Aid for AIDS

Feb 04 2012

Feb 02, 12

Condolences To Our Friend And Colleague

Read more »

Jan 27, 12

AID FOR AIDS Panama And Ilvem Working Together To Improve Learning In Children Living With HIV

When the AID FOR AIDS Panama team went looking for outside help to provide higher-level teaching assistance to youngsters in its Children’s Program, they requested quotes from several local companies.
One of those firms was ILVEM (a Spanish-language acronym for the Institute of Speed Reading and Memory), which offers learning improvement programs in 24 countries on three continents. Founded in Argentina in the late 1960’s, ILVEM today is one of the most respected firms in its field.

When the request for a price quote reached Jorge Gonzalez, the company’s proprietor in Panama, he wasted no time in responding.  “We will not give a quotation to AID FOR AIDS,” replied Gonzalez. “We will provide you with our services for free, which is the least we can do after all you do for these children.”

And, with that, ILVEM and the Panama Children’s Program, which serves 300 youngsters (3 to 15 years of age) living with HIV,  embarked on a long-term partnership to improve the children’s reading and writing skills and enhance their full learning potential.

Read more »

Jan 25, 12

AID FOR AIDS International Founder Jesus Aguais to Receive Distinguished Award at Cielo Latino 2012

To all of our friends, supporters and partners,

It’s our great pleasure to announce that Jesus Aguais, our Executive Director and Founder, will be receiving the award Dennis de León Voz de Compromiso, one of the most important awards in the United States recognizing the work of people working in the global fight against the HIV epidemic. The award was officially announced yesterday by the Latino Commission on AIDS

We take pride in having Jesus as our Executive Director and we certainly cherish Latino Commission on AIDS for recognizing his work with AID FOR AIDS. Needless to say, this award is also a result of your amazing support to our organization.
Thank you for believing in and supporting Jesus’ work but, more than anything, thank you for being part of the AID FOR AIDS family. We know these are only the first big news to come out from our team this year!

For more info and coverage:
univision.com
noticias24
elnacional
rctv.net
eluniversal.com
akinoticias.com
acn.com.ve

Read more »

Jan 23, 12

Jaime Valencia: Scientific Mind, Warm Heart

There are doctors, and there are doctors. There are the kind of doctors who announce to you from the moment you meet them that they are doctors, in their self-confident behaviors and snobbish attitudes.  Jaime Valencia, the Director of Operations at AID FOR AIDS, used to be that kind of doctor.
“When I was practicing medicine back in Colombia, I carried myself with that sort of pride in my position in society,” he says. “But that was a long time ago.”  Today, Dr. Jaime Valencia presents a more informal profile to the world. To his colleagues and associates in the U.S. and throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, he is just Jaime. And he likes it that way.
“Like most of our staff, I started with AID FOR AIDS as a volunteer, counting pills and doing whatever was needed to keep us going and help our clients survive,” he explains. “You learn quickly in the nonprofit world that there’s no room for big egos and people who care mostly about money and job status. With HIV and AIDS, you’re dealing with people’s deepest emotions, and if you place yourself above them and deny the humanity of it all, you don’t belong in this world.”
“Jaime is the ultimate people person,” notes his boss, AFAI executive director Jesus Aguais. “He has a doctor’s scientific mind, but there’s nothing cold about his heart.”
Jaime, a native of Colombia, obtained his medical degree in Ecuador in 1992, before returning to his home country to begin his career. For several years, he split his time between a family practice and working in a public hospital, where he came to specialize in the treatment of infectious diseases. At the time, HIV was just beginning to emerge as a significant problem in Latin America. Most medical professionals in Colombia, says Jaime, saw HIV as an American or African epidemic.

Read the rest of the story here

Read more »

Dec 29, 11

Message From Our Executive Director: Looking At 2011, Planning For 2012

The past year was a momentous one for AID FOR AIDS, in many ways.
It represented our 15th year of existence – a miracle in itself – and saw us reach the $80 million mark in total shipments of recycled medication to the developing world. In 2011, we celebrated our 10th annual My Hero Gala, which was our most successful and enjoyable Gala to date. We also had the pleasure of welcoming Graciela Dauhajre, Graciela Hank, Professor William A. Haseltine, Maria Jose Hidalgo and Laura Messina Pilson as our new Board Members.
This year was marked by our increased emphasis on strategic partnerships. In 2011, we reached out to other organizations in a much more concerted and far-reaching manner, with the goals of raising awareness of our many programs, increasing our funding base and the amount of recycled life-saving medication, and serving a more diverse population of people with HIV or AIDS. These partnerships include:

• A new relationship with Marc Jacobs International, which included two t-shirt collections specially-designed for AID FOR AIDS.
• The deepening of our relationship with the Miss Universe Organization, with Miss Universe 2010 Ximena Navarette joining us on major HIV Prevention tours of Panama and Dominican Republic; and newly-crowned Miss Universe, Leila Lopes, being trained as our next official Ambassador of HIV prevention.

Read more »