MANDEVILLE, Manchester – Mandeville-based volunteer-placement organisation, Projects Abroad Jamaica, will be shining the spotlight on the Belle Haven Centre during its information week from March 30 to April 4, 2014.

The Belle Haven Centre is a $100-million facility being built by the organisation to house children and women with HIV/AIDS from the parishes of Manchester, Clarendon and St Elizabeth. The project is also supported through collaboration with the BridgIT Water Foundation in Australia.

The project was conceptualised in 2010 and seven acres land was acquired through the National Land Agency in July of 2013. Other legal requirements are being finalised before the start of construction, which will begin later this year.

“We recognise the importance of focusing on this project, because it will address a genuine need in the society. There is a lot of work that needs to be done and we want to engage the wider society – the business community, government agencies, civic society and the people who are directly and indirectly affected,” noted Projects Abroad Country Director, Dr. Bridgette Barrett yesterday.

Projects Abroad Jamaica – a volunteers placement organisation – intends to draw attention to the issue of HIV/AIDS and its impact on children in Central Jamaica and capitalise on its international-volunteer network to generate interest and fundraising. Recent efforts have included the recruitment or a Marketing and Fundraising Manager to focus on promotion and generating funds to support the initiative.

The Week is being observed under the theme: “Projects Abroad Jamaica: Building Local Communities through International Cultures” to highlight the work of Projects Abroad Jamaica in the local community, celebrate its 6th Anniversary in Jamaica, while acknowledging the contribution of various stakeholders and local partners in the wider community in our work.    Activities include a church service, an information showcase in the Cecil Charlton Park on April, the staging of a two-week exhibit at the Mandeville Parish Library on April 2, a Stakeholders breakfast meeting on April 3 and a major community project in Belretiro, Richmond on April 4.