By Trudy Simpson, Staff ReporterDARE TO Care, a hospice for children living with HIV and AIDS, yesterday got more than US$2,500 in donations from the Jamaican community in Washington DC in the United States.
The money came from a collection drive carried out by the Washington community earlier this year and was given to Father Gregory Ramkissoon, head of charity organisation, Mustard Seed Communities which runs the home, during yesterday's ceremony to bless and dedicate Mustard Seed's second home for children with AIDS, Matthew 25:40. The ceremony coincided with World AIDS Day.
Matthew 25:40 represents hope and home for the seven girls and five boys, some of whom were rejected by their families or orphaned by the loss of their parents and guardians to AIDS.
INITIATIVES
Since opening its doors with two children on December 2, 2002, the home has launched a number of initiatives to help nurture the children and take care of needs which range from toiletries to education.
But as it marks its first anniversary today, Matthew 25:40 is asking for more help from the public to continue to meet the needs of these children, who are aged between three months and 15-years-old.
They are calling on the public and Corporate Jamaica to help the Home meet its expenses through sponsorship.
At least six of the children need anti-retroviral (HIV-fighting) drugs to help them remain alive. The drugs needed cost an estimated $80,000 per month, officials said.
Jamaica can help by sponsoring breakfast for one month, a cost of $10,000; sponsoring lunch for a month ($5000); dinner for the same period ($14,000); electricity ($5,000) and water ($2,500). Matthew 25:40 also needs a corporate organisation to sponsor the salary for at least one caregiver for a month at a cost of $18,000.
"We are also in desperate need of pampers, food items, fresh meat, fruits and vegetables, toiletries, toothpaste, medication...all the things children need," said administrator, Michelle Graham-Shines yesterday. She added the home needs help to get medication to fight opportunistic infections that strike as a result of the children's weakening immune system.
LOT OF PRESCRIPTIONS
"Whenever they go to the doctor, I get worried because they will get a lot of prescriptions. Something is always happening. They are children with AIDS and sometimes you get a child with a prescription for six or seven items. Sometimes I have to decide or call the doctor to ask which one is more important," she said.
She added any help would be welcomed by the home, which has to pay staff, including six caregivers, among them practical nurses as well as a teacher who works at the home's small school. The school, which has classes four days per week, was set up after the children were refused admittance to regular schools.
"I called around to get schools for them and basically once I told an official they had AIDS, I was told there wasn't any space so I have a trained teacher who works with them in a little room we use as a classroom," explained Mrs Graham-Shines.
(Companies and persons wishing to contribute should call Mustard Seed Communities at 967-1821.)
