Aids prevention in Gulu
19/06/2007
SOS Children in Gulu, in partnership with several organisations, recently increased its work to create awareness of HIV/AIDS.
It is estimated that close to two million people live in IDP refugee camps in Uganda, many of them because of the civil war in the north. Living in such close proximity with each other and often with little to do except struggle to survive, has changed the social behaviour of many people in the area, contributing greatly to the spread of HIV/AIDS. According to UNAIDS about 6.7% of Uganda's adult population (15 to 49) are infected with HIV. Is it any wonder then that over 1,000,000 children in Uganda have become orphans through HIV/AIDS?
SOS Children is among several organisations that are intervening to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS through the services provided at the SOS Medical Centre and through the family strengthening programme (FSP), a community-based outreach programme. Hundreds of people from the community have voluntarily turned up for HIV/AIDS testing since the inception of the testing services in 2005, the majority of whom are women. 86 families in the community, as part of the FSP programme, receive regular HIV/AIDS sensitisation given by the SOS social workers. Additionally, twelve FSP families with HIV positive children receive additional nutritional support, medical care and counselling.
Football spreads the AIDS message
The Concordia Volunteer Abroad Programme (CVAP) from Concordia University in Canada, which partners with SOS Children's Village Gulu, and a local community-based organisation, Health Alert, recently organised a joint AIDS awareness week, during which radio announcements and chat shows took place. The activity-packed week had its climax with a three-day soccer gala in Pece Stadium (close to the SOS Children's Village), intended to create HIV awareness among youth, as well as to encourage them to take an HIV test.
The soccer gala attracted thousands of young people. SOS staff played a match with the CVAP student volunteers, in which CVAP won, 3-0. And while the football matches were going on, SOS medical co-workers and Health Alert staff, assisted by the CVAP student volunteers, were busy testing and counselling young people in two tents situated beside the football pitch.
Relevant Countries: Uganda.