Iman Promotes Auction To Combat AIDS In Africa

Iman is marking an anniversary she wishes she didn’t have to: the 25th year of AIDS.

She’s a celebrity spokeswoman for Keep a Child Alive, which provides drugs for AIDS and HIV patients, and to support World AIDS Day on Friday, the organization is holding a charity auction on the Charity Folks Web site to raise money for HIV/AIDS care in Africa.

Why is the ex-supermodel, who was born in Somalia, so involved?

“First of all because I am an African and I have seen the continent being ravaged and ravaged and ravaged through the years,” the 51-year-old wife of David Bowie told AP Television.

“Unfortunately this year, AIDS is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Twenty-five million Africans have died, 60 million people around the world are infected with AIDS; 40 million are living with HIV … The death toll is one problem, the economic structure of what it’s doing to it is another problem. We’re losing all our children.”

Up for bid through Wednesday is a chance to co-name, along with singer Alicia Keys, an AIDS clinic in South Africa.

Other items — or, rather, brushes with celebrity — are being offered in the auction, including a private concert with Keys, lunch with actress Liv Tyler and a walk-on role in Spike Lee’s next film.

Charity Folks: http://www.charityfolks.com/