| | "Keep the Light On" Project Helps Guyanese Woman Turn Her Life Around
Evan grew up on the small island of Wakenaam in Guyana's largest river, the Essequibo. Her family was poor and her father's alcoholism, which often led to both physical and verbal abuse towards Evan and her mother, made her living situation unbearable. At the age of 19, Evan eloped to escape her life at home, but she quickly found herself in a similar situation when her husband's abusive, alcoholic and womanizing ways surfaced. Evan bore four sons during their 14 years of marriage. But those 14 years were too much for her. After years of abuse, Evan could no longer handle the burden, so she left her husband and children for a life of commercial sex work and alcoholism. Her drinking habit and new work life left Evan uneasy and unhappy. But this would change. Evan was invited by individuals working with commercial sex workers in her area to attend a workshop on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention supported by the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). Evan attended the seminar and found the visit to be both compelling and profound. Evan was an active and engaging participant at the workshop and was soon approached to become a Peer Educator for the PEPFAR-supported "Keep the Light On" project. The project is aimed at building the capacity of commercial sex workers to provide HIV/ AIDS education to their peers and to teach them safer sexual practices. [more] |
Public-Private Partnership Targets Russian Youth | 
A public-private partnership between the U.S. Government, HealthRight International and Johnson & Johnson was announced recently to prevent the spread of HIV and increase access to treatment and care among street children and other vulnerable youth in St. Petersburg, Russia. This newly-launched partnership builds on a previous collaboration between the U.S. Government and Johnson & Johnson, which established the first municipal drop-in center for street children and HIV-positive youth in the city. Over the past decade, Russia has experienced one of the fastest growing HIV/AIDS epidemics in the world. There are an estimated 10,000 street children and youth in St. Petersburg, many of whom struggle with substance abuse and other behaviors that increase their risk for HIV/AIDS. Studies have shown that this group in particular has high rates of HIV infection, as well as access to clinical treatment and care. The U.S. Government, Johnson & Johnson, HealthRight International and its local partner, Doctors to Children, will reach 500 vulnerable youth in St. Petersburg with HIV prevention messages and a broad continuum of services, including mobile voluntary testing and referrals to treatment and care. The project will also develop a cadre of social workers trained in HIV prevention among street youth, and disseminate a package of HIV prevention best practices to government institutions and non-governmental organizations across the city. [more] |
Engaging People Living with HIV/AIDS in Haiti's Community-based Economic Growth | 
In Haiti, the United States Government, through the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, has teamed up with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to support community-based economic growth. PREPEP (Programme de Revitalisation et de Promotion de l'Entente et de la Paix), a short-term job creation project supported by IOM, promotes development in six "hot spots" throughout Haiti, focusing on projects in the areas of agriculture, education, environment, and health and infrastructure rehabilitation. Eager to involve people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in these activities, IOM partnered with PEPFAR to identify local organizations of PLWHA and to offer employment to their members. Each PREPEP project incorporates HIV prevention, sensitization and education messages, focusing on both the PLWHA and other Haitians working alongside one another. To date, PEPFAR has supported 29 projects - creating nearly 2,000 jobs. [more] |
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