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Communities across the country came together Dec. 1 to mark the fourth annual Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Day.
The theme of this year'?s awareness day was "Uniting Our Communities." It was chosen "to embody the direction that CAAN [Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network Incorporated] is moving in, strengthening its community ties and working together with its membership and partners in Aboriginal communities across Canada."
To mark the occasion, community leaders across Canada joined forces with Aboriginal AIDS service organizations to co-ordinate events aimed at raising awareness of HIV and AIDS.
Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Day is co-ordinated by CAAN, a national coalition of Aboriginal people and organizations. CAAN provides leadership, support and advocacy for Aboriginal people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS.
Kim Thomas is national program/project consultant with the coalition. Co-ordinating the first awareness day was one of the first things CAAN was involved in after its formation in 1997, Thomas said, when they did up posters, fact sheets and information packages, and sent them to Aboriginal communities across the country.
Thomas said the exciting thing about this year's Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Day was the number of communities getting involved by planning their own activities. Prior to the awareness day, the CAAN office was receiving phone calls and e-mails almost daily from different communities telling them what they were planning.
Their ideas included workshops, information sessions, feasts, an AIDS walk and candlelight vigils.
In addition to being this year's theme, the idea of uniting communities is a theme at CAAN all the time, Thomas said, and will be one of the major focuses for CAAN over the next year.
Thomas explained CAAN is currently working with the three Aboriginal peoples - Inuit, Metis and First Nations - trying to develop programs to meet the specific needs of each group.
In addition to raising awareness of HIV and AIDS, organizers are also hoping to be able to raise awareness of CAAN itself, and they are encouraging individuals, groups and organizations to become members.
According to Thomas, members of the network can receive information about such things as funding processes and programs and conferences going on across the country.
Four levels of membership are available. Aboriginal individuals living with HIV or AIDS can apply for full membership, which also gives them voting rights, while other individuals can apply for associate membership. Aboriginal AIDS groups and organizations can apply for full membership, while other organizations can apply for associate membership. All members will receive CAAN newsletters. There is no fee for individuals to become members. The fee for full membership for organizations is $50, while the associate membership fee for organizations is $25.
For more information about CAAN, or to become a member, call 1-888-285-CAAN (2225), or visit the CAAN website at
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