AIDS campaign - Thanks for praying!

Thanks so much for your prayers for last Friday's AIDS campaign! We had a wonderful campaign full of many successes including the following:

• No rain! Lots of sunshine (with no trees to hide under resulting in red faces, necks, and arms for us two white people--Juli and I)!
  
• Tons of people--between 6,000 - 7,000
• Lots of entertainment from many different groups ranging from school children to grandmothers, all singing songs about HIV/AIDS
• Exciting games including two bicycle races and a challenging football (soccer match) which ended in penalty kicks
• Collaboration among several organizations working in the area including: ELI, AMPATH, Ministry of Health, Deliverance Church, and the host organization, Agriculture Development Corporation
• Important messages of hope passed to the crowd from HIV+ individuals, government officials, chiefs, senator of the area, and all organizations involved in the day
• Testing, testing, testing!!! We had 20 VCT counselors set up in 3 tents who worked very hard all day long in the hot sun. At the end of the day, 748 individuals faced their fears and took courage to be tested and know their HIV status--419 men, 262 women, and 67 unknown (meaning we did not get the exact data of the 67 individuals). 3.5% of those tested were found to be HIV+ and were referred to the nearest AMPATH clinic for further counseling and treatment
• We have already started planning for our next big campaign, which will be held on Friday, April 20 in the village on Natwana. Thanks for joining us in the fight against HIV/AIDS...replacing fear with hope!

Blessings,
Allison and the entire Tumaini na Afya Team