News from AIDSail
01/15/2007 10:08
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Boat bringing HIV/AIDS services to rural communities sinks
in Belize en route to Nicaragua
CONTACT:
Office 213 207 2788
AIDSail.org
Belize City, Belize – A sailboat which was used by AIDSail, a nonprofit
organization which works in Latin America and the Caribbean in HIV/AIDS
prevention sunk on its way to Nicaragua from New Orleans, where the
organization had been assisting with hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
The boat belonged to AIDSail director Christine Murto who was scheduled to
be in Nicaragua for the next year to expand their programs to other
communities which can only be accessed by water. Murto says “it’s
devastating to loose everything, but we just spent the last year with
people in the Gulf who have lost everything. My heart is with the women we
work with so we are going to carry on to Nicaragua.” Dr. Jefferson Sa,was
also on board. They were rescued by local fishermen after being stranded
on the offshore reef for 15 hours in heavy seas.
Murto and Sa are currently being held in Belize indefinitely pending
environmental and other fines which may be levied against the organization
by the Belize government for any damages that the 31 foot sailboat may
have caused to the coral reef. AIDSail will also be required to remove the
vessel from the reef which lies more than 30 miles offshore.
Equipment and supplies needed for the program in Nicaragua that were
salvaged from the boat were seized by local customs officials.
According to Murto, Customs officer Carolyn Willis took
possession of the equipment after the Belize Coast Guard had promised its
release. Murto and SA are attempting to regain these items which are
critical to AIDSail's humanitarian mission.
AIDSail works with HIV prevention in rural coastal communities, setting up
clinics, economic development programs and working with women to reduce
HIV incidence and domestic violence. The organization assisted in the
aftermath of hurricane Katrina by organizing medical volunteers in the New
Orleans area. In Nicaragua, AIDSail provides women’s clinics, utilizing
both local and volunteer physicians from the United States and is in the
process of setting up women’s cooperatives for sewing school uniforms,
packaged food production and community internet services along Nicaragua’s
Atlantic Coast.
--
Christine Murto
AIDSail
537 S. Alvarado Street
Los Angeles, CA 90057
866-HIV-SAIL (in the U.S.)
213-207-2788 (out of the U.S.)
Boat bringing HIV/AIDS services to rural communities sinks
in Belize en route to Nicaragua
CONTACT:
Office 213 207 2788
AIDSail.org
Belize City, Belize – A sailboat which was used by AIDSail, a nonprofit
organization which works in Latin America and the Caribbean in HIV/AIDS
prevention sunk on its way to Nicaragua from New Orleans, where the
organization had been assisting with hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
The boat belonged to AIDSail director Christine Murto who was scheduled to
be in Nicaragua for the next year to expand their programs to other
communities which can only be accessed by water. Murto says “it’s
devastating to loose everything, but we just spent the last year with
people in the Gulf who have lost everything. My heart is with the women we
work with so we are going to carry on to Nicaragua.” Dr. Jefferson Sa,was
also on board. They were rescued by local fishermen after being stranded
on the offshore reef for 15 hours in heavy seas.
Murto and Sa are currently being held in Belize indefinitely pending
environmental and other fines which may be levied against the organization
by the Belize government for any damages that the 31 foot sailboat may
have caused to the coral reef. AIDSail will also be required to remove the
vessel from the reef which lies more than 30 miles offshore.
Equipment and supplies needed for the program in Nicaragua that were
salvaged from the boat were seized by local customs officials.
According to Murto, Customs officer Carolyn Willis took
possession of the equipment after the Belize Coast Guard had promised its
release. Murto and SA are attempting to regain these items which are
critical to AIDSail's humanitarian mission.
AIDSail works with HIV prevention in rural coastal communities, setting up
clinics, economic development programs and working with women to reduce
HIV incidence and domestic violence. The organization assisted in the
aftermath of hurricane Katrina by organizing medical volunteers in the New
Orleans area. In Nicaragua, AIDSail provides women’s clinics, utilizing
both local and volunteer physicians from the United States and is in the
process of setting up women’s cooperatives for sewing school uniforms,
packaged food production and community internet services along Nicaragua’s
Atlantic Coast.
--
Christine Murto
AIDSail
537 S. Alvarado Street
Los Angeles, CA 90057
866-HIV-SAIL (in the U.S.)
213-207-2788 (out of the U.S.)