CHARES gets support from local Chinese community
ST James, Jamaica – The Centre for HIV/AIDS and Research Education and Services (CHARES) received a much-needed boost on Friday with a donation from the local Chinese community in St James.
Food and educational materials were among the items that the group, which travelled from the University Hospital of the West Indies to Montego Bay, collected for those in need.
Tanice Thomas- Johnson, retention officer with the centre, said the donation will go a far way in helping those individuals facing financial challenges.
“Some of them may not be able to afford financially and so we reach out to various agents, to include our Chinese counterparts, to assist in that regard,” she told Observer Online.
CHARES, she explained, provides antiretroviral treatment to those who need it but also recognises that there are other challenges facing individuals associated with the centre.
Peer Navigator, CHARES, Odail Neil works to load some of the items while retention officer Tanice Thomas- Johnson looks on.
“Some of them have lost their jobs. It’s not that they weren’t working, but because of the HIV diagnosis they would have lost the jobs,” she said.
She stated that there are already plans on how the items received on Friday will be utilised.
“Some of the stuff we got today, we are going to be using that to put packages together especially for the elderly. When it comes to back- to- school, we are going to be putting some of that together for the parents who might have children that need that assistance as well to get them back in,” she revealed.
This is the first time that Fujian Association of Jamaica, a local Chinese-owned group, has been approached to assist CHARES.
“We are honoured to support the University Hospital of the West Indies in their efforts to prevent HIV/AIDS. Education and awareness are crucial in combating this global health challenge and we believe that by providing stationary items, food and other life supplies we can contribute to empowering patients and communities,” president of the entity, Zipping Chen said.
