Artists organize HIV / AIDS gig
Written by Writer on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008
Artists organize HIV / AIDS gig
Scores of Bali’s artists, performers and singers will stage an HIV/AIDS charity concert this Saturday at Pemuteran village, Buleleng. They will perform with a band, whose members are all PLWHA (the term used to describe People Living With HIV/AIDS), to increase Buleleng resident’s awareness of the epidemic.
“We are deeply concerned with the spread of the disease into the island’s rural areas. We will try to convey critical information about the epidemic to the audience,” the band’s lead singer Igo Blado said during a press conference Monday.
The concert will feature some of the most popular local performers, including the Bintang Band, Jhony Agung and Double T and Agung Wirasuta. These performers compose and perform songs in Balinese language, a main factor behind their popularity in the island’s villages.
Bondres, a traditional theater comic and popular comedian Lolak will also perform in the concert.
The participating artists will not receive any payment for their performances at the free-of-charge concert.
The concert was conceived by Agung Bagus Mantra, the owner of Pregina Production, an event organizing firm.
Pemuteran village lies in Gerokgak district, where HIV/AIDS had spread amoung the general population, infecting married couples and even their children.
“Most of the PLWHA are from poor families; laborers, drivers, fishermen and farmers. The disease generally is transmitted by the husbands to the wives and then to their children,” an HIV/AIDS activist Siti Maryani said.
Maryani is an outreach worker for the Yayasan Citra Usadha Indonesia (YCUI), an NGO that for the last five years has assisted the PLWHAs in Buleleng.
“I am now assisting around 30 PLWHAs,” she said.
“But more PLWHA still refuse to seek assistance,” she added.
The first reported case of HIV on the island was in 1987. As of Sept. 2008, the cumulative number of HIV/AIDS case in Bali has reached 2,323 and more than a half of those cases are among the productive 20-29-year-old age group.
Luh De Suriyani , Contributor, The Jakarta Post , Denpasar | Tue, 11/18/2008 12:37 PM | Bali
