“It’s so infuriating and unnecessary,” said Julie Holder. “It’s like they've abandoned Africa.”
“It's absolutely wicked that they could even do that,” added Gillian Scadeng. “It's the most heartless decision.”
Those were the first words from the two coordinators of Victoria Grandmothers for Africa (VG4A) following the Trump administration's freeze on U.S. foreign aid on Jan. 24.
The two women explained that the stop order has prevented programs from distributing life-saving antiretroviral medication to affected populations.
According to the Stephen Lewis Foundation (SLF), clinics and hospitals have been told they cannot dispense the antiretroviral already in stock if they were purchased with U.S. funds.
The Victoria-based charity, which supports community-led organizations in Africa through the SLF, said the situation is dire.
“Even if centres had medications that have been bought with U.S. funds, they were not allowed to be distributed even though the medication was there and this is life-saving,” said Holder. “People depend on funding from USAID and other organizations.”
The repercussions of this decision could be catastrophic according to Holder.
“If they don't get that medication, not only are they going to get sick and possibly die, but the transmission rate will go way up and we'll be back in the 1980s,” said Holder.
This could also ring the death knell for many education and advocacy programs for women that VG4A supports.
“The projects that we support also get funding from USAID, so if that funding is cut, then our programs are in jeopardy as well,” said Holder. “The Steven Lewis Foundation is still waiting to see what's going to transpire because who knows now with what's going on or what the next step is going to be.”
Politician, diplomat, and SLF chair Stephen Lewis echoed similar sentiments and concerns.
"The SLF is facing the greatest crisis since the nightmare days of the spread of AIDS in the 1990s and 2000s,” he said. “With the suspension and cutbacks of foreign aid, the Trump administration’s unhinged and random destructive acts put countless numbers of our projects in Africa, and the people they serve, at risk.”
Having raised over $2 million since VG4A’s inception in 2006 and dedicating significant effort to fundraising over the years, the two women felt that these achievements now felt somewhat futile.
“It's so frustrating when you think we've been raising all this money and we've been doing such good work there,” said Scadeng. “There's been so many benefits and all of a sudden someone can come and just pull the rug out from under everything, all over the world.”
After contributing more than $218,000 last year, the Victoria charity sent an emergency $2,700 donation to help address the ongoing crisis.
Holder, who witnessed the HIV and AIDS epidemic firsthand while working across Africa, can't shake the feeling of the impact these decisions will have on the continent.
“The SLF is trying to find out where their funds can best go at this moment and how they can raise more,” said Holder. “[We’re] still sort of scrambling to think what this means and hearing from our partners in Africa.”
Donations can be made through Victoria Grandmothers for Africa at www.vg4a.ca.
