St Lucia Red Cross help sensitise Rastafarians about HIV/AIDS

Think HIV, and one of the groups that you would not think of including is the Rastafarian community.  But on December 12th, the thinking changed as 15 Rastafarians from different communities in St Lucia gathered at the St Lucia Red Cross Headquarters to attend a one-day sensitization on HIV/AIDS.

The activity was initiated by the Empress Menen Organisation and supported by the National AIDS Programme Secretariat.  Resource persons for the workshop included Marva Edward and Terencia Gaillard who facilitated sessions on the "Facts of HIV" and "Stigma and Discrimination".

At the end of the day, the evaluation of the activity indicated that the Rastafarian community was very satisfied with the opportunity to be educated on HIV.  But more especially, the St Lucia Red Cross and the group has established links to continue HIV education through the Together We Can Programme.

The members of the community will be trained as instructor trainers, and peer educators of the programme during the first quarter of 2006.