CIRC youth volunteers come out to mark World AIDS Day

The Cayman Islands Red Cross (CIRC) volunteers were out in full force this past Saturday, December 1st, in an effort to raise local awareness of HIV and AIDS and to help mark the internationally recognized World AIDS Day.

Youth volunteers from the Red Cross’ 'Together We Can' Peer Education Programme were at the forefront of the initiative which featured an eye-catching tee-shirt campaign, pledge cards, and awareness “tags”.

“This year we really wanted to do something which was visible and thought-provoking,” explains CIRC’s  Programmes Manager Carolina Ferreira. 

The shirt campaign, she goes on to explain, served three main purposes.  First it was intended to get people’s attention.  “It is not everyday in Cayman that you see persons wearing a t-shirt that reads “HIV+” in bold letters, right on the front,” she says. 

Second, it was intended to raise awareness of voluntary testing.  “The back of the shirt, which reads “…until proven negative. Get tested.”, is aimed at challenging the assumptions that we make about people’s HIV status.  We assume that people are HIV negative based on their appearance, profession, economic or social status, and we forget that HIV does not discriminate on those basis.  It is estimated that as many as 9 out of 10 persons living with HIV do not know it.  Take this figure in consideration with another, which estimates that as many as 1 in 50 adults in the Caribbean are living with HIV and AIDS, and you can see the magnitude of the problem.  We need to begin encouraging our people to get tested not because they are applying for jobs, not because they’re trying to get a house, or a travel visa, but because they care about their health,” she explains.

Finally, the third aim of the shirt was to target the issue of stigma and discrimination. 

“We cannot say it often enough: it is not who you are but what you do that puts you at risk for contracting HIV.  It is time that we step away from that mentality of referring to persons living HIV and AIDS as “those people” or “them people” and remember that we are all people who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.  Furthermore, the more we discriminate and stigmatize HIV, the more we will discourage people from wanting to know their status, and the more easily and readily the virus will spread,” she adds.

Nearly 100 persons proudly wore their tee-shirts on Saturday.  “I am so grateful to all those who were able to assist us by simply wearing the t-shirt while running errands, it really helped raise visibility” states Ms. Ferreira.

“I am specially thankful for our young volunteers from the Peer Education programme at John Gray High School.  They came out from early in the morning until the late afternoon and really put themselves out there, talking to people, answering questions, and even taking some less-than-friendly looks.  It takes a lot of courage to stand up for something that is still perceived to be so controversial, specially at such a young age.  I am incredibly proud of them.”