Rwanda's Dream Village Helps Moms with Love and Nutrition

Recent AHF Fund grant recipient Dream Village in Rwanda works to improve the well-being of more than 600 teen mothers living with HIV by providing nutritional guidance and support across 12 health facilities.

AHF established the AHF Fund in 2012 to address the insufficient funding for smaller HIV/AIDS community service organizations globally, prioritizing those demonstrating leadership potential and strategic partnerships in the global AIDS fight, while also funding scalable and innovative projects.

Program participants at Rwanda's Kinyinya Health Centre receive nutritious food and information to help them stay healthy and on treatment.

“We were proud to partner with and support Dream Village since their mission aligns closely with AHF’s – particularly fighting food insecurity and ensuring young mothers know their status, start and remain adherent to treatment, and keep their babies safe from contracting HIV,” said AHF Fund Manager Sandra Cisneros. “In addition to counseling, home and clinic visits, and support groups, Dream Village helps the young moms by providing program participants with fresh, nutritious food from local markets, which is vital for helping them stay on lifesaving treatment.”

With HIV/AIDS affecting young African women disproportionately, information from Dream Village counselors is vital to helping new mothers living with HIV.

Dream Village's program collaborates with the Ministry of Health, through the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, and AHF Rwanda to ensure accountability, quality service, care, and treatment for all HIV positive teen mothers.

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AHF Honors and Remembers Heroic AIDS Activist Hydeia Broadbent

AHF mourned the death of lifelong U.S. AIDS activist Hydeia Broadbent, who passed away in her sleep on Feb. 20 at the age of 39. Broadbent, who was HIV-positive since birth, first came to national prominence in 1996 when she appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and other national news and talk programs at the age of 11 to talk about her life living with AIDS.

Broadbent, HIV-positive since birth, partnered with AHF on several AIDS advocacy and awareness campaigns.

Broadbent continued her fierce and outspoken advocacy throughout her youth and adulthood. Over the years, she partnered with AHF on several AIDS advocacy and awareness campaigns, including riding on AHF’s award-winning 2013 Tournament of Roses parade float titled “The Global Face of AIDS,” on which she represented people living with HIV/AIDS in North America. Broadbent also appeared in AHF’s “God Loves Me” billboard campaign, featuring people living with HIV and the simple but profound tagline.

Broadbent speaks at AHF's third community forum at the Holman United Methodist Church in Los Angeles in 2014 as part of the '"AIDS is a Civil Rights Issue" campaign.

Other AHF initiatives Broadbent supported include cutting the ribbon at the opening ceremony at AHF's first Las Vegas, Nevada Healthcare Center and joining fellow U.S. activists Rev. Al Sharpton, AHF Board Domestic Vice Chair Cynthia Davis, and former AHF Board Member Gabriel Maldonado to speak on a panel in Alabama at Selma University for “AIDS is a Civil Rights Issue: An Evening of Action.”

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Filipino Youth Empowered to Combat HIV and Teen Pregnancies

More than 200 students in Naga City, Philippines, gathered to receive critical comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) from AHF with partner Social Hygiene Clinic of Naga last month to reverse the disturbing rise in new HIV cases and teen pregnancies in the city.

AHF and the Social Hygiene Clinic of Naga provide CSE, condoms, lubricants, and HIV/STI prevention and screening to students at a local high school.

"We must start educating young people on CSE, including HIV and other STIs and teenage pregnancy, before their sexual debut so they can use the information they gain to protect themselves from preventable sexually transmitted infections and the harsh consequences of unplanned pregnancy,” said Grace E. Guevara, Chief Medical Technologist of the Naga City Social Hygiene Clinic.

Future plans for this partnership include collaborating with midwives and local officials, aiming to reach over 5,000 sexually active women and girls across 27 districts.

Naga City has seen a nearly 33% increase in HIV cases over the past year and a nearly 13% increase in teenage pregnancies. This worrying trend reveals the gap in CSE for youth that leads to health and economic risks, especially for young women.

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Affordable Housing: A Commodity or a Necessity?

An op-ed authored by AHF President Michael Weinstein and recently published in CityWatch Los Angeles – an opinion, news, and information website and newsletter.

We all know that shelter is one of the most basic necessities of life. Our very survival is at risk when we have nowhere to live. Six homeless people die on the streets of Los Angeles every day.

Image credit: CityWatch Los Angeles

However, the system by which people obtain housing treats it as a commodity on the open market based on whatever the traffic will bear. The market works efficiently for many things, such as cell phones or televisions. A manufacturer will produce a cheaper cell phone to satisfy a lower-income market because there is an unlimited ability to produce more cell phones or TVs. The people with money will pay up for the fancier versions. 

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