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Action Card Briefing – December 2004
World AIDS Day is observed worldwide on 1 December and our card features a Red Ribbon Prayer Tree at an act of remembrance in Edinburgh.
The Prayer Tree provides an activity for all ages in a service. After learning about the challenge of HIV/AIDS in the world, everyone in the congregation is invited to write a short prayer or thought or the name of a country or some people on the back of a red ribbon card.
The cards can be prepared earlier. A simple white card with the outline ribbon could be coloured in as an activity, maybe the week before the service. With cotton attached, these can be hung on twigs to make a tree. Or some may prefer simply to blutac them to the shape of a Cross.
Alternatively you can prepare strips of red card (30 x 3 cm). Stick a small piece of double sided tape approx. 7 cm up the strip. People can then write their thought/prayer on the reverse, then make the ribbon by folding over and sticking to the tape. These will then hang on the twigs.
World AIDS Day is a unique moment when all of humanity is challenged to reflect on the way HIV and AIDS affects us and how we can respond to the pandemic – 40 million people live with HIV or AIDS. Every six seconds someone is infected. Every ten seconds someone dies.
This year the focus is on Women, Girls, HIV & AIDS. The UNAIDS led campaign urges everyone to learn and understand that the rise of the epidemic among women and girls is strongly related to gender inequalities in society. You can find out more at http://www.unaids.org/en/events/campaigns.asp
In the city of Hyderabad, India, the Henry Martyn Institute’s Aman Shanti Community Development Programme “Health for Peace” aims to
Many other organisations find it too challenging to work in the slums of the Old City, with Muslims and Hindus living so closely together. But HMI has built up trust over the years. At the initial HIV awareness sessions, the women were very reserved and shy about HIV, but gradually opened up, shared concerns and started talking with each other. But the major challenge remains the very conservative nature of the area where sharing information on sex and sexuality is seen as almost criminal by the men, particularly if the information is going to their wives or daughters.
Please send your card with a message of encouragement to
Mrs Rajeswari and Mr Abdul Majid Aman Shanti HIV Project Henry Martyn Institute 6-3-128/1 National Police Academy Road Shivrampally Rajendernagar Hyderabad 500 052 India
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