Academy for Educational Development
         |
AED Partner in Botswana Opens New Counseling and Testing Site
AED Partner in Botswana Opens
A new community center for HIV/AIDS counseling and testing opened in Molepolole, Botswana on February 28, 2007 thanks to the hard work and dedication of a local organization, which is now the largest provider of counseling and testing for HIV services in Botswana. The organization, Tebelopele, provided testing and counseling services to more than 109,000 clients in 2006 blanketing the country with easily accessible services, and works closely with the AED Center on AIDS & Community Health to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its operation. The collaboration between Tebelopele and AED is supported by BOTUSA, a partnership between the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Government of Botswana. On hand at the dedication ceremony for the new counseling and testing center were U.S. Ambassador Katherine Canavan, U.S. Air Force General William F. Hobbins, and Paramount Chief Kgosi Kgari III. Construction of the center was funded by the U.S. Department of Defense Office of Humanitarian Assistance. During the ceremony, Ambassador Canavan drew attention to the fact that Tebelopele has grown from a U.S. government-funded project to an independent, non-governmental organization that is one of the corenerstones of Botswana'a response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. AED oversaw and continues to support the transition of Tebelopele to an indigenous NGO. “When organizations like Tebelopele become self-sustaining, people at the grass roots level benefit because service providers are better equipped to prevent and mitigate the impact of AIDS,” said Frank Beadle de Palomo, AED senior vice president and director of Global HIV/AIDS programs. “That is the underlying goal of all of AED’s work.”
|
