FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 2, 2003
In August, six young Canadians departed for Rwanda and Botswana as part of a six-month international work internship with the Coady International Institute. While trying to understand the pervasive affects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the lives of millions of Africans, these interns are offering their diverse skills in health, education and capacity-building to communities devastated by this tragic disease.
Katherine Breen, Meghan Cox, Hillary Hall, Danielle Koyama, Matt MacDonald, and Nicole Leblanc are among 10 recent university and college graduates from Canada taking part in the Coady Institute's International Youth Internship Program. As part of this program, interns gain first-hand experience working with one of the Coady Institute's overseas partners in countries such as Peru, Ghana, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, and the Philippines.
While working in Rwanda and Botswana the Xtending Hope interns are helping to build and strengthen the capacities of organizations working on HIV/AIDS, fostering a deeper understanding among Canadians of the impact of crisis, and identifying ways in which people can help. In 2002, St. Francis Xavier University responded to a plea for help from Stephen Lewis, United Nations Special Envoy on AIDS in Africa by creating the Xtending Hope Partnership. Since its onset, 16 interns have travelled to Rwanda and Botswana to support institutions and organizations sorely lacking human resources.
While in Botswana, St. Francis Xavier University graduate Nicole Leblanc is helping her host organization, Ghetto Artists - a community-based youth led organization - develop a long-term plan to continue its work educating the public about HIV/AIDS through song, theatre, poetry, traditional dance and storytelling. Leblanc is also helping organize the Dzalobana Bosele Arts Festival which aims to entertain, educate and empower youth about issues surrounding HIV/AIDS.
As the slogan for Ghetto Artists says, 'The Spirit is High!'
"I am inspired by the spirit, enthusiasm and dedication that these youth display," says Leblanc, who is currently living with the family of a Ghetto Artist member. "They are an amazing group of individuals who saw a need, and are now taking the lead to fight against this pandemic."
Also working in Botswana is 28-year-old Danielle Koyama, a native of Scarborough, ON, and graduate of York University and Wilfred Laurier University. Koyama is working with the Coping Centre for People Living with HIV/AIDS, a community-based organization which mobilizes infected, and affected people, to become more involved in awareness, prevention and care initiatives. While at COCEPWA she will be spending a considerable amount of her time on program and organizational development at the organization's branch in Serowe.
"This internship has already shown me that the issue of HIV/AIDS is far more complicated than condoms," says Koyama, describing the challenge faced by organizations like COCEPWA. "There are major social issues that have a huge impact on the struggle against HIV/AIDS. Poverty, access to health services, and gender inequality are all issues that need to be addressed in this struggle."
With a population of about seven million, Botswana is among the African countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS. There are over 65,000 orphans under the age of 15, with 90 per cent of the children having lost parents to HIV/AIDS. Among adults the infection rate is approaching 40 per cent; almost two out of every five people is HIV positive. While Rwanda is now experiencing its strongest economic growth in 10 years, health conditions continue to be poor. It's estimated that 13% of Rwanda's seven million people are currently infected by AIDS.
Working in Kigali, Rwanda are 25-year-old McGill University graduate, Meghan Cox, 25-year-old Scarborough, ON, native Hillary Hall and 22-year-old St. Thomas University graduate Katherine Breen. Cox is working for the National Youth Council of Rwanda developing preventative programs to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS, while Hall is working with the Association Rwandise Pour Le Bien-Etre Familial, an organization dedicated to promoting awareness and providing sexual and reproductive health services. Breen is assisting her host organization, the NGO Forum on HIV/AIDS, develop funding proposals. From networks of people living with HIV/AIDS to peer education and student groups, the NGO Forum encompasses nearly every sector in the fight against AIDS in Rwanda.
Cox's work focuses mostly on designing programs to confront the disease on all levels of society, from national campaigns to life skills education in local classrooms.
"The most memorable experience for me so far has been dancing among young, enthusiastic children at a youth cultural festival. As we danced to a song which advocates for the unity of Rwanda and the possibility of a future free from HIV/AIDS, I could see the optimism and sense of potential in their eyes," says Cox. "I've seen so many signs of hope."
Hall is helping to plan the launch of Project Vision 2000, an initiative promoting and providing family planning services and medicine for the treatment of opportunistic infections for HIV positive patients.
In Gaborone, Botswana St. Francis Xavier University and University of Ottawa graduate, Matthew MacDonald, is working with the Youth Health Organization where he's concentrating on youth-led, youth-run programs that help promote the prevention of HIV/AIDS.
MacDonald's currently planning a series of Sports Days as part of an upcoming national arts festival that uses entertainment to educate and empower youth affected by HIV/AIDS.
"During the planning meetings for the upcoming nationwide HIV/AIDS Prevention Arts Festival, the Batswana youth continue to maintain high spirits. Often during the meetings, one member would shout, 'Seboza!', meaning together. The rest of the group would respond by saying, 'Remego!,' meaning united. We marched forward - together, united."
The Coady International Institute has been offering the highly successful International Youth Internship Program since 1997. To date, 87 interns have been sent to countries around the globe. The program, which is administered by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), receives funding from Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC).
Dedicated to education, innovation and action, the Coady International Institute has been promoting community self-reliance since it began educating leaders form around the world in 1959.
For more information, contact:
| Krista Hall | Phone: | 902.867.3648 |
| Communications Officer | Fax:; | 902.867.3907 |
| Coady International Institute | E-mail: | khall@stfx.ca |
Photos can be accessed electronically by making a request with the contact provided above.