According to Marine Adamyan 450 painters participated in informational training on AIDS issues as part of the project in several regions of Armenia.

The threat posed by the AIDS virus was highlighted in bright colors at the Yerevan Hay-Art cultural center on September 18.

With posters bearing slogans such as "Let's wipe out AIDS together", "You are not alone", and "Don't harm your health for pleasure", young and professional painters sought to bring awareness of the problem while offering support to sufferers who feel isolated from society.

Fourteen organizations based in Armenia joined together to promote a national poster contest on an anti-discrimination theme. Their goal was use art to draw attention to AIDS, a problem still considered irrelevant by many people in Armenia.

"It seems that this problem is not an urgent one for our country, however it is a mistake to think that way," said Karen Nazaryan representative of the World Council of Churches in Echmiadzin at the opening ceremony. "Statistics in recent years show that the outbreak of HIV/AIDS has reached enormous levels in CIS countries."

The goal of the contest was to draw attention to AIDS through art.

Marine Adamyan, manager of the Health Project of World Vision Armenia International, says that 450 painters participated in informational training organized as part of the project in Yerevan and the Shirak, Taush, and Armavir regions. They heard lectures on AIDS and problems facing those carrying the virus.

As a result of those lectures, painters reflected their thoughts and feelings on AIDS with the help of paints, pencils, glass and collages. The creators of the best posters were chosen from four age groups and presented with certificates of thanks and money prizes.

"We are going to make calendars from all these posters," says Adamyan. "They will be published on December 1, World AIDS Day, and made available to the public."

The prize-winning posters will be first sent to Geneva where the best works will be selected and sent to New York, where on December 1 they will be demonstrated at the upcoming international poster contest dedicated to the World AIDS Day.