August 24, 2003 - Independent Online, South Africa: Senator Coleman's 'Aids tour' could make a difference

Peace Corps Online: Peace Corps News: Headlines: Peace Corps Headlines - 2003: August 2003 Peace Corps Headlines: August 24, 2003 - Independent Online, South Africa: Senator Coleman's 'Aids tour' could make a difference

By Admin1 (admin) on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 4:02 pm: Edit Post

Senator Coleman's 'Aids tour' could make a difference





Getting to grips: Senators Norm Coleman, Bill Frist and John Warner talk to an HIV-positive patient at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on the outskirts of Soweto. Photo: Liz Clarke, Sunday Argus


Read and comment on this story from the Independent Online, South Africa about Norm Coleman and other Senators on their nine day trip to Africa where he is visiting South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia to get a first-hand look at effects of AIDS before returning to the United States on August 27.

The Senators heard how more babies could be saved if earlier and more costly treatment interventions were in place, how the few lucky enough to receive treatment had shown an 85% compliance with limited side effects, and how 20 times as many people could be treated if the process were scaled up. This is information the Senators will take back to President George Bush, who is looking at the South African visit with "enormous and keen" interest.

While on the trip, Senator Coleman plans to meet with Peace Corps volunteers in the region. In addition to over 2,100 Peace Corps volunteers currently working on HIV/AIDS projects, the Peace Corps has committed to an additional 1,000 volunteers to fight HIV/AIDS as part of legislation signed into law on May 27 by President Bush. "In the end, the goal is to make a difference," said Senator Coleman. Read the story at:


American 'Aids tour' could make a difference*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



American 'Aids tour' could make a difference

August 24 2003 at 10:55AM
By Liz Clarke

We never knew her real name, nor did we need to. Her message was clear, powerful, an anguished cry from the heart that echoed not only her own deep-seated pain in fighting HIV/Aids, but that of a nation that has waited too long for help.

Senator Bill Frist, kingpin in the four-country Africa mission to ensure that $15-billion in American Aids relief money is used effectively, described it as "one of the most deeply moving moments" in his life.

Crammed into a corner of a medical ward at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on the outskirts of Soweto, the leader of the US senate majority said he felt "humbled" by what he had heard. "I listened to this young mother. I saw her tears and the fear in her eyes. To see and hear these things first hand is something one can never forget."

Although on anti-retrovirals, paid for out of her limited earnings, the mother said she was "praying" that assistance was near. "I have a beautiful nine-year-old child. I want to see him grow up. I want to love and care for him."

'I saw her tears and the fear in her eyes'

For the six senators, and their entourage of American senate delegates this was a historic occasion, a first for many of them as they came face to face with the cutting edge pressures experienced by those infected and affected by the disease and those who work toalleviate their suffering.

The Gauteng experience, which could signal a fast-track funding lifeline for South Africa and 14 Aids-ravaged countries, began at the Chris Hani Baragwanath

Hospital, the largest hospital in the world with 3 000 beds, occupied in the main by those with Aids-related infections.

Setting the scene, Professor James McIntyre, director of peri-natal research, and hospital staff described the work they were doing in such areas as the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, voluntary counselling and testing, and the establishment of a wellness clinic.

The delegates heard how more babies could be saved if earlier and more costly treatment interventions were in place, how the few lucky enough to receive treatment had shown an 85% compliance with limited side effects, and how 20 times as many people could be treated if the process were scaled up.

According to Dr Joseph O'Neill, a key member of the senate delegation and the Global Aids co-ordinator at the US Department of State, it was the sort of information that the senators needed to take back to President George Bush, who is looking at the South African visit with "enormous and keen" interest.

Busing through the sprawling areas of Soweto, the senators listened enthralled by the minutiae of this swathe of life - twice as many inhabitants as Botswana, 60% have electricity, 100 percent have radios, 80 percent have televisions, 30 percent cellphones, and all have clean drinking water.

The next stop was the Salvation Army's Carl Sithole Centre in Soweto for vulnerable children, a linking care and treatment facility for Chris Hani Baragwanath.

Here the senators learnt of the outreach programmes that bring assistance and care to abused and abandoned children, and how such programmes could be expanded with resources and funding.

And if pulling power was needed, the children provided it as senators joined in singing a selection of popular nursery rhymes.

But the spectre of Aids remains a shadow even in a child's world.

Beneath a tree is a marble shrine which remembers the children who have not made it. A glint of winter sunshine glistens on the top name, baby "Peace" Khotso who died aged two.

As Senator Mike Enzi, who fills a dual role as a United Nations delegate, put it: "Words capture a thousand pictures, but pictures like these need no words."

The mechanisms required for rolling out anti-retroviral treatment for the thousands who currently need it in South Africa are, in Frist's words, "the key questions".

It was now the turn of Anglo American to provide the visitors with some of the answers they needed. Flanked by the gold mine workings at Carltonville, the great mountains of dust and stone and the tall structures of mine shafts, senators were welcomed to the Western Deep Levels Hospital for a first-hand view of a facility that is providing a pioneering anti-retroviral treatment programme for all its staff.

But it was in the Anglo Boardroom that the real core issues of Aids funding were spelt out, of what can and what cannot be done, how it should be done, and who should do it. There are no short cuts, no pulling of punches from either side.

"Anti-retrovirals have madepeople well and put them back to work," says Anglo's Dr Gavin Churchyard.

But the truth is that the process is time-consuming and labour intensive.

However Anglo believes that its standardised model of care and treatment and experience in issues surrounding migrant families could be expanded and adapted to any given setting.

The senators said they were "impressed" with what they had heard and felt there was honesty "on both sides" of the table.

But if there were to be decisions on the way forward, this was not the time to state them.

"We have taken note of everything we have seen and heard and it will go before the senate in two weeks' time," said Frist.

The six senators on the Africa mission are Bill Frist, senate majority leader John Warner, chairman of the armed services committee Mike DeWine, member of the intelligence committee and appropriation committee Mike Enzi, member of the foreign relations committee Norm Coleman, and member of the foreign relations committee and chairman of the sub committee on African affairs Lamar Alexander. - Independent News Network
August 19, 2003 - Senator Coleman to get a first-hand look at effects of AIDS, meet with Peace Corps Volunteers in Africa





Read and comment on this story from the Star Tribune on August 19, 2003 on Senator Norm Coleman, the new chair of the Senate subcommittee that oversees the Peace Corps, and his nine day trip to Africa where he will visit South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia to get a first-hand look at effects of AIDS before returning to the United States on August 27. In January, on his first day in office, Coleman said he would make the international AIDS crisis a priority:
"You kind of pick your places where you think you can make a difference in the Senate," Coleman said Monday. "And this is one area where, for a range of reasons, I'd like to make a difference in the world. So this trip, from the very beginning, was very important to me."
While on the trip, Senator Coleman plans to meet with Peace Corps volunteers in the region. In addition to over 2,100 Peace Corps volunteers currently working on HIV/AIDS projects, the Peace Corps has committed to an additional 1,000 volunteers to fight HIV/AIDS as part of legislation signed into law on May 27 by President Bush. "In the end, the goal is to make a difference," said Senator Coleman. That's why the Peace Corps is there too - "to make a difference." Read the story at:

Coleman leaves today for Africa on AIDS fact-finding trip*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



Coleman leaves today for Africa on AIDS fact-finding trip

Rob Hotakainen, Star Tribune Washington Bureau Correspondent

Published August 19, 2003

COLE19

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sen. Norm Coleman is scheduled to leave today for a nine-day trip to Africa, accompanied by his wife, Laurie, and five other senators and their wives.

The Minnesota Republican will depart from Andrews Air Force Base and make his first stop in South Africa. The group then is to travel to Mozambique, Botswana and Namibia before returning to the United States on Aug. 27.

In January, on his first day in office, Coleman said he would make the international AIDS crisis a priority.

"You kind of pick your places where you think you can make a difference in the Senate," Coleman said Monday. "And this is one area where, for a range of reasons, I'd like to make a difference in the world. So this trip, from the very beginning, was very important to me."

A member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Coleman said he wants to get a first-hand look at the effects of AIDS, which kills 8,000 people a day.

Coleman said he also plans to meet with Peace Corps volunteers in the region. He will be accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Republicans Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Mike Enzi of Wyoming and John Warner of Virginia.

The delegation plans to meet with political leaders and to tour the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Soweto, South Africa, the Salvation Army HIV orphanage in Soweto, the Bernard Noordkamp Catholic AIDS Action Center in Windhoek, Namibia, and the St. Mary's Hospital Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission in Windhoek.

Coleman said that Frist, a heart surgeon, who has been to Africa before, told him that the trip will "change the way you look at the world." He said he hopes to become "one of the point people in the U.S. Senate and the world on this issue."

"In the end, the goal is to make a difference," he said.

Rob Hotakainen is at rhotakainen@mcclatchydc.com.



May 27, 2003 - Peace Corps Commits 1,000 Additional Volunteers as part of Global AIDS Relief Package





Read and comment on this Peace Corps Press Release on May 27, 2003 that the Peace Corps has committed to an additional 1,000 volunteers to fight HIV/AIDS as part of legislation signed into law today by President Bush at:

Peace Corps Commits 1,000 Additional Volunteers as part of Global AIDS Relief Package*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



Peace Corps Commits 1,000 Additional Volunteers as part of Global AIDS Relief Package

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 27, 2003 - In addition to over 2,100 Peace Corps volunteers currently working on HIV/AIDS projects, the Peace Corps committed to an additional 1,000 volunteers to fight HIV/AIDS as part of legislation signed into law today by President Bush. The new law, H.R. 1298, the U.S. Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Act of 2003, will direct $15 billion over the next five years to fight HIV/AIDS abroad, focusing on 14 African and Caribbean countries where HIV/AIDS is heavily concentrated.

President Bush signed the bipartisan legislation into law today during a ceremony at the Department of State and recognized Peace Corps volunteers for their work abroad. The President received multiple standing ovations as he addressed the audience and stated that he viewed fighting HIV/AIDS as a “moral duty.”

“Peace Corps volunteers are making an impact at the local level, and by committing an additional 1,000 volunteers, Peace Corps will be able to enhance a number of programs and expand HIV/AIDS projects in current Peace Corps countries. The expansion includes additional volunteers working in targeted African countries, as well as those in the Caribbean. Also, more educational material, written in local languages, will be developed for volunteers to use in their communities,” stated Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez.

Peace Corps currently has more than 2,100 volunteers working on HIV/AIDS activities. Peace Corps programs in two countries, Botswana and Swaziland, are devoted entirely to the pandemic. In addition, Peace Corps is exploring partnerships with other Federal agencies in order to further expand its efforts as part of the President’s initiative.

The Crisis Corps program, in which former Peace Corps volunteers return to service for a limited period, will also commit volunteers to fight the disease. These volunteers will lend their expertise to non-governmental organizations and government agencies worldwide for assignments of up to six months. The Peace Corps will enhance the capability of volunteers and their communities to obtain and exchange information about the latest innovations in public health education, behavior change, and delivery of services to people living with HIV/AIDS through the use of information communication technology.

Since 1961, more than 168,000 volunteers have served in the Peace Corps, working in such diverse fields as education, health and HIV/AIDS education and awareness, information technology, business development, the environment, and agriculture. Peace Corps Volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a two-year commitment.



July 15, 2003 - Senator Coleman pushes for Peace Corps funding increase





Read and comment on this story from the Kansas City Star on July 15, 2003 that Senator Norm Coleman, chair of the Senate Subcommittee that oversees the Peace Corps, is urging his colleagues to approve President Bush's request for $359 million request for next year. Coleman said he would make a public pitch Tuesday in a speech at the Peace Corps headquarters. RPCVs need to read the story and call their Senators and Representatives to support this appropriation. Thanks to Senator Coleman for leading the fight. Read the story at:

Coleman pushes for Peace Corps funding increase*

* This link was active on the date it was posted. PCOL is not responsible for broken links which may have changed.



Coleman pushes for Peace Corps funding increase

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Sen. Norm Coleman urged his colleagues to approve President Bush's request for increased funding for the Peace Corps.

In a recent letter to Sen. Mitch McConnell, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations, Coleman said he supported Bush's $359 million request for next year, a 13 percent increase.

Coleman, R-Minn., said he would make a public pitch Tuesday in a speech at the Peace Corps headquarters. He chairs the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Peace Corps and Narcotic Affairs.

"According to many U.S. diplomats and host country officials, the Peace Corps is the most effective and cost efficient U.S. agency working at the local, grassroots development level," Coleman wrote in the letter to McConnell, R-Ky.

Bush has said he wants to double the number of volunteers in the Peace Corps over the next five years, to 14,000.




Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL

8/17/03
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By AllisonTyndall (24-177-168-205.dhcp.mrqt.mi.charter.com - 24.177.168.205) on Tuesday, August 30, 2005 - 10:53 am: Edit Post

Hello, my name is Allison and I do not understand why no one is trying to help me HELP OTHERS! I have about 50-60lbs of brand name clothes that I really want to donate to the Carl Sithole Center in South Africa and no has any information to help me. Please can someone help me DONATE?! if so please email me at alliesattic6@yahoo.com
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP!


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