It was something i wanted to do for a long time, but didn't get around doing it. Putting it off for some other time and eventually the some other time becomes stale in my feeble memory capacity.
Then somehow, two months back i had the opportunity to mingle with people from World Vision while helping them out in their site office and when they told me that they were in need of volunteers to help man the exhibition for an event, i thought this was it. I signed up and i'm really glad i didnt pull out / put off till another time.
The exhibition was an interactive one, where one get to walk in the shoes of children who are affected by HIV/AIDS and child trafikking.
The stigma is real, the numbers are increasing (especially in Negaraku tercinta) and the saddest part is that some are suffering silently because of the stigma that comes with it; which is totally unnecessary.
Prior to this, i dont see how i can make any difference or how the situation can be any different by just experiencing the exhibition, going through the motions.
But i realise, knowledge is power and it really is. By just being better informed, the stigma can slowly be broken.
Only pic i had with Sue Ern and it turns out blur. Aiks
The coolest part was to be able to bring some of the junior BB boys for it the very next day and i'm glad that they seemed positive about it. One question that was posed to me by a student just before his turn to walk in, which i find it to be totally out of the blue was,
"Teacher, is it scary? Looks like a haunted house."
With the BB boys at the exhibition
The answer in my head was, " It's not scary for you, but I guess it's scary and it can be a haunted house for them; the children who are affected by AIDS/HIV"It's not the disease that kills (hope), it's the stigma. Break it.
No comments:
Post a Comment