One bite from a fly can lead to blindness, but one runner can guard 15 people against losing their sight. The May Day 5k to Combat Riverblindness, sponsored by Princeton United Methodist Church, will be Saturday, May 1 at 10 a.m., starting at Princeton Theological Seminary at 64 Mercer Street. The $25 entry fee will benefit the United Front Against Riverblindness (UFAR). Register at www.princetonumc.org.
More than one-third of the 60 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are at risk for getting riverblindness, which starts with a rash and leads to sight loss, forcing children to leave school to care for parents. “Though the medicine is provided free by Merck & Co., the challenge is to ensure that those in remote villages take the drug at least once a year for 10 years,” says James Hein, a seminary student and an intern at the church.
The church is also sending a team to the Democratic Republic of Congo to help the United Front Against Riverblindness. Team members include Jon Victor and Zach Victor, twin brothers from West Windsor. Both are state-certified EMTs and both ride with the Twin ‘W’ First Aid Squad. The brothers have also been involved with the Appalachia Service Project of Princeton United Methodist Church for the last two years.
Jon, a junior at Lawrenceville School, sings in PUMC Youth Choir, studies Japanese, and is involved in the Japan Club at school. Zach, a junior at High School North, is the PUMC coordinator for Womanspace’s Communities of Light, and has practiced the Japanese martial art of Aikido for 11 years.
The brothers, who attended Village and Community Middle schools, lived in Japan from first to third grades. “They shared the same friends and the same teachers,” says their mother, Susan, a chaplain and counselor at Womanspace. “They chose to go to different schools because they felt they needed to be seen as two separate individuals.”
Their father, Vasanth Victor, is managing director at Natixis, a French bank. Their older brother, Joshua Victor, a graduate of High School North, is a freshman at Emory University. In Atlanta he has worked with Jumpstart, an Americorp program that is directed at helping kids from disadvantaged families. To cultivate a child’s social, emotional and intellectual readiness, Jumpstart brings college students and community volunteers together with preschool children for year long, individualized tutoring and mentoring. During the summer, he will work at the Crisis Ministry ainTrenton where he volunteered during his high school years.
The race is one of several events to benefit this cause. Upcoming events include a solo handbell concert at PUMC on Saturday, May 15, at 7 p.m.; and a community-wide African Soiree on Saturday, May 22, at 6 p.m. at Princeton University’s Carl A. Fields Center, complete with authentic African food, music, and entertainment. Call 609-924-2613 or www.princetonumc.org.r
May Day 5K to Combat Riverblindness, Princeton United Methodist Church, Princeton Theological Seminary, 64 Mercer Street, Princeton. Saturday, May 1, 10 a.m. Benefit for the church’s mission trip to the Congo in support of the United Front Against Riverblindness program. Register. $25 includes a shirt. 609-924-2613. www.princetonumc.org.
Ring Out for Riverblindness, Princeton United Methodist Church, 7 Vandeventer Avenue, Princeton. Saturday, May 15, 7 p.m. Solo handbell artist Hyosang Park and pianist Akiko Hosaki in concert to benefit the church’s mission trip to the Congo in support of the United Front Against Riverblindness program. Free-will offering. 609-924-2613. www.princetonumc.org.
Community-Wide African Soiree, Princeton United Methodist Church, Carl A. Fields Center, 58 Prospect Avenue, Princeton. Saturday, May 22, 6 p.m. African food, music, and dancing. Benefit for the church’s mission trip to the Congo in support of the United Front Against Riverblindness program. Register. $50. 609-924-2613. www.princetonumc.org.
