Fredericks accepted her medal November 19 during a presentation ceremony at the YMCA on Tupper St., in the presence of 150 guests.

Wilhelmina's poignant thank-you speech drew tears from the crowd. She accepted the Peace Medal on behalf of the 20 million children living with HIV and AIDS in Africa. She has worked to raise awareness of the impact of HIV and AIDS in Africa and of the enormous difficulty in combatting it.

Zerf productions works with a medical team, churches, businesses, schools, and cultural organizations in Canada, and in Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe

Currently, Zerf is raising money to build a diagostic and training centre to test and treat HIV/AIDS kids in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Info: (514) 486-0924.