Helping Others in a Positive Environment (HOPE) held its World AIDS Day candlelight vigil to remember those who died of HIV/AIDS, while taking a proactive approach to prevention by handing out condoms.
HOPE Chief Executive Officer Ivy Moses said the organization does this regularly at several bars and a barbershop on St. John.
“They get 200 to 250 condoms every month,” she said as she waited for the vigil to begin on the lawn of Nazareth Lutheran Church.
There are baskets of condoms in Cruz Bay at Mooie’s Bar, Cap’s Place, W&W Fast Food, and the St. John barbershop. In Coral Bay, they can be found at Skinny Legs Bar and Restaurant.
The condom distribution helps to increase HOPE’s visibility but the organization’s goal is to increase testing. It provides free testing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center and from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at its office on the second floor of the Marketplace shopping center.
“All of our workers come from St. Thomas so confidentiality is not an issue,” Moses said, referring to how news travels in St. John’s small community.
In addition to handing out condoms, a group of about a half-dozen HOPE staff members had a PowerPoint presentation set up to educate people about HIV/AIDS. Although the Caribbean accounts for a relatively small share of the global epidemic, HIV prevalence among adults is about 1.0% — a rate higher than anywhere else in the world except sub-Saharan Africa.
According to Moses, HOPE tests about 20 people a year on St. John. She said that of those 20, two tested positive. They’re black, white, Hispanic, male, and female.
“They run the gamut,” Moses said.
Although the testing and treatment is available on St. John, Moses said too many people aren’t getting tested.
“There are a lot of unknowns on St. John when it comes to HIV/AIDS,” Moses said.
Moses said it’s imperative to get tested soon because funds for free testing as well as treatment are in danger of drying up as the federal government struggles to trim its budget. Hopefully, HOPE will be able to continue its work on St. John and St. Thomas.
The candlelight vigil, held the day before the Dec. 1 date of World AIDS Day, attracted a handful of people who stopped to remember those who died of HIV/AIDS.
“We are celebrating their lives,” Shamika Thomas, director of women’s and girl’s programs at HOPE, said as she held her candle in remembrance.
