Jakarta preparing for int'l AIDS Day

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian AIDS Foundation is organizing a series of events ranging from music concerts and discussions to a golf tournament and charity bazaar in conjunction with International AIDS Day, which falls on Dec.1.

An Italian chamber ensemble, Nuova Cameristica, will kick off the activities with a classical music performance at the Regent Hotel on Oct.30.

The highlight of the events is a spectacular dangdut music show, scheduled to take place at Ancol circuit in North Jakarta on Dec.2.

"We're focusing our activities on Jakarta because the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in the country is in the capital," Martina Widjaja, chairwoman of the foundation's executive board, told a press conference yesterday.

As of last month, the government had recorded 346 cases of HIV and AIDS in 15 of Indonesia's 27 provinces. Out of the total number of cases, 82 were diagnosed with full-blown AIDS, of which 50 died.

Some experts estimate that the actual number of people with the virus to be more than 200 times the official number.

The golf tournament will take place at the Emeralda golf course on Nov.17, while the French Cultural Center and Taman Ismail Marzuki Arts Center will screen a film about AIDS, accompanied by discussions, from Nov.11 through 17.

A charity bazaar, a music show, an AIDS-theme film series, an exhibition of AIDS posters and cartoons and an AIDS discussion for youths will be held at the Laboratory High School in Rawamangun, East Jakarta, on Nov.19.

Psychologist Sarlito Wirawan will talk about AIDS and young people at the News Cafe in South Jakarta on Nov.25, while Dr. Kartono Mohamad from the Indonesian Parenthood Association will give a talk on AIDS at the association's headquarters on Nov.23,

The other activities include lenong (Betawi comedy) shows and the selling of merchandise to raise funds to fight AIDS.(sim)