U.S. Ambassador donates to AIDS initiative
Seven non-profit organisations that are working with people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS today received financial support for their programmes from the United States embassy in Belize. During brief ceremonies at his residence, Ambassador Russel Freeman handed over cheques totalling over thirty-three thousand dollars, which the recipients agreed will be used to help in their ongoing projects that address the HIV/AIDS problem in Belize. Freeman told News 5 that the money came from a special fund that all United States ambassadors in the Caribbean have access to, and is part of the Centres for Disease Control initiative to help small countries deal with the effects of AIDS on their societies.
Russel Freeman, U.S. Ambassador to Belize
?The problem is so prevalent here in Belize as well as other countries particularly in the Caribbean area in this part of the world. But it?s a start. It?s part of the funds that the U.S. government does use to assist the fight against AIDS worldwide. So it?s just a global fund and the other funds that we get through the U.S. AID in Guatemala to help the fight here in Belize.?
?We issued cheques this year to seven different groups. We got proposals from, I think at least nine groups, unfortunately this year get we got word in late august that we had the funds available and of course our fiscal year ends September thirtieth. So we had to scramble to get the proposal in. but we had a lot of good proposals this year. Unfortunately we did not have money to fund all of them to the full extent.?
Freeman says the only condition on which the money is given is that it cannot be used to pay the salaries of the workers of the different organisations or to buy AIDS drugs.
And the seven organisations that received their cheques this morning understand that stipulation fully. Mark Thessing of Helping Hand ministries and Luis Garcia of Belize Community Service Alliance say they will use the grant money to continue awareness and support programmes in Belize City and along the Belize-Guatemala border.
Mark Thessing, Director, Hand in Hand Ministries
?The organisation started here two years from last October. And these funds will specifically be used to purchase a fifteen passenger van that we need four our day care centre. A lot of the kids that we receive at this centre sometimes don?t have access to go across the city because we are talking about north side and south side and even outside of Belize City, and so we want to make sure that we have a mode of transportation for the kids to ensure that they make it to our centre which is located on the south side.?
Patrick Jones
?What is hand in hand all about??
Mark Thessing
?Hand in Hand Ministries is an international social service agency that provides life?s essentials to the poorest of the poor.?
Luis Garcia, Director, Good Neighbours Project
?We are trying to change their behaviour especially of the mobile populations. What we are doing is we are out there every weekend with youth groups and health professional and we will be changing people?s behaviour. In the sense we are showing them venereal disease photographs so that they could basically think twice before they do whatever they do. We are targeting the taxi drivers, the tour operators. We are also targeting very strongly the Guatemalan that come to work in Belize and we are targeting the Belizeans that party in Guatemala. Belizeans frequent a lot of bars in Melchor. What we are doing is we are just showing them the consequences or trying to understand the consequence that they can suffer if they don?t protect themselves.?
Other organisations that received support from the U.S. embassy include Alliance Against AIDS, the Belize Family Life Association, Dangriga AIDS Society, Independence Polyclinic and the Rotary Club of Belize.
