The Geneva Literary Aid Society was originally conceived with the cheerful goal of marking the fictional centenary of James Joyce’s masterpiece Ulysses set on June 16, 1904, partly inspired by the memory of Joyce’s brief sojourn in Geneva a month before he died.
The centenary year came and went but finally a packed audience attended David Norris’s one man show on Joyce in January 2005 and so much enjoyment was had by all, that GLAS has since taken on a life of its own supporting the arts and raising funds. In our early years those funds were donated for the care and treatment of people living AIDS, much of it channeled through the Global Network of People Living with AIDS.
Subsequently, funds raised at GLAS events were donated to the Swiss association “Solidarité pour les enfants du Kenya (SPEK).” The association was formed to support children in Kenya, with a special focus on those who have been orphaned due to AIDS. Funds donated by GLAS were used to purchase a plot of land by the Furaha Orphans Centre in Kilifi, a rural town about one hour north of Mombasa. This will help the Centre meet the requirements for the application to become a registered Orphanage.
And most recently we’ve been raising money for the Edith Wilkins Foundation for Street Children in Darjeeling.
Theatre, music, comedy, politics, poetry, prose….. all have been given the GLAS treatment over the last ten years contributing to the gaiety of the Anglophone nation here in Geneva.