Presbyterians in Wales and India are bringing together their expertise and experience in HIV and AIDS for a new project to limit the spread of the virus in India.
Posted: Tuesday, April 4 , 2006, 9:47 (BST)
A special appeal has been launched by the
Presbyterian Church of Wales (PCW) to gather funds for a team of HIV and AIDS
specialists it hopes to send to India to help the sister church in its fight
against the spread of the disease.
PCW is hoping to send the team out in September to the Mizoram region of India
to work alongside the Presbyterian Church of India (PCI) and its campaign
against the virus.
The ‘Binding Wounds in the Bond of Love’ appeal is looking gather just £1 from
each PCW member to raise £30,000 towards the new project.
The team will be made up of around eight Welsh media specialists, health
authority representatives and those who work those who are drug or alcohol
addicted.
The collaboration
follows a visit from Aneurin Owen, director of Welsh organisation CAIS, which
works with people involved in drug and alcohol abuse, with Dr Sanga of the PCI’s
Durtlang Hospital.
Dr Sanga, who is in trying to set up a special unit in the hospital for
sufferers of HIV or drug abuse, visited hospitals, universities and charities in
Wales in 2005 where he talked about his work.
A team of individuals in public health and church leaders in Wales will meet
with the medical director of Durtlang Hospital, Dr Rema, from Apr. 11th to 21st.
PCW general secretary Rev Ifan Roberts said: "We are very excited about the
project - that we can help them in a practical way to spread the love of the
gospel."
The Presbyterian Church of Wales is hoping that the HIV/AIDS partnership in
Mizoram will enable both partners to gain greater expertise in tackling the
deadly virus with the aim of sharing this knowledge with other synods of the
Presbyterian Church in India.
Plans have already been outlined for a specialist team to be sent by the PCW to
Mizoram in autumn 2006 following a visit from the head of the Presbyterian
Hospital in Durtlang to Wales early in 2006.
Courtesy: www.christiantoday.com