World AIDS Day

(blog entry written Tuesday, December 2nd)

Yesterday I had the pleasure of celebrating World AIDS Day here in Rukungiri with friends, coworkers, community leaders, and others who have come to be important people in my life. The day was incredible—an entire day spent commemorating those in the fight against HIV/AIDS with an emphasis this year on ‘Leadership.’ We set up a big party tent, 100 chairs, a speaker system (run by generator) and watched as the crowds arrived. Over 500 people attended, eager to see skits, musical performances, traditional dances, role plays, to listen to personal testimonies from those living with HIV/AIDS, and to hear from the guest speakers. Our own RUGADA team performed a role play to show how HIV affects the human body’s immune system. Women’s groups from all over the area came to present drama shows they had created, to sing songs with clever AIDS-related lyrics, and to dance. For hours the crowds watched as their peers voiced concerns over the effect AIDS has had on their lives, as they spoke of both the hardships and the positive attitude they take towards their illness. It was this positive attitude in fact which carried the mood of the day. A passerby happening in on our event would assume that our gathering signified joy rather than sorrow, hopefulness rather than despair. The song and dance were jubilant, the guest speakers were positive, and the children around were engaged in constant fits of laughter. As the function came to close, one could sense the unity felt among attendees—between those who’ve tested positive for the virus, those who have not, and all of us as a whole who’ve had our lives affected somehow by HIV/AIDS.

In the evening I was given the special privilege to speak on our local radio station, Radio Rukungiri (96.9). As part of RUGADA’s HIV prevention project, we have a weekly radio slot Mondays at 7PM. Our project’s coordinators thought it would be wise to have me on as a guest speaker because of the special day. Along with a few other project staff, I spoke about the importance of leadership in the fight against HIV/AIDS—leadership on the individual level, leadership of NGOs, and leadership for those in political and religious positions. Seeing as most people here do not have television, radio programs are widely listened to, and as I witnessed today by the number of comments I received, our program was no exception. Fitting right in with the day’s mood, the show remained positive, with lots of laughter on the air. I’ve categorized my radio debut as a success :)


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This morning it was back to reality for me. It’s not that yesterday’s events were unreal or idealistic, rather I had almost forgotten the severity of the disease amidst the joy and jubilation of the day. Today I watched a woman, so sick she could not walk, stumbling, clinging to life’s last threads, approach our local TASO (The AIDS Support Organization) center for care. TASO’s other clients, all HIV+, helped the woman off of a motorcycle (how she had been carried in) and into the center where she could be seen by a doctor. I then walked inside to the children’s playroom where I watched a young HIV+ girl, maybe 6 or 7 years old, tie an old babydoll to her back just as Ugandan women carry their children. The girl had a bright smile on her face, a certain innocence, naivety, and as she imagined herself a mother, I myself had to wonder how it can be that she’ll never make it to child-bearing age.

The juxtaposition of joy and sobriety surrounding HIV/AIDS makes all the work worthwhile. From the joy we are motivated and inspired, and from the sobriety comes inspiration of a different sort. We are proud that here in Uganda people can be open about their HIV status without fear of much stigmatization—that they can sing and dance and let their neighbors know they are infected. We are also proud that many infected Ugandans have places to go when they are at their sickest, whether a health center, an NGO, or into a friend’s loving home.

I’ll leave you with that.

Much love,
Megan