The District Officer's administrative premises at Kibwezi town in Makueni district was the scene of a gathering of partners and the public on Friday 23 March 2007 to highlight the need to totally eliminate and eradicate stigma against those living with HIV and AIDS.
Commencing with a prayer and then a vibrant, colourful procession through Kibwezi, the participants were then treated to skits and poems highlighting the ignorance that is so deep-seated which gives birth to hostility and fear towards people living with HIV and AIDS.
With the theme for the day, “Let’s Stop Stigma, We Are All Affected,” speakers reiterated the danger that stigma poses if not nipped in the bud and brought to an end, both stigma by the uninfected directed towards those infected, and self-stigma on the part of those who are HIV-positive.
Extoling the courage of those who are HIV-positive and go public in order to help stop the spread of AIDS, HWWK Assistant Youth Program Officer, Rayola Osanya-Nyynéque added, “Let us all stop stigma because we are all affected, we can all be part of the solution and we each can make a difference.”
Pastor Ben, talking of modeling our message, said, “if we preach abstinence, we must live it out, if we call for an end to stigma, we must first kill it in ourselves.”
The District Commissioner, in a speech read on his behalf by District Officer 1, Florence Obuga, said, “We must talk about HIV and AIDS at every opportunity including public gatherings so that we can open up people’s minds and stop stigma.”
Cyrus of ACT Now VCT and Youth Centre declared, “There can be no sustainable development where there is stigma, so we must all work together to eliminate stigma.”
The message was clear: each of us must play his part and do so with urgency.
A meal together brought a celebratory end to the
Day’s proceedings as drum beats and the energy of dancing filled the Kibwezi evening air.
