The beautiful candles on the table

This year I took my passion in the HIV & AIDS ministry to sensitize my rural village of Iringa in Kisii County on matters HIV. The Nyamue Church of Christ was host to the 2024 International AIDS Candlelight Memorial. The candle lighting activity came immediately after my sermon that touched on why it is important to have the community involved in the country’s HIV response and the church’s role in defeating the stigma and discrimination towards persons living with HIV. The title of the sermon was ‘Show The Light’, gotten from Psalm 27:1 that says: “The lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear”. I went on to informed the congregants that the day (May 19) is a very special day globally – a day that the citizens of the world are lighting a candle to remember and honor the lives lost to HIV and AIDS, to show appreciation to those who have dedicated their lives to help people living with HIV to stay strong and healthy and to build solidarity within our communities.

My nephew Gideon Marube Obara has given a very powerful message while lighting a virtual candle in memory of his dad Moses who passed on in 1997 when he was 11 years old. Gideon’s mother Agnes Bosibori encouraged the congregation and community members present to take the Candlelight Memorial seriously and use it each year to sensitize or teach the community about HIV. Agnes is a Community Health Promoter; a service she has loved offering for the past 15 years. Both Gideon and his mother Agnes are leaders in TAZOMU (Tabaka Zone Muungano), a CBO formed to sensitize the community on HIV and AIDS and general health matters.

Both the young and he old took part in lighting a candle and placing it on the table, forming a beautiful pattern of the ribbon, with a shining reflection of the flames on the large, glossy formica table. The beautiful moment of the event was when the patriarch of the Marube family, my 96 year dad, Mzee Marube rose up to light his candle. It meant a lot to him, a reminiscence of what his feeble eyes have seen in a community that has equated HIV with witchcraft.

Other CBOs were invited too. Lucy Onyango represented the Girl Power CBO. James (not his real name) from the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital gave a testimony about his walk with HIV and encouraged CBOs to register with the National Network for the Empowerment of Persons Living with HIV in Kenya (NEPHAK) for effective networking with other players in the civil society fraternity. Dominic Onkendi, a clinical officer at Tabaka Mission Hospital spoke to the congregants and informed them of the services rendered at the hospital’s CCC. The participating organizations and institutions promised to carry out joint and well-coordinated activities to reach out to many people, going forward.

The visitors were invited for lunch at the host pastor, Pastor David Marube’s house.

The Candlelight Memorial service was done at zero budget, save for the visitors’ lunch that was provided courtesy of Nyabuto, David and Gideon.

That was the love of God in action!