HIV/AIDS awareness campaign

When David and Amos started work in Ago-Are they had no office, certainly no Information Centre, and no funding. They decided they needed to show that the Information Centre was becoming a reality, and would be a source of information. They chose to start with an HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, for various reasons: The campaign was arranged for December 2002. It was to last a week and cover a number of locations. David organised it through local networks and by travelling to Ibadan to liaise with people through the email bureaux there. It seemed that all the plans were in place, and financial support had been agreed. At the last moment there were problems. Release of the promised funds was delayed and on the first day of the campaign it became obvious that the money was never going to arrive. It seemed that the campaign must be cancelled.

The team, however, was determined, committed and adaptable. The scope and length of the campaign was reduced to locations within easy reach of Ago-Are and the time was reduced to only two days. People gave their time freely, covered their own travelling costs, and the committee provided refreshments. OCDN had started to provide information to the community, and it was in the local language in a way that everyone could understand. Now there was a proper health SIG (with the proposed InfoCentre as its focus).

The involvement in HIV/AIDS awareness has continued. In March 2003 another HIV/AIDS awareness event was arranged, this time in Okeho. David is now the VSO HIV/AIDS southwest representative working with an organisation known as Society for Family Health (SFH). Future SFC plans include radio discussion groups. Radio broadcasting will be supplemented by the provision of cassette players, tapes and batteries.