We were very grateful to have received a very special and very substantial donation this month thanks to the generosity of White Cube Gallery in London, UK (www.whitecube.com) and world famous Artist Damien Hirst. (www.whitecube.com/artists/hirst/)

In July this year Mr Hirst and owner of White Cube, Jay Jopling and director of the gallery Daniela Gareh, agreed to donate the proceeds of the sale of one of Damien Hirst’s paintings to benefit the work of the Keiskamma Trust’s HIV/AIDS treatment programme.

We feel absolutely privileged and excited to have an artist as prestigious as Damien Hirst support the work of the Keiskamma Trust by the donation of an artwork.

It is especially meaningful to the Trust as our organization began with an arts and crafts programme for women of our rural community, and the passion to create meaningful and beautiful artworks still lives at the heart of our efforts to improve the lives of the communities we work in.

Many thanks to Damien Hirst, Jay Joplin, and Daniela Garah for their generous donation and for Bjorn Rønneberg, a long time supporter of the Trust who brought our AIDS Programme to their attention.

Plans are in the works for our artists to creatively respond to Mr. Hirst’s work which is entitled Psalm 5: Verba mea auribus. (2008, Butterflies and household gloss on canvas. Ø 45.7 cm)

The funds generated by the sale of the painting will go toward the Keiskamma Trust’s HIV/AIDS programme and will help tremendously as we work to prevent and treat HIV/AIDs in our communities. Our focus remains the most vulnerable who are most often women and children in hard-to reach rural and impoverished areas in the Peddie South District of the Eastern Cape.

This donation will help us continue our work for many months and has come at a time when we are again searching for funds to continue our necessary work so we are indeed very grateful to all involved!