Trinity News

March 26, 2006

Global Aids Interfaith Alliance, or "GAIA"

2006 INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH PROJECT
The Social Ministries Commission has chosen Global Aids Interfaith Alliance, GAIA, as its international charitable partner during 2006. We will be supporting a “trinity” of programs sponsored by GAIA in Malawi, Africa. They are Health, Education, and Enterprise (particularly income generating activities which empower women).

Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA), a non-profit organization, was founded in June 2000 in response to the global HIV/AIDS catastrophe. Driven by the desire to stop this devastating disease, William Rankin, GAIA's president and chief executive officer, and Charles Wilson, GAIA's board chair, focused on the idea of using the religious networks in Africa as a way to distribute anti-retroviral drugs to block mother-to-child transmission
of HIV.

The mission of GAIA is to partner with religious organizations in Malawi, Central Africa, to provide community-based HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and services. GAIA serves over 40,000 men, women, and children by helping communities with HIV prevention strategies for youth, home based care strategies for people who are sick and
dying, orphan care, ways to mitigate the causes and effects of HIV/AIDS stigma, methods of supporting women, voluntary counseling and HIV testing, diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, nutrition education, and food security. With the help of many interfaith groups, GAIA supports Malawi/African projects proven to
deliver competent services under conditions of urgent need.

More in depth information on target projects will be presented in the Sunday bulletin during April. The campaign will kick off in May.