“Muhammad Ali, best known for bringing home the boxing gold against all odds in the ’64 Olympics, appeared with Rwandese citizens Margaret Rwamba and Nola Kambanda recently to appeal for help for the people of Rwanda, a land-locked African country where civil war broke out in 1994.
The two million Rwandans who had fled to neighboring countries need help. “With 600,000 refugees returning home to Rwanda from Zaire and up to 700,000 more displaced inside Zaire as a result of renewed conflict, there is a need for providing the things they will need to survive—food, eating and cooking utensils, medicine, shelter, new clothing and pure water,” Ali said in a statement. Ali suffers from Parkinson’s, so he speaks with difficulty.
He called on the U.S. government to send relief and urged Americans to aid private relief organizations such as Operation USA, which recently shipped $16,000 worth of medical supplies to the troubled country. To contact Operation USA, call (213) 658-8876 or (800) 678-7255.
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