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Bahamas: The United States Embassy Donates To HIV/AIDS Fight In The Bahamas
Related to country: Bahamas
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

U.S. Makes Donation To HIV/AIDS Fight:
By Sasha L. Lightbourne -
Nassau, Bahamas:


The United States Embassy yesterday donated $25,000 to five local organizations to help defray the cost of fighting HIV/AIDS in The Bahamas in one of the first crucial undertakings on this front for new U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas Ned Siegel.

The five organizations that benefited were the AIDS Foundation [$5,930, the Bahamas National Network for Positive Living (BNN) [$5,000, Focus on Youth [$5,455], HIV/AIDS Secretariat [$5,000] and Youth Ambassadors for Positive Living [$4,000].

The donation came ahead of World Aids Day which will be commemorated around the globe on December 1st under the theme "Take the Lead… Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise."

"I think that the US Embassy is demonstrating their interests in helping to assist with HIV/AIDS discrimination," said Wellington Adderley, BNN representative.

"The cheques will be used to assist persons living with the disease to be more articulate in addressing a lot of the issues as it relates to HIV/AIDS. These persons will be able to attend workshops, seminars that will help empower them."

Mr. Adderley said the donation will also be used to assist with educating persons about the scourge.

Keith Kemp, representative for Youth Ambassadors for Positive Living shared the same sentiments.

"We feel good about the donation from the U.S. Embassy because it will go a long way," said Mr. Kemp.

"The donation will help to extend the youth ambassadors program into the Family Islands and also to extend educational prevention initiatives into Creole speaking communities. The three Family Islands selected are Abaco, Eleuthera and Grand Bahama."

Young people, ages 15-25, continue to be the biggest group to contract the disease, according to Director of the National AIDS Programme Dr. Perry Gomez.

Within the age group 15-20, the ratio of female to male patients is 2:1. In other age groups the ratio is 1:1, Dr. Gomez said.

"This is why it is important for us to talk with and educate the youth because they are a vulnerable group," he said.

Dr. Gomez listed other vulnerable groups as immigrants and men who have sex with men.

"It is important for you to keep getting the message out there. Sustainability is key and public education requires money," Dr. Gomez said.

The donation comes just after The AIDS Foundation held it’s annual Red Ribbon Ball in which over $50,000 was raised to assist with the purchase of a home for orphaned children living with HIV.

Local statistics show that at the end of June, there were already 155 new infections in The Bahamas.

The fear is that if this trend continues, that figure will exceed 300.

The United Nations has released its latest report on the global HIV prevalence rates.

The latest report shows that HIV prevalence, the percentage of people living with the virus, has leveled off globally and that the number of new infections has fallen, largely as a result of the impact of HIV prevention programmes.

UNAIDS has also revised its estimates of the number of people infected with HIV globally from nearly 40 million to more than 33 million with India accounting for the larger part of the decrease.

But the organization’s Executive Director Dr Peter Piot, said the figures still show that the epidemic is overwhelming and that efforts to fight the scourge must be stepped up.

More than two-thirds (68 percent) of all people infected with HIV live in Sub-Saharan Africa where more than three quarters of all Aids-related deaths occurred in 2007. Nearly 90 percent of all HIV positive children live in sub-Saharan Africa.

The UN also changed its estimate on how long it takes to die of Aids if not treated from 9 years to 11 years.

30 November 2007

November 30, 2007 | 6:02 PM Comments  0 comments
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Bahamas: Sweethearting and the Church in the Bahamian Society
Related to country: Bahamas
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Sweethearting and the CHURCH:
By KARAN MINNIS, Guardian Lifestyles Reporter -
Nassau, Bahamas:



Every country has its faults, and while at this time many persons are focusing upon the biggest of all - crime, it maybe a good time to point out another - sweethearting.

For those who do not know sweethearting is simply when a married man or woman has a sexual relationship with a person who is not their spouse. And it's a problem that has plagued the Bahamas for centuries, separating families and ruining lives. And in the case of Maxine Lockhart (whose name has been changed to protect her privacy) sweethearting has done just that.

Maxine is the mother of four little girls and has been married for 14 years, however she is now a single mother.

"I was a good wife, and I loved my husband. But he was unfaithful to the point that he contracted HIV and now he's gone, leaving me with the burden of raising our four daughters and with the knowledge that he has more children out there in the world."

Admitting that she does not know how many women her husband has cheated on her with, Maxine says that she is thankful that she does not have the virus.

"I loved him and he wasn't always this way," she said. "So I had hope that it would stop. But his ways stopped him. And that's the most troubling part of it all. But I just hope that some man or woman out there will see this and know that their actions can affect a lot of lives in so many ways. Because my husband is gone, my kids are with out a father and I am afraid to trust any man again and I just want to say that for quite a few people this is the end result of adultery.

"I am a Christian woman and I have faith in the Lord but it's hard. It's hard because people know how my husband died and I know people think I have it too or that my kids do. But we don't, but to those who are doing this, sleeping around and stuff, it could happen to you. And we all know that someone that's doing it or whose in the same state as me."

But more importantly says Canon Basil Tynes of St. Barnabas Anglican Parish, located on Baillou Hill and Wulff Roads, it's also a sin that should not be tolerated.

"It is a sin, and it has to be addressed," he said. "Sin is sin and at the end of the day the church has to address it and the church has to be able to challenge its members to realize that it is not the ideal.

"[Sweethearting], it takes away from families, it takes away from family life, it destroys persons. And with so much HIV and AIDS going around and with wives who are investing into the relationship and then their husband comes and infects them, there are so many issues that are related to it. And we, as a church, as a nation, are not dealing with it effectively.

"But the sad part about it is that many times in the church because the culprit has a high position in the church or high offices the pastors don't want to touch them, and that's yet another issue."

But according to Canon Tynes, these pastors should be the ones to advocate change and to step the example.

"These pastors should not avoid these subjects, they should not just gloss over it as they have. That's not right and they know it," he said. "They will jump up and carry on about the homosexual issue but they can't do the same with this. But they can't keep living with this double standard, and they shouldn't. Because this double standard is ruining our community and our lives. It's that simple, we need to stop living by a double standard because this sin just like all others needs to be stopped and dealt with."

And according to Rev. Gary Curry of Evangelistic Temple Assembly of God, 4th Terrace, Collins Ave., his church simply does not accept it.

"This is an issue that we talk about all the time," he said. "We are very much opposed to it and we let our people know that that kind of stuff just isn't biblical and it's shameful. And to be honest we don't like it so we don't play around with it."

Adding that persons that commit this sin are not even allowed to act in leadership roles, Rev. Curry said that when it comes to what the Bible has to say they choose not to take another side.

"In this case, the Bible is very clear and we choose to be that way about the issue as well," he said. "That's what we believe and that's what we practice. And if a person is an official member of our church and we feel that we have the right to deal with the issue on an one on one basis. But if you're not, we'll speak to you if need be or if asked. However, this is something that should not be tolerated as it's not acceptable."

11/29/07

November 29, 2007 | 5:43 PM Comments  0 comments