• January 10, 2005
• Vol. 63
• No. 1

On a Mission

Survivor Sweethearts Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca Kick Around in Africa to Raise Awareness About AIDS

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From PEOPLE Magazine

Slogging through rural Africa, Survivor winners Ethan Zohn and Jenna Morasca are once again sweaty, smelly and sunburned in a foreign country. But this is no reality TV stunt. The couple are roughing it as a part of Zohn's mission to use soccer as a way to spread information about AIDS. "Soccer gives you instant access into the community," says Zohn, who used at least a quarter of his Survivor million to help start the organization Grassroot Soccer after learning more about the epidemic as a castaway in Africa. "At first I'm just some white guy teaching classes. But when I start playing soccer with kids, I'm their buddy."

During a 10-day excursion to Uganda last month, the two visited a treatment center, helped organize a youth soccer tournament and gave away soccer garb as well as clothes from their own closets. "Ethan laughed because I was giving away Dolce & Gabbana shirts," says Morasca, 23. Her favorite part, though, was watching Zohn, 31, interact with the children. "He was great with them," she says. "He treated every single one like they were his own." So are the couple, who met at a Survivor party in 2003, thinking of a family of their own? "I wouldn't be shocked if [he proposed]; we're really serious," says Morasca. Until then, she says, she's happy to watch him do what he loves. "He's got a big, big heart. He's saving lives, and that's a feat in itself."