An AIDS clinic to be inaugurated in Burundi on 11 June 2010 will be named after Fr. Martin Royackers SJ, a Canadian Jesuit murdered in 2001 in Jamaica at the age of 41.

The clinic, which has a few beds, was built thanks to the generosity of donors from Canada and Holland and forms part of Service Yezu Mwiza (SYM), a programme for AIDS care and HIV prevention in Bujumbura, which is run by the Jesuit Region of Rwanda-Burundi.

The mother and sister of Fr. Martin will attend the clinic inauguration accompanied by the Director of Canadian Jesuits International (CJI), Jenny Cafiso. Fr. Martin was gunned down on 20 June 2001 at the door of his parish of St Theresa's in Annotto Bay, Jamaica, where he is remembered for his tireless and passionate service.

The SYM Director, Fr. Désiré Yamuremye SJ, is delighted that the clinic will be named after Fr. Martin: "Martin's is really the name to give to the clinic - a young Jesuit, engaged in the social apostolate, who died for his ministry and work for the poor. This is a sign for me of what SYM is doing. Yezu Mwiza means good, compassionate Jesus; this is what the service of Martin Royackers continues to be about in the clinic which bears his name."

SYM reaches inaccessible parishes in the rural hills around the capital of Burundi, serving more than 900 people with HIV as well as nearly 1000 orphans and vulnerable children. The aim is to offer holistic care: medical; psychosocial; nutritional; educational; micro-credit for income-generating activities. In April 2009, SYM qualified to be a centre for the provision of antiretroviral therapy (ART), which necessitated the building of the clinic.