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A message from Erline Belton, Chair
Board of Directors
The Balm In Gilead, Inc.
 Greetings
to our global village!
The AIDS pandemic has created a state of emergency throughout our planet. At
this time in our history, the most devastating impact of this global crisis is
in communities throughout the African Diaspora. Over 20 million Africans are living
with HIV with very little means of support, care and treatment. The beautiful
beaches of the Caribbean Islands is the landscape of people who have the second
highest rate of infection in the world, second only to Sub-Saharan Africa. Here
in the United States, one in every 50 African American men are living with HIV,
while one in every 160 African American women are infected with the virus that
causes AIDS.
The Balm In Gilead's response to this crisis is a relentless commitment to
build the capacity of every church community to become engaged in effectively
fighting the disease of AIDS and its tremendous impact on our communities.
From the building of the pyramids to the present space station orbiting the
earth, the contribution of African people continues to be invaluable to the existence
of humankind on this planet. Our faith communities have been at the center of
every accomplishment and struggle of our people throughout our history on earth.
The historical role of faith communities in the lives of our people must be present
and stronger in this urgent crisis of the AIDS pandemic. It is now our responsibility
to continue a legacy established long ago by our people, which is to generate
extraordinary greatness in the midst of darkness and despair by engaging our hearts
and minds compassionately in our will to survive.
The essential role of every faith community in addressing HIV must be to dismantle
the stigma of AIDS and to LOVE unconditionally as it is written in ancient scriptures
of which we pledge our devotion. The success of our fight against AIDS whether
in research, voluntary testing and counseling, or HIV prevention interventions,
will greatly depend on our success in building the capacity of faith communities
to deliver services to the people they serve. As such, we must ensure that faith
organizations are supported in everyway to get this tremendous job done.
The Balm In Gilead's website is an invitation to donors, business partners,
political leaders, friends, family and members of communities of faith to discuss
and to learn how we can collectively stop the spread of AIDS and its impact by
supporting faith communities to fight this pandemic in their communities.
On behalf of the Board of Directors and Staff of The Balm In Gilead, I wish
for you the peaceful, calm and yet untamed, raging courage of the seas to do all
that you can to stop AIDS. Thank you for caring enough to be of service.
With compassion and love,
Erline Belton
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