Looking back 13 years, Valerie Nelson, founder of the Familias Saludables in Roatan, would have never guessed that her work would have made the impact it does today.
Nelson was through Drumheller last week and took a couple minutes to sit down with The Drumheller Mail. From those humble beginnings, her work now encompasses a holistic approach to families facing AIDS and poverty in Roatan. What started as saving babies who could have very well died, is now preparing them for adulthood.
“If we can look back at the 13 years we have been there, it has changed tremendously. In that first year, we had 49 per cent transmission of (HIV) from mother to child. And that first year 29 of our babies died,” she said.
While they made modest gains in the first few years, about 10 years ago the Morgan Jayne Project was born.
The Morgan Jayne Project was founded by Fred Makowecki in memory of his daughter, Morgan. Knowing Nelson for years, they partnered and began providing infant formula for babies to curb the spread of HIV from mother to child. This had a profound impact.
“The Morgan Jayne Project and Drumheller became involved and brought us all sorts of formula, it made a world of difference. In the past four years, we have had a zero transmission rate,” she said. Those types of outcome rates I could never get in Canada in 40 years.”
“If the Morgan Jayne Project didn’t come to the rescue, I think the project would have been dead, we wouldn’t have been able to save those kids, that’s huge.”
In simple terms, the clinic and the Morgan Jayne Project have saved numerous babies lives.
The project has caught the imagination of Drumheller residents who have been unwavering in their support for the Morgan Jayne Project. Every year the community has supported the annual Christmas Miracle, bringing gifts to children who would never have had Christmas.
With its success, brings new challenges. While the clinic and the Morgan Jayne Project continues to work with new families, they continue to support the children as they grow.
“As a result of saving these babies lives, we have more children. It seem obvious, but then we started looking at how many kindergarteners and Grade 1 kids we have.”
Suddenly they found themselves in the school business. The public system in Roatan was not serving students as well as it could and many of the children coming from the clinic were also stigmatized by AIDS.
“We looked at these kids whose lives we have saved, and asked what is our responsibility to them,” she said. "Obviously our responsibility is to educate these kids so they have a better future.”
This year the Charmont Academy was born in a small donated house renovated to five classrooms. It is named in dedication of a Drumheller boy named John Charmont, who was tragically killed in an explosion at a Mexican resort. He was a strong supporter of the Morgan Jayne Project. It has 50 students. It is giving these children a chance at a future.
“They are going to change the world from the inside. These are going to be the future mayors of Roatan, council members, doctors and lawyers, and we are going to be with them every step of the way to give them the best education we can,” said Nelson.
While the Morgan Jayne Project has had a profound affect on the students, it is also making a change for the better in Roatan. The project has not only gained trust among the families, but the islanders and the leaders. This was made abundantly clear to Makowecki on his last visit to the island when he was greeted coming out of the airport with a sign welcoming the Morgan Jayne Project founder.
“The emotional support is there,” she said.
