Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Fruta Bomba and Belize Fruit Packers participate in government conference

From our Belize offices comes this article about attendance at a government held 'HIV/AIDS in the workplace' conference. These are excerpts from an article in the El Guardian, a Belize newspaper.

Many individuals infected with HIV find that their work colleagues, in their ignorance, are afraid to work with them.

The Labour Department developed a program to combat this problem. Ms. Hertha Gentle, Senior Labour Officer and Program Coordinator recruited companies interested in developing HIV awareness in their work place.

The final part of the program was a two-day Peer Education training session held on May 5 and 6. The session was hosted by the Labour Department in collaboration with the National AIDS Commission. Fourteen companies were represented including Fruta Bomba Limited and Belize Fruit Packers Limited.

Ishmael Gonzalez, Personnel Coordinator of Fruita Bomba Limited, said, "We have approximately 800 people in our workforce, and it was imperative that we develop an HIV/AIDS policy to eliminate any stigma and discrimination that may develop."