Lheidli T'enneh Nation elder Violet Bozoki just wants the discrimination to stop and the education to continue.
Bozoki will be raising awareness at the Scotiabank AIDS Walk on Friday at noon starting at the Canada Games Plaza in downtown Prince George. The event is hosted by Positive Living North, the local AIDS service organization for the region.
Bozoki has worked at the Fire Pit Cultural Drop-In Centre, a successful street level outreach program, for the last 12 years and is a member of the education department that accompanies the Positive Living Warriors when they go out into the community and share their stories. Bozoki doesn't mince her words when it comes to the realities of how disease is spread.
During the monthly HIV Bingo game at the Fire Pit, important information is imparted in a fun way. There is nothing that can't be discussed in the safe place offered by Positive Living North downtown, that serves about 150 clients.
"I see the people with HIV living in poverty and being discriminated against and I would like to see that stop," said Bozoki.
"A lot of them live on the streets and we try to make the Fire Pit very welcoming."
Positive Living North has named Camille MacDonald the AIDS Walk champion.
The walk will start at noon and be about 1.5 kilometres long.
The theme for the walk is to Keep Calm and Walk On, meaning not to be afraid of people who are living with HIV in the community, said Angela Paul, this year's walk coordinator.
"It's OK to go up and hug somebody, or shake their hand and just give them support and know that you can't contract HIV in that way," said Paul.
"We want people to keep calm and support those people in our community living with or affected by HIV."
Breaking down the walls of stigma to open the lines of communication is a strong message she wants to share, said Vanessa West, executive director of Positive Living North.
"People who are living with HIV in this northern area are facing a lot of social barriers," said West. "They are dealing with addictions, homelessness, poverty and mental health issues."
People don't choose to be HIV positive, or to live on the streets or to deal with addictions, added West.
"So we try to do programming that welcomes them back from the margins and into our society," said West.
The walk used to take place at Masich Place but organizers said it was too isolated there and decided bringing the event into the heart of downtown was vital.
"We want to shine a light on our community's resources and really bring awareness into our downtown core," said West.
"We are just asking everyone to just come and join us on the walk - you don't have to pledge or raise funds - really what we want is just to raise awareness in our community and show support for people who are living with HIV."
All funds raised will go to support services and programming provided by Positive Living North.
For more information visit www.positivelivingnorth.org or for more details about the walk visit www.scotiabankwalk.ca.
