CHARLESTOWN NEVIS, ( February 4, 2009) -- The Nevis HIV/AIDS Coordinating Unit in the Ministry of Health has commenced it programmes for 2009. Education and Prevention Officer, Mrs. Nadine Carty-Caines disclosed some of the activities that could be expected for the first quarter of the year. She said a benefit sacred recital at 7:00 pm on Friday February 7, 2009 will kick off r programmes at the Charlestown Methodist Church.
Professional tenor and doctorial student in musical arts, vocal performance and pedagogy at the University of Southern Mississippi, Byron Gordon Johnson, will be accompanied by an instructor of piano and staff accompanist from the University of Mobil, Alabama, Christopher Lovely. Local soprano singer, Mrs. Raymonde Rohan-Mooven would also be a featured singer at the concert.
Mrs. Carty-Caines said the Pre-Valentines Day event would be in aid of HIV response programmes in Nevis and she urged Nevisians to support the recital.
“We are just asking for a love donation of $20. It’s not just a concert; it’s a benefit concert for the HIV/AIDS response in Nevis. Like the bus campaign, we need to be able to sustain ourselves regardless of whether we have donors and sponsors, we should be able to tap into our local response from business and organizations.”
“I encourage everybody to take part because it’s not just the HIV/AIDS Unit, it’s about everyone’s involvement in the cause. It’s making sure that our numbers stay low, that we stay informed and we are able to do that by sustaining ourselves and coming up with an innovative way of being responsive to the pandemic,” Mrs. Carty-Caines said.
Another event the Unit is looking forward to hosting again this year is the “Ride the Bus” campaign. Mrs. Caines said officers from the HIV/AIDS Co-ordinating Unit wouldl engage passengers for two days
“For Valentine’s Day we have the “Ride The Bus” programme again and it would be for two days on February 13th and 14th .
“We are encouraging persons to ride the bus. It’s Valentines Day so you have to share love in a safe manner. We will pay your fare and you listen to the information about HIV and also how to share love,” she said.
The “Ride the Bus” campaign would be conducted during the peak hours of the morning and afternoons on both days. Passengers travelling from Charlestown en route to Zion via Gingerland and those heading to Newcastle ending at Butlers will have the opportunity to participate in the event.
Under the HIV/AIDS Coordinating Unit training and staff development program, Mrs. Carty-Caines said that Surveillance Officer, Miss Shana Howell was in Dominica where she is benefitting from training in Surveillance Data Collection. She said the training would enable the officer to collect, analyse and put data into different software’s which will generate reports to feed into the government’s national response. She said the one-month attachment which ends on February 13, 2009 is sponsored by the Global Fund and the Ministry of Health.
“We also had an education policy and development workshop in St. Kitts recently. It was mainly under the Ministry of Education. The HIV/AIDS Unit was invited along with persons from the Education Department and other stakeholders who gave their input as to what the policy and strategic plan should entail.
“That’s another policy that we are trying to work on because the response from the education sector needs to be scaled up. We need to have a comprehensive plan not just for education but it also needs to feed into the national plan for St. Kitts Nevis HIV response,” Mrs. Carty Caines said.
Two professionals under UNAIDS programme Ms. Connie Constantine and Ms.Arlene Husbands facilitated the workshop which was a collaborative effort sponsored by UNESCO and the Ministry of Education of St. Kitts and Nevis.
