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Igat Hope

10:28 AM, Monday, 22 May, 2006

I was lucky enough to be invited to an HIV vigil yesterday for the organisation Igat Hope (There's Hope). So I dragged some enthusiastic friends to The Holiday Inn, where the vigil was being held. We arrived a little late, and the service was already running in Pidgin, but it was ok and we sat at the back. It was the most amazing service - all about how there's always hope for people.

The room was filled by people living with HIV and their family, carers and friends - there would have been at least 100 people there. Several people spoke about their own experiences, all of whom were very brave because HIV can be a very taboo subject in PNG. The service was made even more poignant when one woman spoke about having lost her two children recently, and her partner the night before. Everyone in the room knew this man, because he was a board member of the organisation and a real motivator for the sector, but only a few already knew that he had passed away a few hours ago - a wave of grief spread through the whole audience at the news.

Speaking with people afterwards I was taken aback by their courage and optimism, even in the face of such a terrible blow to the organisation. PNG has one of the most rapidly increasing infection rates in the world and with very few education and health services, particularly in rural areas, and little or no surveillance anywhere the outlook is quite terrifying. With this situation it would be easy to become nihilistic when thinking about the work that I'm doing here in the HIV sector, but with organisations like Igat Hope it's exciting and inspiring.

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Comments

Fantastic to hear that you're hooking up with such inspiring people Carolyn. Definitely sounds like Igat Hope.

Posted by: Tori | May 22, 2006 11:37 AM

You are a lucky person, to have the inner strength to be able to be doing what you're doing, and to be surrounded by people who are so inspirational.

Posted by: Katia [TypeKey Profile Page] | May 22, 2006 8:59 PM

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