On Wednesday, May 8, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires John Dinkelman presented awards totaling $14,000 to community organizations in The Bahamas who submitted winning proposals for the 2013 PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) Small Grants Program. Mrs. Hyacinth Pratt, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health and Mr. Herbert Brown, Managing Director, Public Hospitals Authority were among the invited guests at the ceremony held at the U.S. Embassy’s Ship Ahoy residence.
The 2013 PEPFAR grant recipients included:
- One Eleuthera Foundation, to fund an HIV/AIDS awareness art contest at high schools on Eleuthera.
- Haitian Organization for the Prevention of HIV/AIDS & STDs (HOPHAS), to conduct the first PEPFAR funded outreach to the Haitian communities on Abaco and Eleuthera.
- The Red Rose Ball Committee and the Jaspora Media Group, to cover a joint project to serve the Haitian community in Grand Bahama.
- The Junkanoo Fun Group (New Group), who will participate in a Junkanoo Rush Out to promote HIV/AIDS awareness during The Bahamas’ 40th Independence Day parade.
The PEPFAR Small Grants Program provides U.S. government funding to NGOs, schools and community organizations in The Bahamas that are committed to promoting prevention activities focused on reducing the spread of HIV, reducing AIDS related stigma and discrimination, and encouraging the local community to cooperate in fighting the epidemic. The program targets the most at-risk populations and persons engaging in high risk behavior. Since 2009, the U.S. Embassy has provided over $118,000 in PEPFAR grant funding to Bahamian organizations targeting at-risk groups on New Providence, Grand Bahama, and the Family Islands.
