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For Immediate Release
Contact: Teresa Lyles Holmes
Email: tholmes@balmingilead.org
Phone: 212-730-7381
THE BALM IN GILEAD TO HOST HISTORICAL
AFRICAN DIASPORA FAITH LEADERS HIV/AIDS SUMMIT
African Diaspora HIV/AIDS Summit for Faith Leaders January 16-20, 2002
(NEW YORK, NY) - January
15, 2002. . . More than 60 religious leaders from Africa, the Caribbean and the
United States are attending the first African Diaspora HIV/AIDS Summit this week
to discuss the impact of AIDS throughout the African Diaspora. This historical
conference will convene the religious heads to examine the critical reality of
AIDS among Black people worldwide. This four-day conference begins Wednesday,
January 16, 2002, at the Tarrytown House Conference Center in Tarrytown, New York.
The goal of this historical
summit, hosted by The Balm In Gilead, the nation's only organization dedicated
exclusively to mobilizing churches to address HIV/AIDS in the Black community,
is to develop a strategic document on how faith communities throughout the Diaspora
can address the AIDS pandemic. The Summit will also launch The Balm In Gilead's
Africa HIV/AIDS Faith Initiative in Cote d'Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa,
Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
this initiative is designed to build the capacity of faith communities to respond
effectively to the destruction of AIDS in Africa.
The week's activities will
include round table discussions on the role of faith communities in dismantling
stigma, HIV prevention and how these leaders can mobilize their constituents to
act.
The Rockefeller Foundation
will host a reception honoring this historical summit on Thursday, January 17,
2002 from 5-7 p.m. Activities will conclude at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon,
NY on Sunday, January 20 at 11:00 a.m.
"Africa's children
are over burdened by the AIDS epidemic worldwide," states Pernessa Seele,
Founder/CEO of The Balm In Gilead. "The AIDS epidemic in Sub-Sahara Africa,
the Caribbean Islands and among African Americans in the United States is an urgent
cry for religious leaders to find courage in their faith and begin to tackle the
difficult issues of AIDS in the world's black community."
The opening session on
Wednesday, January 16 will begin with introductions from Seele and a discussion
on The Impact of AIDS Throughout the African Diaspora by Dr. Helene Gayle, senior
advisor, HIV/AIDS of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Later that day, Bishop
Reverend Barnabas R. Halem'Imana, Chairman of the Uganda AIDS Commission, and
Dr. Randall Bailey, professor at the Interdenominational Theological Center will
lead a discussion on The Scripture as a Support or Barrier to Addressing HIV/AIDS.
Other conference highlights
include: Components of Effective Church-Based HIV/AIDS Programs; Guiding Principles
for The Church's Response to HIV/AIDS; and The Response of the Local Church to
Prevention & Care.
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