Candles were lighted Wednesday night in Emancipation Garden as World AIDS Day was observed. Leading the ceremony was Nyasha Mutunhu, American Red Cross HIV/AIDS prevention specialist, who, with candle in hand, said, "This candle is for my brother, Romeo, and my uncle, Gordon."
Mutunhu is from Zimbabwe, which, she noted, has one of the highest HIV mortality rates in the world, and suffers from political refusal to treat the problem.
She said her brother had been a groundbreaker in Zimbabwe in finding a safe haven for HIV sufferers. Her own family didn't know her uncle died of the disease until his funeral.
"Tonight," she said, "we are honoring our memories of friends lost to this disease." A handful of people got up one by one, holding a candle for their friends, and telling a little about them.
Pat Odums said, "This candle is to light up the darkness in the Virgin Islands for those who are pretending the disease doesn't exist."
Mike Marmann, ARC educational activist, paid respect to two of his friends who died of the disease. "I didn't get the full impact of the power of the disease until I became a caretaker for a friend who died, along with another friend," he said.
Mutunhu said AIDS is the No. 1 cause of death in the territory for black males and Hispanic females. It is the seventh cause of death overall in the territory.
She noted that the Virgin Islands has had more than 300 deaths since the epidemic began.
The American Red Cross sponsored the evening's vigil.
