Kind of a Repeat

Friends,

This entry is a significantly modified version of one that I made several weeks ago. It is also the cover letter that is accompanying a shipment of RedRibbon Pins to the Taylor's Landing Country Store in West Kingston, Rhode Island. The pins should be available there any day now, and as time progresses many more will hopefully be finding their way back to the states. If you're interested, please contact me, or visit Taylor's. (They also have the best coffee in town.)

Thanks,
Chris




In 1986 John Aremo of Nakuru, Kenya was diagnosed as HIV positive. For the next 17 years he defied medical understanding, living in good health with the virus, even while many friends and family passed away. This continued until one day in 2002 when he decided “If I hadn't died after 16 years, God must have something he wants to do with me." This spiritual revelation led him to seek the assistance of others, and in 2003 he began attending the Love and Hope Center, a Catholic support center near his home. It was there that he first learned the value of "positive living" - a clever slogan that emphasizes the value of a proactive approach to living with HIV, while also alluding to the patients' HIV status. As John says, "there is still life after infection."

It was also at the Love and Hope Center where John first learned how to use a safety pin and a meager handful of beads to make emblems with the red AIDS ribbon. After the first lesson, John immediately saw their value to promote awareness and fight discrimination. Stigma was becoming a major problem in his life, and he was no longer able to find employment. When his wife passed away from the disease, he turned to the beads as a limited but effective means of providing for himself and his daughter. They gave him hope for the future, and also an escape. "When I am working with the beads I forget that I am sick,” says John.

In 2004 ARVs became free for all Kenyans. Shortly thereafter, John’s health began to rebound. It was in the same year that was invited to Nairobi to be part of the fledgling "Ambassadors of Hope" program. He received detailed information on how to improve the quality of his life through diet and exercise. He learned about preventing the spread of the disease, and how to fight stigma. Perhaps most importantly, he was trained in counseling other HIV+ individuals and on educating those without the disease. He eventually found the strength to go public with his status, telling friends, family, and ultimately his entire community about his illness. In a country where millions of people have died from HIV because of a refusal to acknowledge the illness and receive treatment, this was a monumental decision. John persevered, and today he can be found all over Nakuru, encouraging others to learn their status and to believe in the importance of a positive lifestyle, with or without HIV.

This work has also allowed him to continue making Red Ribbon pins, and to spread the skill to other HIV+ individuals. He has trained numerous support groups, including a small meeting of HIV+ single parents at the Nuru Ya Jamii (Light of the Community) Center at the Nakuru Chapter of the Red Cross. These parents continue to fight the same debilitating medical, social, and financial challenges as John, and joining together to talk about their struggles and make these pins brings them hope, strength, and the promise of a better future.