Know about AIDS

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A small but appreciative crowd turned out for An Evening With Ken Ward, Nov. 7 at Grant MacEwan Community College.

Musicians and storytellers came together on their own time to honor Ward and others living with HIV and AIDS.

Ward, an AIDS carrier, turned the tables and said it was he who was honoring those who turned out.

Dale Auger, a storyteller from Calgary, hosted the evening. It was extremely informal and felt more like sitting around a neighbor's family room, instead of a theatre. All that was missing was the neck bone soup and bannock.

Asani, (meaning "rock") a quartet of Aboriginal singers, gave an emotionally-packed performance. Asani member Cathy Sewell described the group as an a cappella rock band.

With a mixture of original songs and covers it was easy to see why the foursome was invited to play at Carnegie Hall in New York City this past summer. Mishi Donovan also performed at the special night to honor, remember and think about the deadly virus.

Though the crowd was small, members of the audience did walk away with some heightened awareness about the virus which is affecting so many people around the world, including Ward.

One performer commented that he hoped events like this wouldn't have to be needed in the future to raise awareness. His wish was that the public would realize how lethal the disease is and make themselves more responsible.

Part of that responsibility was highlighted three weeks after the Evening with Ken Ward.

Dec. 1 was Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Day, a specially designated day is a component of the World AIDS day, held at the same time.

In the last decade in Canada, Aboriginal AIDS cases have been on a dramatic rise.

"Some studies have shown that between 17 and 26 per cent of new HIV infections are identified as Aboriginal," said Kevin Barlow, the national co-ordinator of the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN).

Studies from the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control in Ottawa indicate that those numbers may be low, since 42 per cent of new people reporting their infection aren't identified by their ethnic background. Other studies by the centre show that the rate of infection in Aboriginal women is four times greater than that of other at-risk populations.

"Unless action is taken, the AIDS epidemic among Aboriginal people in this country can be expected to get far worse," noted Barlow. We need to encourage Canada to take a leadership role both at home and worldwide, where many indigenous populations are being severely infected by HIV and AIDS."