Suzette Moses-Burton during the [RED] campaign in 2008.

Suzette Moses-Burton, HIV/AIDS Programme Manager has been named Person of the Year for 2008 by both daily newspapers on St. Maarten, namely TODAY and The Daily Herald.

According to the TODAY they chose Moses-Burton as Person of the Year, because she had built a career around a theme that has brought many people on the island together for a common goal.

The Daily Herald on the other hand named Moses-Burton as Person of the Year based on the fact that she is no stranger  to the fight against HIV/AIDS in St. Maarten and the region, especially with the launch in 2008 of the successful Talk [RED] Campaign, an educational initiative that The Daily Herald stated became red hot.

The four year long [RED] Campaign was launched on World AIDS Day 2007 with the slogan Talk [RED], which was introduced to the official 12 [RED] businesses, its employees and the public in January 2008. It has been rather successful, and now in 2009 the campaign goes into its second year with the slogan Think [RED], Do Safe. Moses-Burton was quoted as saying in the TODAY newspaper  How can I make HIV/AIDS sexy? I wanted people to start talking about it. Twelve companies have each adopted a month, and during their month brought awareness about HIV/AIDS to its employees and the public.

Suzette Moses-Burton is well deserving of this nomination of person of the year for 2008. As she stated in a World AIDS Day speech this year, There is still much we have to do and the road will be long and arduous. It will call for new leaders to be identified and to use their influence. 

RED] Sucess Continues

The HIV/AIDS Programme Management Team is ending the first year of the four year long [RED] Campaign, and the campaign is rapidly gaining momentum.
Suzette Moses-Burton, HIV/AIDS Programme Manager stated, This campaign has been successful beyond my wildest expectations. What has been particularly encouraging for us are the initiatives being taken by all the participating businesses to contribute to the campaign in their own unique manner. The response from other business that is also now Talking [RED] has been inspirational and speaks volumes about the private sector’s willingness to become involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Businesses such as the Princess Juliana International Airport, Pelican Resort, TELEM Group of Companies, which is the local telephone company, GEBE, the electrical and water company along with three banks, namely Windward Islands Bank, First Caribbean Bank and Bank of Nova Scotia participated in the Talk [RED] Campaign, reaching approximately 1000 staff members through the HIV/AIDS sensitization sessions.
Each business added a creative twist to their month of activities that extended the awareness not only to their staff, but also to the community. The Windward Islands Bank for example ended their month long awareness campaign by having a walk through the town of Philipsburg in their signature Talk [RED] shirts and giving out HIV/AIDS awareness pamphlets to the public along the way. They also held activities in Anguilla during the annual August Monday celebrations.
The Princess Juliana International Airport donated Talk [RED] lanyards to the entire primary, private and secondary schools on the southern half of the island, whereas the local telephone company donated five different HIV/AIDS awareness posters each bearing a different message about HIV/AIDS to all schools as well.
In 2009 the [RED] Campaign moves into full gear with stage two, which is Think [RED], Do Safe, and the expectations from the businesses are anticipated to be on a much larger scale than this year.