Gilkes’ top prize is Wrapped With Love

The HIV/AIDS Commission is stepping up its public awareness campaign with a major social media drive that emerged from this week’s conclusion of a Love Safely visual literary contest.

The HIV Social Media Literary Competition was aimed at using the upsurge in social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic  to interact with persons and get them and their followers to commemorate and participate in World AIDS Day and AIDSAwareness Week.Utilising this medium to engage persons will also generate valuable feedback for the HIV/AIDS Commission to guide future messages, campaignsand outreaches.

The competition was centered on themes where persons were encouraged to generate fictional or true literary works which are positive and uplifting as HIV is not a death sentence.

The commission noted that in these daunting times, people need more goodness in the world and therefore the literary works should be centered around such areas as hope, love, survival, compassion and understanding.

Among the objectives of the HIV Social Media Literary competition were to attract more persons to the HIV/AIDS Commission’s social media pages, to engage or uncover talent within the entertainment industry who can become allies in the fight against HIV and to create content and generate activity on the Commission’s social media pages.

The contest was won by Head of the English Department at Alleyne School Natalie Gilkes with a spoken word piece entitled Wrapped With Love.

That piece highlights the need to protect one’s self at all times while enjoying love and romance.

Gilkes’ victory earns her a cash prize of $3,000 and her work will be used in the commission’s ongoing social media campaign.
The individuals who were judged from the over 60 entries submitted a “token” from the Commission for participating and making it to the round of 25. (PR)