By Cecilia Nasmith/Northumberland 89.7 FM/Today’s Northumberland
More than 100 red scarves knitted and crocheted by members of the community were a cheerful holiday touch in Grafton this weekend, meant to convey an important message in advance of World AIDS Day (Dec. 1).
With appropriate tags attached explaining their symbolism, they were tied around poles, posts, railings, trees and other frameworks as a vivid show of support by volunteers from the St. Andrew’s United Church Social Justice Committee Friday morning.
They would be in place for Saturday’s Grafton Christmas Market for everyone to see and – if they wished – take and wear.
Showing this support for people living with AIDS and remembrance for those lost to the disease is an extension of the universally recognized Red Ribbon, and it’s the 10th year the Grafton church has undertaken this initiative.
“With our small gesture of the red scarves, we do our part to show publicly in our little corner of the world that we care, that we remember and that we recognize the challenges that many people face,” Social Justice Committee Chair Cathy White said.
While AIDS isn’t in the news the way it was 40 years ago, it hasn’t gone away. The global death toll has surpassed 32-million, and more than 38-million people are currently living with HIV. As of the end of 2022, that number included 65,270 Canadians, with Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec having the highest number of new HIV infections reported.
Many treatment advances have brought us to a place where an HIV infection is no longer a death sentence. There are even treatments to block it from being transmitted to a sexual partner.
If, that is, the person can access the testing and medication.
Except in Canada’s remote regions, this is not an issue. But this is not the case in many nations, where testing and medication may be too expensive or even restricted by some governments due to their policies on sexuality.
But there is an area where Canada is not the exception – the fact that certain populations are overrepresented in the statistics – Indigenous people and marginalized communities, such as homeless people, prisoners, sex workers and those who inject drugs.
Dec. 1 is a time to think about the human rights denied these people, White said, and to renew our determination to make this right – working to improve health equity and ending disparities in access, promoting scientific education and awareness, supporting organizations that work tirelessly to serve those at risk and living with HIV.
Unloading baskets of scarves for distribution, White noted that some members of the community have knit one, and some have knit many more (“one a month,” volunteer Donna Budget said, raising her hand).
“Most are very beautiful, with lovely patterns,” White said, with single-crochet, double-crochet, garter stitch and intricate cable designs on display in the baskets at the entrance of Grafton’s town hall.
Mayor John Logel selected a scarf, while Deputy Mayor Joan Stover wore the one she’d been presented with at the 2022 event. Special guest Dane Record, Chief Executive Officer of the Peterborough AIDS Resource Network, took one. And there were still dozens to be tied up around the community.
Logel recalled the fear that had surrounded the discovery of AIDS in the 1970s.
“We knew very little about it,” he said.
“There was no cure. Many families were affected.
“It made a lot of news at the time, and much of it was bad when it first arrived.”
New therapies were discovered, prevention became more widespread, the numbers went down – and it was no longer in the news.
“We started to forget about it, and we should never have forgotten about it because it’s still alive,” he said.
“Through remembrance, we draw strength and determination to redouble our efforts in fighting the disease and providing support to those with HIV,” Deputy Mayor Joan Stover said.
“It’s time to remind ourselves of the importance of compassion, empathy and solidarity in the face of adversity.”
Logel announced that, earlier that week, Alnwick-Haldimand Council had declared Dec. 1 World AIDS Day. White pointed out that the church had just that morning raised the World AIDS Day flag on its flagpole.
Record said he was on his way to Brighton’s Home Rainbow Youth Centre that morning, which was not yet opened last year on World AIDS Day.
“It’s a designated space for queer youth to connect and to build community,” he said.
Record also announced his return trip to Peterborough would be on County Road 2 through Grafton, so he could see the village once all the red scarves were up.
The scarves will be taken down at weekend’s end, some kept for future World AIDS Day events, some sent to schools in case a child needs a scarf but left it at home, some included in Christmas hampers they prepare for families in the community.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
