~ Aims to raise US $100,000 ~
PHILIPSBURG--Scotiabank launched its Sixth Annual Stronger Together Red Ribbon campaign on Wednesday with the goal of raising US $100,000 by the end of the campaign.
Scotiabank Country Manager Elie Bendaly announced during the launching ceremony that General Motors in collaboration with F.W. Vlaun and Son had donated a vehicle to be raffled as part of the package of events to raise money for AIDS awareness. Proceeds will go to St. Maarten AIDS Foundation.
The St. Maarten Rotary Club and Bendaly on behalf of Scotiabank were the first to donate to the Red Ribbon Campaign. Scotiabank donated US $5,000 and Rotary $3,825.
Bendaly said that while the goal set for this year would not be easy to achieve, he was confident that St Maarteners would continue to support the cause generously, as they understood that HIV/AIDS "is a problem that affects the entire community."
He reflected on the first campaign in September 2006 when the goal was US $15,000. He recalled the challenge issued at the time for more to be raised and said they had been able to raise more every year.
"Every year we have set our goal higher and every year we have met and surpassed it. When we began to think about last year's target, I suggested to Dr. Van Osch that we double our goal to $100,000. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ... After additional dialogue with him and the entire team we agreed to the $100,000 goal, developed an action plan and set to work once again."
Alluding to the theme for World AIDS Day this year "On the road to zero," St. Maarten AIDS Foundation President Dr. Gerard van Osch said the theme related not to the amount of money envisioned to be raised this year, but to the vision for the world, the region, the community.
"A world without new infections, those in need of care and treatment accessing that without restrictions, a world where stigma and discrimination against those living with HIV/AIDS has fully disappeared and, just as some generations ago who planned for a world without smallpox, a world without HIV or AIDS," he said.
"If you would have asked me this about five years ago I would have been quite sceptical for such a high-reaching goal, but today with developments in prevention, improvements in treatment and a growing acceptance that HIV is just another disease and those living with it are all equal to us and deserving of optimal care in a non-discriminatory way, I can actually say that indeed this zero goal is attainable ? if not in my lifetime most certainly in the next one or two generations to come.
"A tremendous amount of work has been done worldwide and also here in our community over the past two decades."
He said much had been done not in the spotlight, but behind the scenes, and some of the effects gradually were becoming visible.
He continued: "Although ignorance, stigma and discrimination are still quite present, some of it is also related to self-stigma and the need for persons living with HIV to feel and understand that the world around them is indeed changing in a positive direction. It's not happening overnight and we often wish it would change faster, but looking back and observing the present I certainly see many changes for the better."
He said a small stabilisation in new HIV confirmed diagnoses had been seen on the island over the past two years. However, he said, "because we live in a small society and the numbers are therefore relatively small (albeit large in proportion to our community), minor changes in small numbers have a major impact either way."
Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams commended the team that fuels the campaign. She said that while this team provided the drive and motivation, it was the people of St. Maarten who collectively helped to raise the funds to help fight HIV/AIDS. She said government had always been supportive of the campaign and the government of Country St. Maarten would continue to back it "in spirit and I hope in support as well."
St. Maarten's HIV/AIDS Programme manager Suzette Moses-Burton said, "If we continue to focus on the negatives we might not be willing to see the positives.
And I mean this in every way possible. The danger, however, in seeing the positive changes, especially in a time when money is becoming a scarce commodity and economies are threatened, is that we become complacent. We think the problem is not all that big anymore, so maybe focus on something else."
She said that as someone working in this field for more than 20 years, she was aware that all the achievements of the past years were still extremely fragile and could be annihilated in the blink of one ignorant moment. "Therefore, we can't permit ourselves to sit back and think we're doing a pretty decent job, because much needs to change still ... and much needs to be done to make that happen."
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