AIDS memorial dedicated to families
raising HIV/AIDS-infected youngsters
PHILIPSBURG--The St. Maarten AIDS Foundation, in collaboration with the HIV/AIDS Programme Management Team, celebrated St. Maarten’s eighth annual AIDS Candlelight Memorial themed “Never Give Up, Never Forget” with an evening of song, dance and poetry in the Philipsburg Cultural and Community Centre last night.
HIV/AIDS Programme Manager Suzette Moses-Burton noted that some 3,000 communities throughout the world celebrated this 25th annual memorial service.
The evening included an opening prayer by Pastor Wycliffe Smith, followed by speeches by State Secretary of Public Health Joan Smart-Berkel, Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards, Public Health Sector Director Jorien Wuite and President of the St. Maarten AIDS Foundation Dr. Gerard van Osch.
In her address, Smart-Berkel noted that despite improvements in dealing with HIV/AIDS worldwide, discrimination against HIV/AIDS-infected persons was still a major issue. She spoke of the negative impact of HIV/AIDS on the local economy as it threatened the numbers in the labour force and affected accumulation of savings by reducing incomes and increasing expenses.
Richards said he recognised the impact the Island Government and other organisations were making in the island’s efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and noted that while the Caribbean was the second worst affected region, some 42 million people in the world were living with HIV/AIDS, two million of whom were young children. He also noted that the majority of the HIV/AIDS-infected persons in the Caribbean were women.
In addition, he pointed out that if a cure was not found for the disease within the next 10 years, some 65 million people worldwide would die from HIV/AIDS.
Wuite said in her address that efforts of the education system in informing on HIV/AIDS should be recognised. She pointed out that despite there being a decline in HIV/AIDS cases on the island, that decline was still not drastic enough. She took the opportunity to dedicate the memorial to families raising HIV/AIDS-infected youngsters on the island.
Van Osch reflected on the positive and negative HIV/AIDS cases he had experienced before and on moving to St. Maarten some years ago. He said he had dealt with some 400 persons living with HIV/AIDS since moving to the island, each having a different story. His experiences, he said, had taught him humility and had unified individuals.
In addition to the messages delivered, the evening’s programme was highlighted by a preview of the Broadway musical “Rent” which will be performed by a local cast currently in preparation for its premiere on December 1, World AIDS Day. It also featured Motiance Adult Dance Company and poet Juliana Alexander.
Moses-Burton pointed out that the memorial, the largest grassroots event in the world, had been organised to honour and remember those who had lost their lives to HIV/AIDS, to support the millions living with the disease and to defend those not infected.
