AIDS awareness can be a difficult subject to approach. For many, there is still a stigma attached to the disease, which can make it tough to have frank and open discussions about how to prevent the spread of the disease as well as how to live with it.
Although a lot of attention is focussed on the disease on World AIDS Day, the fight against the disease is a year round effort, according to Margaret Michaud of the Cayman AIDS Foundation.
“This year we decided that it would be wise to do the Awareness Festival to just remind people that although HIV is highlighted on World AIDS Day, December 1st, it is something that people live with all year round,” she says.
On 18 and 19 March, the foundation, along with The Brickhouse and onetreefourfive.com, in association with in association with the TiNK Again Youth Empowerment Project by ONe 345, will be hosting an Awareness Festival at Grand Harbour.
“You can expect to come out and hear local musicians, see some local talent, appreciate the local artists and crafts people who will be setting up and sharing this moment, and we will also have prizes and surprises,” says Margaret.
One of the local artists to become involved in the initiative early on is fashion designer Luigi Moxam on One 345.
“We would like to invite all interested artists to join us in celebration of our local community coming together to support the great work Cayman AIDS Foundation is doing in not only raising awareness of HIV prevention but also as a proactive endorser of Youth Empowerment and education initiatives here in Cayman,” he says.
According to Margaret, the support from the local arts community has been overwhelming.
“Local artists and musicians have come forward and said ‘We believe in the cause, we believe in a united front, and all of us getting together to keep the awareness of HIV, to decrease the numbers and to increase the support for those local people who are living with this illness,” says Margaret.
The event will feature a wide range of events, including the opportunity for those attending the festival to contribute to a community art project, which will displayed as a community mural as a representation of the community’s support of HIV awareness.
“It will be for youth empowerment, because the age most affected by this illness is people in their twenties and early thirties and is very high in the Caribbean region. So we’re saying come on let’s all get together and have prevention programmes and supportive programmes instead of waiting for the crisis to hit – let’s get ahead of the ball and get ahead of the whole game,” says Margaret.
The work of various local artists will be on display, with art and CDs on sale, as well as opportunities to win prizes including art by various artists at the event. The festival will also feature a viewing of the trailer for film When No-one’s Looking.
Best of all, entry to the event is free, but as it is a fundraiser for the Cayman AIDS Foundation as well, the proceeds from sales at the event will go towards the programmes run by the foundation.
“We have seen throughout the world that there is power in numbers, and the message becomes more powerful the more people we have giving that message, which is one island, many cultures, but one vision, together we will stop it. We are a blended community that works together,” says Margaret.
The week leading up to the event there will also be a host of events at various night clubs in efforts to raise awareness and donations towards CAF. The music of local musicians will also feature prominently, according to Luigi, who says the organisers want to do their part in “showing love back to artists for their support as well”.
For more information on the events, visit onetreefourfive.com community page to learn more about the event, as well as how you can get involved to support the efforts of CAF.
For more information on the Cayman AIDS Foundation, visit www.caf.ky