By Frederick Philander REHOBOTH With the increase of an estimated 300 people living with HIV/AIDS since 2004 now a reality, the Rehoboth AIDS Association is holding an intensive four-day workshop to draw up plans to drastically help curb the pandemic among the inhabitants. It is alleged that since 2004 more people in the southern town took part in voluntarily testing and that many more people have tested positive, especially among the youth. “This workshop is aimed at constructing a road-map for the operations of the Rehoboth AIDS Association (RAA) for this year. In the past, the organization had been grossly hampered by a lack of a proper Aids activity plan, monitoring and evaluation tools and a co-ordination system,” said Rehoboth mayor George Dax when he officially opened the workshop. The workshop is financed by the Hardap Regional Council. It is general knowledge that the Rehoboth AIDS Association has for some time now been ineffective in its fight against AIDS. “I am proud to note that the RAA’s efforts are beginning to bear fruit despite the many growing pains. After this workshop, it is my hope that you all will remain committed and come up with a realistic, affordable and sound plan to make the RAA more visible and reliable in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Rehoboth,” said Dax, also a full-time advisory teacher in the employ of the Ministry of Education. Among the topics being discussed by the 23 workshop participants are: factors and challenges hampering the implementation of a proper AIDS prevention plan and response; the strengthening of the organization; regional HIV/AIDS indicators and statistics and methods to streamline all AIDS prevention efforts. The Hardap Regional AIDS co-ordinator, Ernst Pienaar told New Era that he is optimistic about the future operations of the RAA. “Due to the presence of a strong political will, the RAA enjoys a lot of support, especially in view of the fact that the town’s mayor and most other political parties are represented in the association. They are all willing and keen to support and assist the RAA’s activities in whatever form they can,” said Pienaar. A bone of contention at Rehoboth, considering the many deaths that occur because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, is the expense of burial. “Presently the town has no mortuary and the existing two undertaker companies are quite expensive. The poor and marginalized people in the town can in many instances not afford to pay for coffins to bury their loved ones. Hence the fact that the RAA intends re-vitalizing a community-based project that produces cheap coffins. This project is not in competition with the existing undertakers, but can provide for the needs of the needy people in the town,” said Pienaar, who intimated that a pre-requisite for the coffin-making business in Block E to start operating again, would be the provision of what he termed ‘coolrooms’.