An Eye-Opener To HIV/AIDS
By Azaraimy HH

Bandar Seri Begawan - Over 40 newly recruited youth members of Kelab Penyinar - a club affiliated with the Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council - recently attended the HIV/AIDS Outreach Programme (HOPE) at the SEAMEO Voctech Centre in Gadong.

Organised and conducted by Standard Chartered Bank (SCB), the programme educated the newcomers on the significant facts of HIV/AIDS, such as how the deadly pandemic spreads, how it can be prevented, and how to care and support for those infected and affected by HIV/ AIDS.

The new recruit were also informed of the latest death statistics as well as the number of people living with HIV/ AIDS both globally and locally.

Kelab Penyinar members later participated in several interactive activities such as the `Bridge of Hope,' `Wildfire,' and role-playing activities_ that illustrated and emphasised on methods of prevention, important differences of HIV and AIDS, and stimulated situations of rejection and disappointment.

To date, over 1,100 people - comprising higher education and scholarship students, officers for both the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, and previous Brunei Darussalam AIDS Council members - have successfully completed the HIV/AIDS Outreach Programme (HOPE) since it was first launched in 2004.

Following the success of their global `Living with HIV' programme in 2003 - which saw 100 per cent of the bank's staff members receiving training on the basic facts of HIV/ AIDS - Standard Chartered Bank rolled out HOPE with the aim of promoting public awareness and educating the public on the significant facts of HIV/AIDS as well as eliminating any stigma and discriminating surrounding it. -

"At Standard Chartered Bank, we take our Corporate Social.Responsibility seriously. Our main focus of the HIV/ AIDS Outreach Programme (HOPE) is to educate the youths of Brunei Darussalam on important facts of HIV/ AIDS such as how to prevent themselves from getting infected and how to help those that are affected or infected by it."

"The younger generations are responsible for ensuring our nation's development and expansion and therefore should act as `ambassadors' to help curb the increasing spread of the deadly pandemic," said Hajah Hasnah Bte Hj Azri, the head of Human Resources and Corporate Affairs Division, Standard Chartered Bank. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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