc.

Erin Callanan, 617-558-6850

ecallanan@causemedia.com

SOURCE: Pathfinder International
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