World AIDS Day

December 1st, as I'm sure you all know and wore your red ribbons for, was World AIDS Day. In a country with so many infected and affected by HIV, it's not a day that goes unnoticed. This year, Uganda's theme was "Leadership for HIV Prevention," with the aim to test 1 million people nationwide. The Uganda AIDS Commission, the Ministry of Health, NGOs, CBOs, FBOs, partners and stakeholders organized events around the country, including a day of speeches, performances, and, most importantly, free HIV counseling and testing at the Lugogo Cricket Oval, the national venue in Kampala. Nearly every organization in the country that provides counseling and testing services was at the venue, set up with counselors and lab techs and testing kits and counseling areas, ready to provide quality counseling and testing to as many people as possible.

I want so badly to say that it was a rousing success. That people turned up in droves and got tested and received their results and disclosed their status to their partners and resolved to adopt risk reduction and positive living practices. But it wasn't, and they didn't, and I can't.

No one showed up.

That's not entirely true. The choir was there. Multiple choirs, actually, although the one I'm referring to is figurative, in the "preaching to..." sense of the word. Invitations to the event went out to government officials and funders and service providers and NGO workers…and everyone else that already believes in (and, in many cases, has devoted a large chunk of their lives to) the cause. Some of us tested. My co-worker tested. I tested. But as for the people that actually need to be tested? MIA.

I wasn't close enough to the planning of the event to know exactly what went wrong, but it seems to be a combination of poor/rushed coordination, non-existent publicity, and a really nasty rain storm that dampened any remaining chances of people turning up.

The sort of silver lining is that my colleague and I, with the help of another well-connected co-worker, managed to get a relatively famous Ugandan musician/"Idols" mentor judge and his wife to test together at the national venue, give a speech encouraging other couples to do the same, and do a before and after interview, the footage from which we hope to use in our upcoming national campaign.

We wrote a very nice press release about the whole thing. Complete with pictures. We talked and texted with the editors of the New Vision and the Monitor, two of the largest papers in Uganda, to figure out where to submit our very nice press release, complete with pictures. We submitted our very nice press release, complete with pictures, moments after phone contact. We looked in the papers every day last week for the very nice press release, complete with pictures. We never saw it. We followed up.

Waiting for me in my inbox this morning? "Not read: Press release - Kawesa and wife test together on World AIDS Day."

I know there are valuable lessons in here somewhere. But right now, the enormity of the missed opportunity…opportunities…just kind of makes my heart hurt.