GHESKIO

Initial Grant Announced: January 28, 2010
Second Grant Announced: October 12, 2010
Initial Grant Amount: $600,000
Second Grant Amount: $908,700
Location: Port-au-Prince

Please click here to download the GHESKIO Fact Sheet. 

The Clinton Bush Haiti Fund's initial grant to GHESKIO provided immediate relief funding for GHESKIO operations at their Port-au-Prince clinic, which was transformed into a refugee camp, serving 7,000 patients with medical care, food, and water.

A second grant is in support of the socioeconomic needs of the GHESKIO residents through a multi-faceted approach that includes lifesaving activities, including cholera treatment and prevention; and livelihood promotion activities, including education, vocational training, and access to microcredit.



President Clinton with GHESKIO staff

Ongoing Medical Care
• Rapid response to the cholera outbreak through treatment centers and training sites.
• Continued provision of healthcare, sanitation, and other basic services to camp residents, including disease screenings, immunizations, orthopedic and rehabilitation services, nutrition programs for children and pregnant women, prenatal care, and activities geared towards awareness against gender-based violence.
• Continued running of the only tuberculosis testing site for Port-au-Prince and its surroundings.
 


Jenna Bush Hager and President Bush visit with school children at GHESKIO.

 
Transforming Lives and Livelihoods
• Maintain a pre-kindergarten and elementary school which gives 400 children access to education and psycho-social counseling.
• Launch a workforce development program in construction trades and marketable skills for 600 men and women, in partnership with the Salesian order.
• Expand microcredit services to patients and other eligible camp residents benefitting from GHESKIO's services, particularly targeting the adult female population, and the young entrepreneurs graduating from the GHESKIO vocational school.

 


Small women-owned businesses have benefited from GHESKIO's microfinance program.

About Les Centres GHESKIO
GHESKIO Center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was the first institution in the world dedicated to the fight against HIV/AIDS. It has provided continuous medical care in Haiti since 1982 without ever shutting its doors or charging fees. In response to the January 12th earthquake, Les Centres GHESKIO, a Haitian medical research and care center for HIV and tuberculosis patients, accommodated 7,000 people in its site in downtown Port-au-Prince, providing emergency care and assistance. In addition to health programs, GHESKIO focuses on holistic assistance. Their other programs include microfinance loans to small business owners as well as schools which give children access to education and psycho-social counseling.