FreshMinistries' Chairman, Robert V. Lee III, attends White House Summit

FreshMinistries’ Chairman & CEO The Rev. Dr. Robert V. Lee III, visits with some of the more than 13 million children left orphaned in South Africa, Namibia and Mozambique by the HIV/AIDS virus. FreshMinistries’ Siyafundisa AIDS in Africa program earned Dr. Lee an invitation to attend the first White House Summit on Malaria, hosted by the President and Mrs. Bush.

On December 14th, the Rev. Dr. Robert V. Lee participated in the first-ever White House Summit on Malaria, hosted by the President and Laura Bush in collaboration with the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development and Malaria No More. CEO of FreshMinistries, a Jacksonville-based ecumenical organization dedicated to local and global assistance of people in need of humanitarian services, Lee was one of 300 participants invited to the Washington, D.C. Summit.

The summit, which included remarks by First Lady Laura Bush, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Melinda Gates, Nigerian Minister of Health Eyitayo Lambo, and Robert W. Radtke, President of Episcopal Relief and Development, was part of the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), a five year program that began in 2005. The initiative, a collaboration of the private sector and U.S. Government, aims to cut malaria-related deaths by 50 percent in 15 African countries.

Malaria kills approximately 1 million African infants and children under age 5 annually. According to health reports from Tanzania, where malaria is the leading cause of death, the more than 230,000 insecticide-treated bed nets distributed in 2006 by PMI to the people of Zanzibar resulted in an 87% drop in the number of confirmed Malaria cases.

“Unlike the HIV/AIDS pandemic, with its far-reaching cultural and social issues, malaria is a disease that can be nearly eradicated with simple health measures like these life-saving nets,” said Lee. “Through our FreshMinistries’ Siyafundisa Program, we have the infrastructure already in place to distribute the nets in villages throughout sub-Saharan Africa’s worst-hit areas.”

Siyafundisa (Zulu for “Teaching the Children”) is a FreshMinistries’ initiative funded through a 2004 USAID five-year $10 million AIDS-fighting grant. A partnership between FreshMinistries, the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, D.C., and the Anglican Church of the Province of Southern Africa, Siyafundisa is making significant strides toward its goal of reducing AIDS-related deaths through education and outreach.

“We are currently providing simultaneous peer to peer life skills training each weekend to approximately 30 youth – ages 10 to 24 – in South Africa, Mozambique, and Namibia,” said Rev. Dr. Bruce Grob, FreshMinistries’ Executive Director of Siyafundisa. “This is a 3-day curriculum called Aribuisaneng (“talk to each other”) which was developed in partnership with Harvard School of Public Health and the Department of Education in South Africa.” Following the training, Grob said, the youth return to their home parishes in teams of three and are commissioned by the Bishop or local Episcopal Priest to teach six-week long peer to peer courses in their parish. At the end of the six week course, each newly-trained young person is charged to talk to ten of their peers outside of the church. “The power of Aribuisaneng is that it is standardized peer to peer communication that presents practical information on avoidance of HIV/AIDS,” said Grob, “And it has the potential of reaching thousands of youths in just a few months.”

With the high incidence of malaria-related deaths in these same African countries, FreshMinistries is now working to incorporate distribution of the insecticide-treated nets (at a cost of $10 per net) into the Siyafundisa program.

“As evidenced at the White House Summit, there are already several organizations addressing this issue,” said Lee. “Dr. Radtke of Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) announced an exciting NetsforLife initiative that will deliver 1 million long-lasting insecticide-treated nets along with critical training on proper use of the nets to 16 African countries during the next three years.”

Following up on the White House Summit, Lee traveled to New York City on December 20th to meet with the Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefforts Shori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church Worldwide. “The Bishop was excited about creating a united approach to meet global humanitarian needs,” said Lee. “We are currently working together to convene meetings between various Episcopal and Anglican organizations with the goal of a synergistic global approach to eradication of malaria and HIV/AIDS in Africa.”

On a local level, Lee notes that the FreshMinistries partnerships already in place can be utilized to share ideas and resources to address the alarming statistics of malaria-related deaths in Africa.

“It is our philosophy, at FreshMinistries, that we are all members of the global community,” said Lee. “It is only through working together that we can effectively deal with the hard issues facing humanity today.”

To contribute to the ERD’s NetsforLife initiative, donations may be directed to FreshMinistries at 1131 North Laura Street, Jacksonville, FL 32206. All donations will be forwarded directly to the ERD.

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