MADISON, Wis. — Credit unions around the globe continue to jointhe fight to eradicate HIV/AIDS.

World AIDS Day, which took place Dec. 1, carried a strongermessage this year: Stop Aids. Keep the Promise-Leadership. Thechallenge is for people to take the lead at every level to combatand overcome the disease, according to the World Council of CreditUnions. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most affected region, hometo more than two-thirds of all people infected with HIV, WOCCUnoted. Worldwide, some 2.5 million people were newly infected withthe HIV virus in 2007.

Several African credit unions, known as savings and creditco-operatives or SACCOs, are working hard to show the world thatleadership and education are making a difference in the fightagainst HIV/AIDS. WOCCU's USAID-funded Cooperative DevelopmentProgram, in partnership with JHPIEGO, an international healthorganization affiliated with The Johns Hopkins University,supported the launch of an HIV/AIDS peer educator program withMwalimu SACCO in 2006.

More than 3 million people in Kenya, including 16% of the adultpopulation, are HIV-positive, according to WOCCU. Mwalimu SACCOserves secondary school teachers in the country and is one of thelargest SACCOs in Kenya.

WOCCU said Mwalimu SACCO members, who are teachers byprofession, are ideal peer leaders because they are well respectedand well positioned to disseminate the information through multiplechannels, such as schools and classrooms, parent/teacherassociations and extracurricular activities. To date, there are 27certified peer leaders. Each leader trains five peer educators whothen continue the information flow.

Peer educators seize various opportunities to raise awareness.They discuss safe sex practices at the national exam briefing forhigh school students and highlight basic HIV/AIDS facts at localdrama festivals for students and teachers. These activities helpdispel the stigma surrounding the disease and encourage positiveliving.

In February 2006, Shameem Gaffoor, a Strathmore-WOCCU AfricanManagement Institute graduate and loan officer for Sibanye CapeSACCO in South Africa, formed an HIV/AIDS committee comprised ofone board member and three SACCO staff members. The committeeformed relationships with other non-profits in Cape Town to gatherinformation and directly pass it on to their members. It was thefirst program of its kind in South Africa.

Gaffoor and her team believe everyone should have access totesting and know his or her status.

“Those living with HIV/AIDS deserve to be loved, cared for andtreated with respect,” Gaffoor emphasized, and her committee'sefforts have made an impact on the way people address thevirus.

To celebrate World AIDS Day, Sibanye Cape SACCO is providingfree access to a testing facility for its members. The SACCO isalso distributing brochures with facts on the differences betweenHIV and AIDS and presenting on the devastating effects of thepandemic.

“As trusted, member-owned organizations in their communities,credit unions are effective vehicles for raising awareness, sharinginformation and mitigating the spread of HIV/AIDS throughprevention,” said Pete Crear, president/CEO, WOCCU.

Since 1988, World AIDS Day has been observed annually on Dec.1and is dedicated to raising awareness of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.December is World AIDS month. For ideas on raising awareness aboutWorld AIDS month in your community, visitwww.worldaidscampaign.info.

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