Guelph-based organization has no plans of slowing downThe fight against AIDS has been an ongoing struggle for years, and there are many national and international organizations that have joined the cause. One of these organizations, based right here in Guelph, is called Bracelet of Hope. According to their website, Bracelet of Hope is “a grassroots organization that engages Canadian communities to fight against AIDS in Africa.”
Bracelet of Hope is a part of the Masai Centre in Guelph, founded by Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik. The Masai Centre raises money for and awareness of the HIV/AIDS issue locally, as well as globally. Once students at the University of Guelph got involved, the organization introduced the new branch known as the Bracelet of Hope Campaign.
You may have seen people wearing red and white beaded bracelets around town: these are now the organization’s defining feature. Claire Alexander, the Special Projects Manager at the University of Guelph, and a group of U of G students decided to hire women from the Inina Craft Agency in South Africa to make the bracelets, which are then sold for $5 a piece. The trend caught on quickly, and the bracelets, and other Inina Craft Agency products, are now sold wherever there are Bracelet of Hope booths at Guelph community events.
Bracelet of Hope, born in 2007, has garnered an incredible amount of support from the city of Guelph. The organization’s focus is to “support health, homes, and jobs” for the region of Lesotho in South Africa. Originally, the organization’s focus was solely on helping to fund the Ontario Hospital Association’s Tšepong Clinic in Lesotho – the first AIDS clinic in South Africa. Through events like walk-a-thons, weddings, and bake sales, the organization was able to raise $1 million after only three years of efforts.
Although this is quite an achievement, Bracelet of Hope has no plans of slowing down. In fact, they’ve recently broadened their vision. Beginning in 2010, the organization has worked to provide AIDS orphans with foster homes and discuss income-generating solutions with the poverty stricken and unemployed population in the area around the Tšepong Clinic.
In 2008, the organization was awarded the Global Best Award for their impact on the Lesotho area. They will be receiving the award again this year at the International Education Business Partnership Network in Brussels, Belgium. Dr. Zajdlik will be flying to Brussels to receive the award – covering her own travel expenses so as not to take away from the cause.
The recent political unrest in Lesotho has made it even more difficult to deliver proper treatment to HIV and AIDS victims in the area. The area’s government took control of the Tšepong Clinic in 2010, but due to recent governmental disorder, the clinic has closed. This is one of the main motivations behind Bracelet of Hope’s decision to set its next milestone fundraising goal at an additional $1 million. The organization plans to open a new clinic that does not depend on the government’s support. The hope is to build and fund the new clinic for five years before allowing it to run on its own.
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