K45, 000 has been donated to support Links of Hope (LOH) by the British High Commission to assist their work in helping children and families impacted by the HIV epidemic.
With the donation, a water tank was installed at the respite home for consistent access to clean water, blankets were supplied to the LOH children in Mt. Hagen prior to the cold winter months, LOH staff was trained in the Positive Parenting Program to then empower the LOH caregivers, and LOH was able to build on its administrative protocols through improved monitoring and evaluation tools.
Links of Hope’s mission is to empower individuals and impact communities through referral and follow-up care services for children living with HIV, community outreach and advocacy, health and literacy education with children and caregivers, and a children’s respite home.
Links of Hope founders, John and Deborah Bromley said, “We are extremely grateful to the support given by the British High Commission in providing funds for key operational needs that our normal donations were not able to cover.
“Some important and tangible needs have now been met both directly for our Links of Hope children and also in the provision of an automated monitoring and evaluation tool for our operations.”
“We are very grateful to the High Commissioner himself for taking the time to visit our staff and operations in both Port Moresby and Mount Hagen.”
In a visit to Links of Hope today, High Commissioner Scott took part in the caregiver health education and pre-school literacy programme that Links of Hope conducts with enrolled families on a weekly basis.
This programming is crucial to support children impacted by HIV to be successful in school and to empower adults to reduce stigma and discrimination in their communities.
The High Commissioner said: “While the current focus is rightly on tackling the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important not to forget the scourge of other diseases, such as HIV, particularly for children. I pay tribute to all at Links of Hope for making a real difference within their communities and am proud that UK funding is playing a part in helping PNG build a better future”.
