Red Cross Blogs

Lighting candles across the South East

By Chris Jefferies
December 1, 2009 at 2:27 pm

Today, the 1st December 2009, is World AIDS Day. Across the world, people are raising awareness of HIV & AIDS and the stigma which is so strongly associated with this disease. Here in the UK, the British Red Cross and other charities have been working hard to challenge this stigma and help increase public awareness and acceptance.

So today, every Red Cross office in the South East held a ceremony to mark World AIDS Day. At 12pm, candles were lit in the shape of a ribbon. I was involved in our ceremony here in Surrey, held at our Woking office. Representatives from the Terrence Higgins Trust and National Health Service were present as we lit the candles.

Afterwards, we heard a moving story from Winnie, a local refugee services volunteer. She described her experiences fleeing from Zimbabwe and then learning of her HIV+ status. She vividly retold her struggle coming to terms with her positive status and also first hand how she experienced discrimination from her community. We were all moved and inspired by her story.

HIV & AIDS will kill more people this decade than all the wars and disasters in the past 50 years (Source:  IFRC). I think it’s so important that we continue our vital work tackling this disease, both globally and locally.

Across our area, peer educators have been running assemblies and sessions in their schools (or in one case, an impromptu HIV awareness session on a local bus!). These young people help reduce the cloud of fear that surrounds HIV and tackle the stigma present within our society.

Want to help us spread awareness of HIV & AIDS? Sign up as a peer educator now!

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Tags: AIDS, HIV, hiv and aids, peer education, stigma, World AIDS Day

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