Carrying red and white candles adorned with red remembrance ribbons, about 35 people on St. John held a candlelight vigil at the Marketplace Shopping Center to observe World HIV/AIDS Day.
“In the darkness, this little flame becomes important,” the Rev. Lillette George said.
St. Croix marked the day with a march and candlelight vigil in Frederiksted. Volunteers with V.I. Community AIDS Research and Education (VICARE) set candles at the base of the Eliza McBean clock tower.
Clad in red T-shirts, the young men and women of the V.I. Superior Court Rising Stars steel pan band of St. Croix set up their steel drums and awaited the arrival of marchers.
VICARE case manager Norma Hassell was on hand preparing to speak during the evening’s ceremony.
“Today we show support for those infected and everyone else affected by HIV/AIDS,” Hassell said. “And tragically, it is here in very high numbers. We are here too, to think about all those who were here but were taken by AIDS and to give remembrance to them.”
Earlier in the day, Helping Others in a Positive Environment, better known as HOPE, opened its St. John office on the third floor of the Marketplace. Director Ivy Moses said that in addition to AIDS and HIV testing, education and prevention, the office will offer testing for heart disease, obesity and diabetes. The office is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
According to Moses, HOPE testing showed two St. John residents had HIV/AIDS, bringing the total in the St. Thomas/St. John District to seven. This number only reflects testing done by this agency, not the territory’s total number.
While testing is available, treatment is not, and Moses said the lack of treatment deters people from getting tested.
Women on St. Thomas and St. John are most at risk from men who have sex with both men and women.
“They are putting a lot of St. Johnians at risk,” she said.
The vigil brought out both St. John and St. Thomas residents. Sidney Bell, a physical education and health teacher at Joseph Sibilly School on St. Thomas, said that a more concentrated effort should be made to get the word about HIV/AIDS to elementary school students.
Later George touched on the same issue, noting that youths today are sexually active.
The St. John vigil also featured performances by the pantomime performance group, Unity Dancers, and the Gospel Tones.
Preventing infection through condom use and other safe sex measures is crucial to controlling the spread of the deadly disease, Hassell said. But getting tested is also crucial.
“Testing is free; and we use the newer swab test, so there is no needle,” she said.
Anyone on St. Croix can come to VICARE’s Christiansted offices at 43 Queen Street and get tested for free from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, she said.
Dr. Richard Olans, who oversees HIV/AIDS clinics in the territory, was there on behalf of the V.I. Health Department.
“We have a wonderful victory in that AIDS is no longer a rapid death sentence,” said Olans. “But it is still a deadly disease, and our failure is we haven’t controlled its spread.”
In years past, HIV was predominantly found in a younger demographic, but in recent years both the nation and the territory has seen a growing group of new patients in the 50-plus demographic, said Olans.
With the Rising Stars steel drums beating the air, marchers arrived on the waterfront with a big VICARE banner leading the way. Right behind came a few dozen VICARE volunteers, family members, patients, well-wishers and a squadron of uniformed JROTC students.
There was a ceremony, with welcoming remarks and a few short speeches about the importance of testing and prevention. Luz Vanderperk read a portion of President Obama’s World HIV/ AIDS Day declaration.
At the end of the ceremony, family members, survivors who have lost loved ones and well wishers walked to the end of the Frederiksted pier, read poems in remembrance of those who have passed and threw handfuls of rose petals into the water.