Project Positive Awareness Seminar in Nuwara Eliya 

On 12^th January 2008 yet another “project positive” seminar was organized at the AOG Church Nuwara Eliya. . The purpose of the seminar was to create awareness on HIV/AIDS amongst the Christian youth and the Sunday school teachers. Over 80 participants comprising Sunday school teachers and the youth leaders in the district attended this seminar. 

It was freezing cold as we reached the programme venue in the early hours of 12^th January. With the assistance of the youth we arranged the venue as planned. The programme began with a time of devotion followed by a brief introduction about NCEASL. Before the first session began, the participants were invited to share their ideas and thoughts on the HIV epidemic and about the people who are infected with HIV/AIDS.

This helped to change certain misconceptions the participants had about HIV/AIDS and infected people. The seminar topics also addressed how HIV/AIDS spreads and how it does not spread. These sessions were very effective and helped to deepen the participants’ understanding about HIV/AIDS. In order to understand and appreciate the psychosocial support necessary for infected people the seminar included some aspects of psychology as well.

The participants were divided into teams where they discussed a case study on the topic “A person under the suspicion of having HIV/AIDS”.  The discussions helped the participants to reduce the stigma and discrimination against infected persons.

Thilini Madushani, a Sunday school teacher from Nuwara Eliya said “I did not want to attend this seminar as I always thought negative on this sort of programmes. But now I’m happy to say that the time I spent at this programme was very fruitful and I learnt a lot. It is also an immense help for the community. By using the hand book we got, I would be able to create awareness amongst my friends and my Sunday school students about HIV/AIDS”.

Sudath Karunaratne, another participant said “We need to reach out to families and create much needed awareness on HIV/AIDS. Being the eldest in my family I know my brother’s risky behavior. I would now start to advice him and also create awareness amongst my friends”. 

We have had very positive feed back from a number of participants. In fact they have requested us for communication materials such as community awareness brochures, government statistics, and latest information on the epidemic and other awareness material in order to conduct awareness programmes on their own. 

It was also very encouraging for us to note that compared to the past few years, Church leaders and Pastors responded well to holistic ministry. This reiterated the need for equipping churches to respond to social needs of the people they serve.