“VERY GOOD!” says Ced Apilado, a UNAIDS personnel in the Philippines after finishing the four-days pastoral training seminar on HIV/AIDS.  This comment was echoed by almost all participants in the first pastoral training on HIV/AIDS held in St. Camillus Health Care Center (SCPHC) from February 26 to March 1, 2009.

There were 28 participants: 2 Holy Spirit Sisters, 1 Camillian priest (Fr. Ruben Mandin, MI), 2 Camillian Adult Formation aspirants, 5 Camillian postulants, 2 Camillian novices, 9 Camillian Scholastics, 3 Camillian Sisters, 2 personnel from St. Camillus Polyclinic Pasig, Sr. Liz, FMM & Sr. Tentai Saniel, RC of the CPE Group. (See more photos at the end of the article.)

The presentation of Bro. Dan Cancino, MI on the epidemiology and demography of HIV/AIDS in the world and particularly in the Philippines was the opening topic.  The current projects and responses to the pandemic disease and the socio-cultural factors affecting the incidence and prevalence of HIV/AIDS were discussed respectively by resource persons from Remedios AIDS Foundation and UNAIDS.

On the second day, Dr. Rosanna Ditangco, MD, the head of the AIDS Research Group of the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) discussed the biomedical facts and preventive measures against HIV/AIDS.  A “wildfire” activity wrapped up the second day, setting the hearts of the participants on fire with awe and compassion.

Then, the participants experienced a “face” on the third day as they met people living with HIV/AIDS.  During the rest of the day, they took part in the discussion on “Experiencing loss and Bereavement” by Fr. Evan Villanueva, MI, in a session on Case Analysis, and in the reflection and prayer enriched by Camillian scholastic Andi Suparman’s sharing on the “Healing Grace of PLWHA.”

The last day focused on the challenge and the response.  The participants, having grasped the challenge, made their own action plans to promote awareness of HIV/AIDS among different target groups, HIV counselling for people going for HIV testing, and increased advocacy in the prevention of the disease.

The pastoral training seminar on HIV/AIDS will be a continuous program of SCPHC in cooperation with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, Department of Health, Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and support groups of PLWHA. The next seminars are scheduled for April 16-19, May 6-9 and December 2-5, 2009.  There will also be voluntary counselling and testing training seminars scheduled in October.  Interested confreres and lay collaborators can contact Sr. Fe Santos or Bro. Dan Cancino for further details.

DAY 1 

DAY 2

DAY 3

DAY 4