Bracelet of Hope: The next phase begins

The first phase of our work in Lesotho is complete......and so we begin Phase 2. I remember the naive family physician I was in the fall of 2003 when building AIDS clinics and assisting in the Global fight to end AIDS were not even on my radar. Now, thanks to the support of this community and the hundreds of people who have contributed their time and effort, there is a provincial HIV/AIDS clinic in Guelph where 200 patients receive care. Next week, the Masai Clinic will open its satellite in Waterloo under the careful direction of Dr. Chris Steingart. By the end of this year, our goal is to see every patient affected by HIV/AIDS in the region enrolled in care at the Masai Centre's two locations.........that's 1,000 people whose lives will be saved and enriched, their futures secure. My heart and my passion is with each one of these people. By treating HIV, we can stop the transmission of this virus, decreasing the risk to and improving the lives of everyone in this area of our province. Our hard work has had profound effects locally and regionally.

And then there is Africa and the place where a piece of my soul resides, Lesotho. The Tsepong clinic has treated over 10,000 HIV positive patients in Lesotho. Our community has raised just under $1.3 million; $500,000 of which has gone to help sustain this clinic throughout the fiscal years of 2009 and 2010. For five years, the Canadian medical team put into place by the OHAfrica project has persisted tirelessly in their efforts to respond to the humanitarian crisis caused by HIV/AIDS in the Leribe district of Lesotho. The OHAfrica Board has accomplished nothing short of a miracle. They filled the gap, stood up, and responded. They helped pull a country back from the brink of extinction. It has been my great privilege to be a member of this board and the Tsepong Canadian Medical Team. Phase 1 complete and Phase 2 begins.....

As the OHAfrica project transitions the administrative responsibilities of the Tsepong clinic into the hands of the Ministry of Health in Lesotho, a triumph in international development, the Masai for Africa (Bracelet of Hope) team will remain in Lesotho expanding our footprint in the country. We remain committed to providing support to the patients of Tsepong and all those whose lives remain devastated by this disease. We will focus new efforts on the support of the country’s 100,000 AIDS orphans and their caregivers while building stronger relationships with organizations whose mandate is to continue in the fight to assist this African country in overcoming its AIDS pandemic.

I look forward to the next five years as we build our fundraising efforts with the Bracelet of Hope Campaign growing in our neighbouring communities of Waterloo, Woodstock and Cambridge. I will watch excitedly as the students of this country build their national response through Student Reach and their own Bracelet of Hope campaign set to succeed at reaching a $25 million goal. I consider it an honour to lead 12 of our high school youth into Lesotho in 2011. Their program, Reach Lesotho, has the ability to change the world as we know it.

I am glad that I am no longer that naive family physician and that I live in a community that has the energy, drive and heart to make such a tremendous difference in our community, our region and our world.

Dr. Anne-Marie Zajdlik MD CCFP
Founder and Director of the Masai Centre for
Local, Regional and Global Health and the
Bracelet of Hope Campaign.