Fighting HIV/AIDS: ACAN OBSERVES 5TH ANNIVERSARY

Pastor Welcome praying with ACAN Executive Officers

ACAN’s 5th Anniversary was observed at a Prayer and Thanksgiving Service at the Dominion Faith Centre in The Valley on Sunday, November 13, where the Foundation’s executive members were welcomed by Pastor Dexter Welcome and congregation. The event was also part of a series of activities in the run-up to World Aids Day on December 1.

Members of Dominion Faith Centre

ACAN’s President and CEO, John Lake, saidthe organisation was formed by him in 2006 to work within the community and in churches in Anguilla to help stem the disease and support victims. In 2008 ACAN was registered in Mexico as part of the world-wide struggle against the disease.Mr. Lake spoke about the organisation’s continuing work on the island and the support it was receiving from various groups and individuals. He reported that next yearACAN would be presenting a new strategic plan for the way forward. And he was pleased that Anguillian Mrs. MaezaDemis-Adams was appointed Director of the National STI and HIV/AIDS Programme and to be working closely with her.
ACAN’s Secretary, Claudette Pickering, said one of its main aims was to work towards removing the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS. She stressed that it was not easy for persons living with HIV/AIDS to be shunned by even their loved ones who, in fact, should love, embrace and support them.

Members of Dominion Faith Centre

“It is not easy for someone to come out and say to the public that he or she is HIV positive. It takes a strong person to do that,” she stated. “ACAN is seeking to make such persons strong, to give them the kind of support they need and to help them to live a better life in the community.”

Magistrate Benjamin, Catherine Firth, Pastor Sams, Maeza Demis-Adams, Mrs. Welcome, John Lake and Pastor Welcome

Mrs. Demis-Adams, the National STI and HIV/AIDS Director, asked the congregation to pray about the challenges ahead. “HIV/AIDS continues to pose a serious threat to our region’s public health, accounting for the leading cause of death among persons between the ages of 20 and 59,” she stated. “The National AIDSProgramme cannot undertake this challenge alone. The church, a pillar of our society, must play a pivotal role in combating the virus and disease. It is especially important for the church to stand for equal and fair treatment of persons living with HIV. The church must champion the eradication of stigma and discrimination.”

She commended Mr. Lake and the members of ACAN for their work in a community that was still not so open to the disease, and wished them continued success.

Head of the Governor’s Office, Catherine Firth,said that the church service was also part of a series of activities marking the observance on World Aids Day. “We would normally talk about marking World AIDS Day, but I think we should say celebrating World AIDS Day,” she said. “I think we have a lot to celebrate and to be thankful for. We need to celebrate how far we have come over the last thirty years, since the first AIDS case was reported, but there is still a long way to go; there is still a lot of stigma associated with AIDS and with people who are HIV positive.
“Right from the beginning people have been stigmatised; they have been ostracised; they have lost their jobs, their families and everything. People thought, and some still think, that simply by touching somebody with AIDS they will catch the disease. People thought AIDS was a death sentence. Unfortunately, for some, it was, but for a lot of people they have gone on to live very healthy lives. We really have much to be thankful for. Over the last 30 years, treatment has improved and access to treatment, as well, is so much easier. People with HIV/AIDS live normal lives; and a lot of them do an awful lot more than that; and we have some of those people with us today.

“They choose to spread the word; they choose to educate people…on prevention and management. They are not afraid to say that they are HIV positive…On top of that, they offer support to other people who are perhaps anxious or afraid because they don’t know and are scared about their future. And they offer themselves as examples to everybody as to how they can live healthy lives with HIV and contribute a great deal to society; and that’s what ACAN is all about.”

Pastor Welcome said he had been part of the fight against HIV/AIDS for about ten years since the inception of his ministry. “One of the reasons I am so passionate about this is because I have lost friends to HIV/AIDS,” he recalled. “When I came to Anguilla, I decided that this is going to be part of our fight. There are folks who ask: ‘Pastor Welcome, Why?’ I ask the question: ‘Why not?’ If Jesus was on earth, this is what He would have been involved in. He would have been with those who were stigmatised and rejected by society and have issues. These were the crowd whom Jesus was attracted to.”

Pastor Welcome spoke about his inspiration by John Lake who openly admitted to be HIV infected, but who busily walks around in the forefront of the fight against the disease. “He has turned this thing into a blessing,” the Pastor said. “It was a steppingstone for him and he recognisedthat as victim he will go out there and make sure it doesn’t hit anybody else. Though I am a Pastor, I am inspired by his energy and I am really excited by him.”

Following the end of his sermon, Pastor Welcome said special prayers for Mr. Lake and the other executive members of ACAN as well as the Director and staff of the National STI and HIV/AIDS Programme. Resident Seventh-day Adventist Minister, Pastor Virgil Sams, who was invited to the service, also joined in the prayers.Magistrate Ivenia Benjamin, who was among the large congregation,was accorded special recognition for her work in the Magistracy.