Motherhood came to her as an adult, but the instinct to look after children was there well before that.
asserted
instinct → come → that
Long before she had children of her own, she was already caring about children on the brink of neglect.
asserted
she → have → neglect
Alicia Keys was just 20 when she travelled to South Africa as part of MTV’s Staying Alive campaign.
asserted
she → travel → campaign
During the visit, she went to clinics where pregnant women and new mothers were confronting the reality of HIV/AIDS, including the risk of passing the virus on to their babies.
asserted
women → go → babies
She also witnessed widows and children orphaned by AIDS struggling to survive.
asserted
widows → witness → AIDS
“I couldn’t turn my back on all I’d seen,” Keys told WebMD at the time.
asserted
Keys → turn → time
The experience inspired her to co-found Keep a Child Alive in 2003 alongside AIDS activist Leigh Blake, with the aim of helping children and families affected by HIV/AIDS access life-saving medication and essential support.
asserted
children → inspire → medication
Twenty years later, the non-profit charity had raised $86.6 million, worked in 28 countries and supported over 9.3 million children, young people and families.
asserted
charity → raise → children
A trip that changed many lives
At 20, Keys travelled to South Africa as part of MTV’s Staying Alive campaign, which focused on HIV and AIDS.
asserted
which → change → HIV
What she saw there changed her life and many others for the better.
asserted
saw → see → better
“At the time, a lot of women didn’t realize that if you are positive and you breastfeed your baby, your baby will contract it,” Keys told People in 2019.
asserted
Keys → realize → 2019
“The moms just wanted medicine to keep them alive.
asserted
moms → want → them
I thought, ‘How can something be available, but you can’t have it because you’re poor?’
asserted
you → think → it
I just felt like that was a death sentence.
asserted
that → feel → ?
That’s what outraged me and motivated me.
asserted
what → ’ → me
When I came back, I was never the same.”
asserted
I → come → ?
She couldn’t just turn her back on these children and women.
asserted
She → turn → children
She had to do something.
asserted
She → have → something
Keep a Child Alive
That something became a non-profit organisation called Keep a Child Alive.
asserted
something → keep → Child
True to its name, its mission was to keep children alive.
asserted
mission → keep → children
The aim was to support children facing the most challenging circumstances.
asserted
aim → support → circumstances
Keys built the organisation with AIDS activist Leigh Blake, who had already worked on the issue for years.
asserted
who → build → years
Blake had helped organise a 2001 remake of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” to raise AIDS awareness, with Bono as co-executive producer, and had funded a clinic in Kenya.
asserted
What → help → Kenya
Keep a Child Alive launched in 2003 with a simple aim: to get life-saving AIDS medication to children and families who could not afford it.
uncertain
who → keep → it
Blake took the lead on the medical and fundraising side, while Keys became the public face.
asserted
Keys → take → side
The non-profit has 41 partners, according to the organisation.
uncertain
profit → have → organisation
Starting in April 2024, the production and ticketing partner TodayTix Group pledged $1 from every ticket sold for the Broadway run.
asserted
partner → start → run
In October, the show announced that it had donated $1 million, including matching gifts.
asserted
it → announce → gifts
The charity said that sum would reach 18,250 children across eight countries.
asserted
sum → say → countries
A later statement put the total at more than $1.5 million.
asserted
statement → put → million
“I have taken such pride in being a co-founder of Keep a Child Alive since its creation over 20 years ago and all the lives we have been able to touch and all that we have been able to accomplish so far.
asserted
we → take → that
Hell's Kitchen is about a 17-year-old girl trying to find her way in NYC.
asserted
Kitchen → try → NYC
Both Hell's Kitchen and Keep a Child Alive believe that every child in the world should have the opportunity to thrive.
asserted
child → keep → opportunity
I feel immense gratitude that we can partner, with equal passion, to create an even greater force for change,” Alicia Keys said in a statement released on the non-profit’s website.
asserted
Keys → feel → website
Keys started the organisation to get antiretroviral drugs to children who had no other route to treatment.
asserted
who → start → treatment
It was an emergency effort to reach families in South Africa, Uganda, India, Kenya and Rwanda.
asserted
It → reach → Africa
Over time, the mission widened to cover health, education and human rights, though HIV remains at its centre.
asserted
HIV → widen → centre
The Aporia
