World AIDS Day Photo Exhibition Launched at U.S. Embassy

Hopeful visions of an AIDS-Free Generation were put on display at the United States Embassy on Thursday where a photo exhibition was launched to commemorate World AIDS Day.

The photographs featured were taken by students from Harrison College who are participating in a “photo voice” project organized by local NGO Dance4Life Barbados and directed by American Fulbright-mtvU scholar Katherine Cloutier.

The project was funded by the United States Embassy - one of three which received funding this year through the Small Grants Program of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

Through the project, the students used photos to “voice” their ideas of what an AIDS-Free Generation would look like and what actions would be needed to get there. They further developed those ideas through research and writing narratives to accompany the photos.

Ambassador Larry Palmer praised the students for their work which he described as “visionary and full of hope.”

Ambassador Palmer himself sounded an optimistic note as he highlighted the “truly good news” of recently released UNAIDS statistics which show that the Caribbean has recorded dramatic drops in HIV and AIDS infection rates and deaths.

“The United States, through PEPFAR has been proud to play a supporting role in the efforts that have brought Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean so much closer to our goal of an AIDS-Free Generation,” declared Palmer.