Join us @ the Galle Face Green on the 23rd May, Sunday

Colombo Pride!

This year’s thrilling Colombo PRIDE celebrations include a variety of must see and must do events – a once a year celebration of diversity with Pride! Join us in a month long festival of fashion shows, film festivals, art & photo exhibitions, plays and kite flying and more -the first of its kind in Asia!

11-12 June: Youth Conference – “Live and Let live:Respecting Gender and Sexuality” (prior applications necessary – please apply through our website, application forms will be provided soon)

20th June: Rainbow Runway – Fashion show (Tickets for sale at EQUALGROUND from 10th June onwards)

24th June: Rainbow Pride party (Tickets for sale at EQUAL GROUND from 10th June onwards)

1 July: Special Film Screening – “Beyond Gay: The politics of Pride” – Hosted by the British High Commission

5-7 July:
• Rainbow Visions – LGBT Art and Photo exhibition
• Celluloid Rainbows – LGBT Film Festival – Hosted by the British Council

10th July: LGBTIQ theatre performance – “Leave a light on for me”

11th July: Rainbow Kite Festival on Mt. Lavinia Beach

Contact Equal Ground for details on venues, tickets, times and any other information.

Email: info@equal-ground.org/equalground@gmail.com
Tel: 94-11-2512977 or 5679766

There’s nothing that can’t be done if we raise our voice as one!

On behalf of the National Youth Coalition of Sri Lanka on Sexual & Reproductive Health and its affiliated organizations it’s with great pleasure that, we invite you and your respective organization to be a part of the International Candlelight Memorial Event 2010 to be held at the Galle Face Green on Sunday, May 23rd.

In an effort to raise the bar on Sri Lanka’s response to HIV & AIDS, a group of local organizations,  actively work in the field of HIV & AIDS, Sexuality and Sexual Reproductive Rights (SRH) have come together to form one collective voice! This coalition who have adopted the slogan ‘Together We Are the Solution’ as their mantra, believes in consistent and clear messages in terms of advocacy and awareness on HIV & AIDS, Sexuality and SRH.

Whilst Sri Lanka remains “a low prevalence” country HIV & AIDS infections are on the rise, 137 new infections were reported in 2009. Moreover, if we are to learn the lessons from other South Asian nations like India, a country that has a “low prevalence” of HIV should strive to remain a “low prevalence” country. Awareness, education and advocacy are needed now!

The HIV & AIDS response thus far in Sri Lanka has been focused mainly on most at risk populations (MARPS) e.g. Commercial sex workers, Intravenous Drug users, trishaw drivers, beach boys, etc. however the coalition believes that all populations matter, especially the youth, if we are to arrest the spread of HIV in our country. The marginalization of MARPS, the stigma and discrimination of people living with HIV (PLHIV) results from the silence and ignorance that surrounds issues related to HIV, sex and sexuality.

The coalition wants to go beyond isolated workshops, events that spring up around World AIDS Day, and seeks to challenge the young people and not so young people of our country to LEARN MORE! STAND UP! & SPEAK OUT! To remove the culture of silence and fear that surrounds HIV, sex and sexuality and to move towards and equitable society for all.

With the technical and financial support from FPA Sri Lanka and Standard Chartered Bank in Sri Lanka, Together We Are The Solution is to have its program at the Galle Face Green on the 23^rd of May 2010.

A team of volunteers from across the island will be trained in handling the event and activities, as Together We Are the Solution believes in clear and consistent messaging in their education and awareness programmes. Volunteers will first be trained in Colombo at the FPA Sri Lanka, 37/27, Bullers Lane, Colombo 07 on the 23rd May. The programme at the Galle Face Green will commence at 3.00 p.m. on the 23^rd May culminating with the candlelight memorial at 7.30 p.m. in order to commemorate the people who lost their lives due to HIV and AIDS and was stigmatized as a result of their HIV status.

read the complete press release here

the Candlelight Memorial Event postponed!

This is to inform you’ll that, the Candlelight Memorial event which was scheduled for the Sunday, May 16th 2010 has been postponed due to unavoidable circumstances.

The event will now be held on the Sunday, May 23rd at the Galle Face Green starting wt 3.00 p.m. onwards.

For more information, please feel free to contact either Janitha Basnayake on 071-4440234 or Paba Deshappriya on 071-8015702 .

The National Youth Coalition extends its great regret for any inconvenience caused due to the change in the dates.

together we are the solution!

So these are the activities planned for the 16 May (Sunday) at the Galle Face Green;

Refresher Programme for the Volunteers.

A short refresher programme will be done at the Galle Face Green itself to polish up the existing knowledge base within the coalition. Resources within the coalition of organizations and individuals will be used with no additional cost. The programme will commence at 12 noon along with lunch and will be of about 2 to 3 hours in duration.

A volunteer group of about 30 or more individuals are willing to be a part of this refresher programme. All material developed during the campaign last year will be used for this purpose.

One-on-one awareness raising programme.

Once the volunteers refresh their knowledge on the subject matter, they will start a one-on-one awareness campaign in the entire area. They will talk to the general public by giving out brochures and leaflets and there by generate interest to be receptive to information. Once they talk to them, the volunteers will pin a red ribbon to symbolize that, they have been given information related to HIV and AIDS.

The key to success in this activity is that, the more people you reach the higher the impact would be. Thus, the volunteers are encouraged to speak to more and more people and specifically the influential people in the surrounding such as the three-wheeler drivers, military personnel, etc.

Disruptive Theatre.

Disruptive theatre can grab the attention of the general public in seconds and it makes people think of their lives as they might not be aware the intention of the theatre and what’s actually happening. This avoids theatre being considered as just merely for entertainment. It is much easier and effective to give messages in this form rather than street drams and other tools.

Wesak Lantern making and lighting them along the Galle Road.

Since it’s the Wesak season and people are attracted to places where lanterns are being made and displayed, we believe that using Wesak lanterns to give a message on the candlelight memorial event. In other words, this will be the centre of attraction.

We intend to bring around forty readymade lanterns and leave it in the location while have an area where volunteers would sit and would be making more lanterns then and there. Soon after the public being caught their attention the volunteers would invite them to join them and make more lanterns. These lanterns will be decorated with red ribbons, etc. Any one is free to make any kind of lantern with the available resources.

Once the lanterns are made, those will be hung along the Galle Road and will be lit by the general public itself around 7.30 p.m. we would also invite key people like the Officer-in-charge of the Colombo Fort Police station, military personnel present in the area, etc to be a part of the entire event.

We believe that, these lanterns would give us a chance to commemorate the people who lost their lives due to HIV and AIDS and was stigmatized as a result of their HIV status. Also it would add more colour and glamour to the event. As mentioned earlier, this would be the centre of attraction at the venue.

Involvement of Celebrities.

We in tend to invite various celebrities and well known people to be a part of the event and help us out to talk to people, distribute brochures and pin red ribbons. This is done to ensure the fact that, HIV and AIDS can be infected by any person and it’s extremely all right to get involved and be activist in helping the others to protect themselves. We believe that, people would open up to well known personalities and would be much more receptive to information.

The celebrities and the known figures coming in for the event would be asked to act completely unaware of a planned event to make it much more interesting and spontaneous. They would pretend to be that, either they came to Galle Face randomly or saw something happening and was attracted. The public should not be aware that they were invited to the venue specifically for a event or so.

If anyone have contacts of people whom you could convince to come, please do so and let us know.

Banners and t-shirts with messages on HIV and AIDS.

All banners printed earlier for our previous campaign would be used for this purpose to keep the cost at a minimal. However, we are intending to print some t-shirts with messages on it and also as few give-a-ways for most supportive individuals in the location.

I have also attached the proposal with the budget in this email. Please go through and give comments. Also let us know if anyone knows of anyone who could fund this.

That’s about it.

So join us on the 16th and help us out!

Youth Statement at the Minister’s Meeting at the 9th ICAAP in Bali

Youth Forum Statement at CSE session with Ministries of Health & Education and UNFPA

In the last two days, over 150 young people ranged from 17 to 35 years, representing over 20 countries, came together in solidarity. The youth group at the second largest AIDS forum in the world, the 9th ICAAP, drafted a collective commitment to increase young people’s stake in programmes and policy processes that impact their lives and their rights.

As youth from Brunei, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Japan, China, Philippines, Brazil, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, Burma, Malaysia, Samoa, Lao, Papua New Guinea and South Korea, this commitment we make, is deeply personal. It is to achieve meaningful youth participation by developing strong adult peer partnerships, increase funding and capacity building for youth led and youth serving initiatives, mainstream human rights in the HIV and AIDS response for all young people, recognize and affirm young people’s sexual reproductive health and rights and eliminate stigma and discrimination amongst young people. And one wonders, what exactly does that mean? As a 24 year old who has been part of this incredibly diverse forum, there is a question that repeatedly comes up in all of our communities. Young people ask about it, in confusion. Parents ask about it, worried. Teachers and Schools wonder what to do with it, communities discuss it, in secret and our governments are still grappling with developing a comprehensive framework to implement it.

Why is sexuality so problematic?

Why as society, are we so scared to address any kind of sexuality education or rights cohesively? What stops us from giving young people complete rather than half baked information that is critical and life saving and that can protect them from disease, empowers them to be informed individuals and that teach them to be respectful to their own needs and desires and to be respectful towards the rights of others as well?

Why is there in all of our countries, this huge gap between what’s happening in our lives and how empowered young people are, to be able to address these issues within their own societies?

Sexuality Education is about young people’s right to know. The arguments based on cohesive Sexuality Education being against our cultural and moral values are invalid and do not justify denying young people the information and skills they need and are entitled to. Exhaustive research studies show that implementing comprehensive sexuality education does not lead to an increase in early sexual activity. Majority of the awareness work we do around the prevention of HIV and AIDS isn’t nearly half as effective as it should have been, because there is this underlying silence that no one will address. And as governments, as leaders, you cannot look away from the fact that young people are contracting HIV every day because they do not have the knowledge and tools to protect themselves. When you take the so called ‘safer route’ and substitute conversations about recognizing multiple sexuality and gender identities, staying healthy and protecting oneself from STI’s and feeling comfortable with one’s own body with conversations instead, about promoting self control and abstinence, you destroy any open space or possibility for conversation between young people and their families and communities.

No religion or society in the world, wants its young people to contract STDs, wants its young women to die in early childbirth or see violating inequalities between men and women. Comprehensive Sexuality Education is a framework that addresses each of these issues. It is not just about how to have sex, but rather about good quality school based sexuality, relationship and HIV education that increases the age of sexual debut and has positive effects on the risk of STIs and unintended pregnancies and attitudes towards people living with HIV.

It is also not automatically covered under the ambit of Reproductive Heath. When we replace curriculums on sexuality education and call them population control, family and life planning, health education, we need to ensure that we are still addressing sexuality as a basic component of human nature, that needs to be integrated in a larger framework of human rights. Young people from Asia and the Pacific commonly identified various gaps and highlighted best practices present in how comprehensive sexuality education was being addressed in their country, some of which I’m sharing with you today:

• Many young people at this forum have highlighted the problems faced with having decentralized governments. There needs to be a standardized approach taken to implement comprehensive sexuality education. Central governments need to be able to dialogue clearer with state governments or provinces, to lobby for a standardized, comprehensive approach that is made accessible not just in government schools, but to out of school youth and those in private and faith based institutions as well.

• We believe that the approaches the ministry of education and ministry of health in each country implement could be aligned to ensure a more effective outcome, making schools a safe space for such conversation.

• We also believe that UN organizations in each country can play a key role in ensuring that this happens, because they have access to spaces of influence with governments that as young people, we do not.

• The importance and need of explaining to young people, condom use as well as negotiating the same was flagged as critical. Young people from Malaysia and India specifically felt that this was lacking in the approach that their governments implemented.

• Youth from Pakistan, Malaysia, Papua New Gunea, Indonesia, Burma, Bangladesh and India felt strongly that comprehensive sexuality education is only effective if the form by which it is taught is without shame or embarrassment and that currently in their countries, a larger focus needs to be made on implementing peer education services, as this makes the information contextualization easier and more age appropriate.

• They also felt strongly that teachers implementing curriculums need to be trained. The Brazilian Government partnership with civil society organizations who have the capacity and infrastructure to be able to do this was a best practice highlighted. We believe that civil society organizations and peer education has greater potential to be able to correctly implement community specific comprehensive sexuality education and partnerships should be encouraged by governments in Asia and the Pacific. Young people from China and Japan endorsed the need for this strongly.

• Young People from Pakistan feel that the lack of a specific curriculum in sexuality education in Pakistan has led to limited information being made accessible in certain provinces of the country. A study by a recent NGO in the country revealed that sex education being conducted was not age appropriate, it was only in class 12 that many male students are taught anatomy and that often, frogs reproductive systems are used to explain human biology and sexuality.

• A greater effort needs to be made to dialogue with the positive power of faith and religion, as most young people pointed out those, religious texts such as the Holy Quran have clear passages that advocate for recognizing women’s rights as well as reproductive health. However, it is often in the interpretation of these texts and a lack of community understanding on interpreting religious beliefs that biases step in. In Bangladesh, Imams are trained and in Brunei, Christian priests have now been trained to address the HIV response.

• Many young people feel that counseling and testing services are not comprehensive in their countries, services are not affordable and healthcare professionals are judgmental and stigmatize often the services they are offering. In Papa New Guniea, youth pointed out that there is an understanding of the approach that needs to be taken, but simply a lack in implementing youth friendly services and an educational curriculum.

• Youth from Indonesia pointed out that comprehensive sexuality education is seen as an extracurricular activity and is not compulsory learning. We strongly feel that comprehensive sexuality education should be made age appropriate and mandatory for all young people.

• Moreover we are absolutely sure, that a pure abstinence based approach does not work, as it discourages, embarrasses and stigmatizes young people from asking honest, open and relevant questions. A sex positive approach that mainstreams sexuality as part of human rights to HIV is needed. The recent move by US President Obama to advocate for age appropriate comprehensive Youth Forum Statement at CSE session with Ministries of Health & Education and UNFPA. Sexuality education and replace abstinence only education is testament to this. Youth from Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Pakistan, Samoa and South Korea felt that this was a critical factor and were unable to communicate the same to their governments effectively.

• Youth from India highlighted the need to involve young people in reviewing and developing effective models to implement comprehensive sexuality education curricula. We also feel that young people are aware of the cultural sensitivities in their countries and are at times, better placed to develop approaches that are comprehensive yet practical and sensitive to the needs of the community that they will be used in.

It was clear that all 150 young people feel that in each of their countries, there needs to be a significant increase in recognizing diverse gender and sexual identities and addressing gender equity, both in their respective country’s legal and societal frameworks. We believe that you can pretend that an issue doesn’t exist in society and refuse to address it, but if you overlook entire communities of people and their fundamental right to express their own identity, you will only fuel anger. Governments weaken themselves when they do this and they are less respected by their own citizens. As youth, we need to see an increase of positive role models in governments.

Sexuality Education is guided by the principle, that by empowering young people and giving them safe spaces in society where they can ask questions, you are investing in develop a very critical human resource that builds the future and promise of any country. And to our minds, that’s exactly why we are we need to support implementing CSE. We believe these issues are key to empowering young people to protect themselves and that if you give young people their right to information, skills and services and that if you trust rather than judge who you think they are, young people can negotiate high-risk situations more effectively and reduce their vulnerability to a range of issues, specifically, violence, HIV and substance abuse.

We have been working for the past 5 months, through E consultations, skill building sessions, advocacy training to now at ICAAP, developing a special youth corner that hosts an adult and young people commitment desk. This commitment desk is testament to the fact that as young people, we will hold you, leaders, decision makers and governments, accountable to working with us. We hope you will raise the bar by making a commitment that highlights how our governments and ministries believe in investing in young people’s future and their rights and showcase best practices in how we can work together.

A comprehensive sexuality education framework has many benefits. It improves maternal health, integrating HIV and STI prevention, reducing unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortions, encourages democracy through building critical thinking skills and promotes gender equality by empowering young people and involving young men and boys. Our call to you is to redefine the possibility and potential of how we see and work with young people in our societies.

A participative, affordable, youth friendly, well-implemented comprehensive sexuality education framework is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. In this century, with poverty, HIV, climate change and global recession becoming a deadly reality, you cannot walk away. It is unforgivable, inexcusable and inhumane. As decision makers and political leaders, we need you to choose people over politics and development over silence.

As the youth forum from ICAAP, we believe in the positive power of what young people and decision makers can do, if they work together. We hope we can count on you, in the most meaningful way possible, to lead the change we need to see.

click here for the PDF version of this document

“Empowering People, Strengthening Networks” — 9th ICAAP opens

The President of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Hj. Dr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has officially opened the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), which this year takes place in Bali, Indonesia from 9-13 August under the theme “Empowering people, strengthening networks”.

At the opening ceremony, Mr JVR Prasada Rao, Director, UNAIDS Regional Support Team, Asia and the Pacific, has delivered a speech on behalf of UNAIDS Executive Director, Mr Michel Sidibé calling for the establishment of enabling environments and supportive social norms necessary to deliver a future generation free of HIV.

The Congress has drawn thousands of people together for five days of discussion around the AIDS response in the Pacific and across Asia. Together they will discuss a wide range of issues and contexts for the AIDS epidemic in these regions including mobility and migration, injecting drug use, human rights as well as gender.

According to Mr Rao “There will be evidence-based discussion on whether Universal Access can be an achievable goal by 2010 for many countries in Asia and the Pacific. Every facet of the epidemic and the region’s responses are featured in the wide array of session and activities.”

Mr Rao continued, “What is really impressive is that the conference will showcase the immense progress made by community groups, working together and in partnership with government and other partners, in spearheading the response in many countries in the Asia Pacific region.”

Congress Programme

The event, which takes place every two years, is broad in scope as it includes 24 symposia, 32 skills-building workshops, and 75 satellite meetings. Some 349 abstracts have been accepted by the programme committee for 64 sessions of oral presentations, and 1932 abstracts accepted for poster presentations. The other main goals of the event are to empower individuals and strengthen networks in the regions to effectively respond to AIDS.

Young people and women

The Bali Youth Force (BYF), a coalition of youth networks and organizations that has collective representation in all Asia & Pacific countries, encouraged significant youth participation in the 9th ICAAP.

UNAIDS Secretariat and its Cosponsors will participate and lead a wide number of events including the launch of a new report, HIV Transmission in Intimate Partner Relationships in Asia, that highlights the increased risk of HIV infection by women engaged in long-term relationships.

HIV epidemic in Asia and Pacific

According to the Independent Commission on AIDS in Asia (2008), AIDS remains the most likely cause of death and loss of work days among people aged 15 to 44.

An estimated 5 million people in Asia were living with HIV in 2007 according to 2008 report on the global AIDS epidemic. The several modes of HIV transmission present in the region, via sex work, injecting drug use, and unprotected sex between men; make Asia’s epidemic one of the most diverse in the world. The Pacific region’s epidemics are relatively small with an estimated 74 000 people living with HIV across Oceania in 2007.

ICAAP 9 – Youth Statement by the Bali Youth Force

Bali Youth Force is an integrated alliance of local and international youth organizations and young people from Asia and the Pacific coming together to collectively advocate for the rights of Young People at the 9^th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific. It is a united team of a diverse region.

The following recommendations are a compilation of the outcome of a month long online consultation with more than 50 Young people across Asia and the Pacific, as well as the experiences and inputs of over 130 youth delegates at the two day Youth Pre Congress.

1. Achieve meaningful youth participation

All young people have the right to meaningfully participate in programmes and policy making processes that affect their lives. Several international documents such as the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS, Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Conference on Population and Development Program of Action, the Beijing Platform for Action as well as the Millennium Development Goals recognize and endorse this. Our governments have committed to implement the provisions in these documents.

Decision-makers must:

• Institutionalize youth-adult partnerships in all local, national and international processes
• Ensure democratic processes for youth participation to have leadership role in developing, implementing and monitoring programmes and policies
• Ensure capacity-building for young people to access and engage effectively with policy processes

2. Strengthen financial commitments for youth-led and youth-serving initiatives

Youth-led organizations and groups have demonstrated a positive impact at international, national and local levels in responding to HIV and AIDS. Governments and donors must:

• Increase long-term funding for youth-led and youth-run initiatives
• Ensure adequate resources for operational and programme costs for sustainability
• Ensure youth access to existing funding mechanisms, making them youth-friendly

3. Mainstream Human Rights in the HIV and AIDS response for ALL young people

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that all people have the fundamental right to life, health, livelihood and dignity. These rights need to be respected, protected and fulfilled for all young people, including but not limited to:

• Girls and young women
• Orphans, street children and other vulnerable young people
• Young people who inject or use drugs
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer young people
• Young sex workers
• Young people in juvenile homes and prisons
• Young people living or born with HIV
• Young people living with disability

Human Rights Principles must be applied to all components of the HIV response from prevention and testing to treatment, care and support for all young people without discrimination.

4. Fulfill young people’s sexual and reproductive rights

Governments must respect, protect and fulfill young people’s sexual and reproductive rights, including but not limited to:

• The right to comprehensive sexuality education which enables young people to make informed decisions about their lives
• The right to comprehensive and youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services, especially condoms, contraceptives, safe abortion, emergency contraception, management / treatment for sexually transmitted infections, voluntary counseling and testing for HIV
• The right to express and enjoy their sexuality

5. Eliminate stigma and discrimination against young people (esp. marginalized young people)

Stigma is an obstacle for effective HIV prevention, testing, treatment, care and support for all young people. Universal access cannot be achieved without eliminating stigma and taking affirmative action. Young people living with HIV and other young people from key populations face layered stigma, thus increasing vulnerability. Governments and decision-makers must:

• Develop , enforce and monitor comprehensive anti-discriminatory laws and policies in partnership with communities
• Ensure adequate capacity-building and earmarked funding within all programmes for addressing stigma and discrimination

The Chaos Within… ‘Irida Pola’

Anuradhapura. The city of kings. Forgotten and re-remembered ruins. Temples and trees offering the devout all they desire… even peace. Just for a moment. Lost in the smells and bells of burning coconut oil and flowers that decay slowly as their fragrance drifts on a quiet wind from nostril to nostril…

Anuradhapura Sunday Market (Irida Pola). Screeching vendors. Riotous colour. Where sickly smells of fresh and rotting fruit compete. Stagnant pools of floating fish scales. Life milling together with life as bargains are sought and bags bulge, misshapen with produce. Into this chaos descended 52 TWATS (31 TWATS from the Anuradhapura district, and 21 TWATS from Colombo, who being the twats they are, had traveled for five hours in a sardine can on wheels).

The Sunday market or ‘Irida Pola’ is not just a melting pot… it is a cauldron of gooey, lumpy, tasty, nasty Sri Lanka. It is a frontline. It is where people are! A place where we can tick the boxes of young and old and everything in between… there is no better place to engage with unwitting ignorance and related prejudice. Fifty two twats were soon lost within, finding their way, probing and questioning and taking HIV to the Sunday shopper, when she least expected it.

Would they be reluctant to participate in quizzes? Would they fling our leaflets into the gutter? Would they wear a red ribbon to support people living with HIV? Would they understand?

These were our fears… our concerns, and in the end our realities that day. People were rushed and did not always stop to fill the quiz. People grabbed flyers reflexively and some did find their way to a crumpled grave on the pathway. And as for wearing a ribbon… here was our greatest challenge of the day. It was as if the pin we were using was tipped with HIV and that we were there with the express purpose of sticking it into them. The myth of HIV filled injections lying predatorily on seats in cinemas and buses have had their desired effect.

But the twats continued undeterred, rising to this challenge as only a twat can in the face of cultural excuses and hurriedness – need to get home! Questionnaires started to fill up. Even questions that included anal sex were ticked. Those expecting another mundane promotion on a leaflet were instead confronted with GET TESTED for HIV! And soon there were these ribbons that fluttered on vendors and shoppers like little crimson butterflies.

The disruptive theatre teams pushed forward. Questioning and arguing and creating a general stir that allowed for crowds to gather and listen to modes of transmission, myths, the possibility of living full lives with HIV, the sadness of stigma and discrimination.

In the end we had close to one thousand questionnaires to take home from a footfall of thousands. Nothing? Something? A real beginning. The beginning of our Pola Strategy. A strategy that will be refined. A strategy that will allow us to engage with real people. If we are to change perceptions and dispel myths, in the end there is nothing better than a discussion, over a cup of tea or even the sweet juice of an orange king coconut. People listen more when a face is before them, a face that is passionate, and faces that clearly believe it is worth spending their Sunday talking to other faces about HIV. Despite the hurriedness, despite the culture question, we found a willingness to listen… an acceptance that WE need to know more about HIV. Not one twat experienced any rejection beyond a shake of the head, or feigned deafness.

And so… as if by accident, the ‘Irida Pola’ campaign has just begun. Every city, town village has a market day, be it Sunday or another day of the week… now imagine us hiring out a space too at this market, where we put on display our wares… be it counselors, or necklaces made at IDH, or IEC material or condoms (under the table to be dispensed like drugs until the day comes that we can dispense them over the counter), where we fan out and infect others with our enthusiasm and passion and knowledge… and why limit it to sexual and reproductive health? Imagine what a team of twats can do for this country by connecting with real people, by using tools like disruptive theatre to address prejudices beyond HIV? And most importantly… to LISTEN to what people who go to the ‘Irida Pola’ have to say… because it is in listening that we learn what we need to say.

It helps being a twat. You never know what you may stumble on to…

Hans Billimoria

Breaking the Silence

Volunteers at the end of the programme facing for a group photo.

The First Candlelight memorial event under the banner “Together we are the solution”, a first of a series of 6 such events, which will lead up to World AIDS Day and beyond, took place last week at Excel World in Colombo. This series of events that will be implemented in 6 areas across Sri Lanka, including Anuradhapura, Kandy, Batticoloa, Negombo and Galle,  is aimed to raise awareness on Sexual and Reproductive Health, how HIV is spread, combat the stigma faced by people living with HIV, and dispel myths and misconceptions about HIV using interactive  and innovative tools using youth facilitators. The initiative funded by UNAIDS, and being implemented by a coalition that brought together 15 organizations including Positive Hopes Alliance, Lanka + (PLHIV Support organization), The Salvation Army, EQUAL GROUND, Alcohol and Drug Information Centre (ADIC), AIESEC, Save Lanka Kids, Beyond Borders, Companions on a Journey, The Youth committee of the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka, National Youth Coalition Sri Lanka (NYCSL), PANOS, Plan International, World Vision and The Women’s Support group.,

Posters communicating key messages dispelling myths relating to the stigma and discrimination faced by People Living with HIV (PLHIV) such as their ability to live normal lives were displayed in Excel World.

Trained youth volunteers conducted quizzes, and organised games such as risk or no risk, designed to test public knowledge and to help educate people about transmission of HIV aids. The game Risk or No Risk showed that many people had believed that a person can contract HIV through kissing an HIV+ person, or even by eating food prepared by a HIV+ chef. Many people who played were ignorant of the fact that many people contract HIV from unfaithful spouses. Participants were made aware of their misconceptions at the end of the game, and the actual modes of how HIV spreads were explained to them, as well as the measures which could be taken to stop the virus being transmitted.

Amongst the many activities conducted were a poster creation competition, where the best poster would be chosen for a programme that will be organized by UNAIDS for World Aids Day which falls on 1^st December and a graffiti floor so that the shoppers could write down messages, thoughts and responses to issues such as condom use, and how they would respond if one of their friends were to contract HIV. There was also the ‘Where do you stand?’ game, in which players decided that, if anything, they would do to avoid becoming infected by HIV. Most people said that they would either try and be faithful to their partners or use condoms as a key method of protective sex.

While the morning and early afternoon saw small numbers of participants, numbers picked up significantly in the latter half of the afternoon, and despite the fact that many people had misconceptions about HIV, they were all willing to learn from the volunteers, and show support to PLHIV by wearing the AIDS red ribbon. The closing event for the days programme, candlelight memorial, commenced with innovative play examining the prejudice that PLHIV face in Sri Lanka, and outlined how the vicious cycle happens: ’Silence’, ‘ignorance’, ‘fear’, ‘stigma’, ’iscrimination’ and ‘death’, after which everyone present, including volunteers and guests alike, took part in a pledge to educate each other about the discrimination faced by PLHIV.

One of the popular celebrities, Randhir spoke about the importance of raising awareness about HIV and AIDS and ‘packaging’ these messages to young people in a way that is familiar to them, “on their IPods” in effect. He then lit the first lamp on the stage… (so and so from such organization) followed suit in remembering those who had lost their lives to HIV and AIDS, not only in Sri Lanka but across the world.

The next programme will be conducted on 26 July at the Anuradhapura. Contact Prathiba on 0715869955 or Milinda on 0772543307.