Channels of Hope for HIV Facilitator Training

December 1st was World AIDS Day and Channels of Hope facilitators around the world took to the streets, homes and airwaves to bring a message of hope. Here are just a few examples from around the world of what they did:

In India we conducted a day of HIV awareness and teaching. Forty-five children and their parents attended. Afterwards we played games and distributed some gifts and prizes. It was a good opportunity to look back and reflect, but also to look to the future with hope.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Annemarie has been busy running Channels of Hope workshops for faith leaders and Bible school students leading up to World AIDS Day. On World AIDS Day itself those who had attended the workshops took to pulpits around the region with HIV awareness and de-stigmatising messages. One of the students who went through the workshop is a good singer and leads a choir. He and the choir sang a special song about AIDS to commemorate World AIDS Day. Annemarie has a lot more Channels of Hope workshops and other events already planned for 2020.

In Trinidad and Tobago the front page of a newspaper featured our Channels of Hope trainer Merle, recognising her decade of selfless service to people living with HIV. Merle was also part of an initiative to flood social media with messages about HIV and AIDS.

In Zambia the team attended a Candle Night vigil. Whilst there they had the unexpected opportunity to share about the work that they are doing in Zambia. The leader of the vigil encouraged everyone in the audience to emulate the example of AIDSLink and be part of raising HIV and AIDS awareness in their communities.