WORLD AIDS DAY
2008-12-17 New Delhi

According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.2 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. During 2007 some 2.5 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.
On World AIDS Day, Asian Sahyogi Sanstha India (ASSI) Delhi team organized a Public Awareness Rally in the locality of Vikas Nagar and the slums adjacent to Delhi Cantonment railway station. Students from our three Literacy Centers actively took part in the rally at their respective areas.

AWARENESS RALLY: VIKAS NAGAR
Around 35 students and the staff gathered at the vikas nagar study center early morning and by 10.30 am we started our Public Awareness Rally. The students carried banners and chanted slogans as they walked, under the leadership of the staff members. To raise awareness the children made a human circle at every market junction and presented a street play. After every such play, one of the staff members gave essential information about the epidemic and its prevention to the gathered crowd.
The response at Vikas Nagar was very impressive. People gathered in quite a large number and also asked questions. They also gave their contact numbers and asked for more information.

AWARENESS RALLY: SLUMS NEAR DELHI CANTT.
We reached our Literacy center at Kanchan Basti and started the rally at 2pm. Around 50 students took part in the rally here. We covered the whole area from Kanchan Basti till Mayapuri. The Children were really excited to hold banners and shout slogans. They also presented a small act showing, how by using the same needles, unsafe instruments or contact with the blood of an HIV positive person, can be dangerous to life.

CONCLUSION
Altogether the Public Awareness Rally at both the localities was a great success. World AIDS Day is all about increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. Truly the biggest the challenge is to break the silence that surrounds this epidemic, and we at ASSI (Delhi) tried to break this silence in our neighborhood on 1st December.