Exhibitors at the on-going 15th Ghana International Trade Fair have lamented the poor patronage by the public. According to some of the exhibitors, they might not register in subsequent fairs if ‘administers to not wake from their sleep’.
They attribute it to poor publicity by the organizers. The fair, an opportunity for exhibitors to conduct brisk business, has been on-going for the past four days but has recorded little or no impact.
Some of the exhibitors who spoke to Adom News blamed the Ghana Trade Fair Company for not doing enough to advertise the event.
They claim huge amounts of money were charged by the organizers without putting measures in place for them to plough back their investments.
Some of the patrons were also critical of the exhibitors. One of the patrons said exhibitors think the fair is only about selling, but sometimes it's an opportunity to advertise their products and to establish business contact, he added.
Exhibitors also lamented the GHC2 tickets gate proceeds stating that the tickets drive customers and investors away.
Sellers do not patronize the fair because of the sale of tickets at the gate, one exhibitor stressed.
Most of them go to the shopping Mall and other shops to purchase goods and products.
Meanwhile, the Chief Marketing Officer of the Ghana Trade Fair Center Yaw Seth Asamoah confirmed the low patronage but explains that management will be meeting with stakeholders to revamp the fair.
Commenting about the gate proceeds charged at the gates, Mr Asamoah stated that due to the high cost of electricity and other amenities at the venue they have been forced to charge gate fees.
According to him, the trade fair will virtually collapse it the company decides to make it free.
However, he states that management is considering abolishing the gate proceeds at the gate and that they will rather increase the cost of participation at the pavilions.
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Thursday, August 4, 2011
MY LIFE WITH HIV
I will call myself Nomsa Motha*. It is not my real name and I will tell you why I do not reveal it. I am 32-year-old mother of two. I am living positively with HIV and AIDS. But I have one problem.
With many of us still battling with stigmatisation, I have had a hard time revealing my status to my in-laws.
My husband knows about my status and he is ok with it. But I worry about his relatives and whether they will accept me with the disease I am living with or if they might push him to leave me.
I already lost the father of my first child when I told him I was diagnosed with HIV. I found out about my status in 2004 when my second baby, a daughter I had with my first lover, died at three months.
I was devastated by her death. I had gotten so close to her and parting broke my heart. I had not suspected that she could have died of HIV. But at the hospital it was revealed that my baby was infected with HIV and had died of an HIV-related illness.
A terrifying revelation
The nurses and doctors advised me to go for HIV counselling and testing. I did and the result came back positive. I was still hurting and mourning my baby. The results just terrified me. I thought I was going to die just as she had.
Then I had to tell my partner about the HIV status and that it had taken our baby’s life. He walked out on me just when I needed his support. I was depressed.
Fortunately my family members were supportive. They were there for me throughout the grief of losing a baby and a partner.
The baby was later buried and my health began to deteriorate. I went for a tuberculosis (TB) test in a nearby clinic and the result came back positive. I thought that was it. It was just a matter of time before I got sick and eventually died, I told myself.
But I was surrounded with people who cared about my well being and they encouraged me to take my TB treatment so that I could start taking antiretroviral treatment (ART) afterward.
Powerful turning point
The turning point was the day I met a woman in the corridor of a local clinic. She took interest in me and I confided in her, revealing my status to her. She told me about a support group for people living with HIV and AIDS.
The name of the support group is Let Us Grow. It was founded by mum Rose. I went there and to my surprise I fell in love with it. I was uplifted because I had given up on life.
Mum Rose and the other members welcomed me with warm hearts. With time I got to understand HIV. Even though the counsellor had tried to explain to me what it meant to be HIV positive I just did not get it.
But here I was with people who were telling me that they were HIV positive and they were living happy lives. I guess I needed someone who could relate to me their stories of living with HIV.
That gave me a boost. I immediately became a new person. I changed my attitude. I wanted to live and it was my call to make the most of it.
I picked up the pieces. I got back on my feet. I started to live. I took care of my self. I got a boyfriend. I told him my status and he accepted me the way I am. Later we got married
My husband and I decided to have a baby. I had gathered that as long as we followed medical orders we could give birth to a healthy, HIV-negative baby. The grace of God was with us and the baby was born HIV-negative.
Now my work is to revive the life of those who think being HIV-positive is a curse; that there is no hope for them.
I tell them they are wrong. I am a living example.
source:news24.com
With many of us still battling with stigmatisation, I have had a hard time revealing my status to my in-laws.
My husband knows about my status and he is ok with it. But I worry about his relatives and whether they will accept me with the disease I am living with or if they might push him to leave me.
I already lost the father of my first child when I told him I was diagnosed with HIV. I found out about my status in 2004 when my second baby, a daughter I had with my first lover, died at three months.
I was devastated by her death. I had gotten so close to her and parting broke my heart. I had not suspected that she could have died of HIV. But at the hospital it was revealed that my baby was infected with HIV and had died of an HIV-related illness.
A terrifying revelation
The nurses and doctors advised me to go for HIV counselling and testing. I did and the result came back positive. I was still hurting and mourning my baby. The results just terrified me. I thought I was going to die just as she had.
Then I had to tell my partner about the HIV status and that it had taken our baby’s life. He walked out on me just when I needed his support. I was depressed.
Fortunately my family members were supportive. They were there for me throughout the grief of losing a baby and a partner.
The baby was later buried and my health began to deteriorate. I went for a tuberculosis (TB) test in a nearby clinic and the result came back positive. I thought that was it. It was just a matter of time before I got sick and eventually died, I told myself.
But I was surrounded with people who cared about my well being and they encouraged me to take my TB treatment so that I could start taking antiretroviral treatment (ART) afterward.
Powerful turning point
The turning point was the day I met a woman in the corridor of a local clinic. She took interest in me and I confided in her, revealing my status to her. She told me about a support group for people living with HIV and AIDS.
The name of the support group is Let Us Grow. It was founded by mum Rose. I went there and to my surprise I fell in love with it. I was uplifted because I had given up on life.
Mum Rose and the other members welcomed me with warm hearts. With time I got to understand HIV. Even though the counsellor had tried to explain to me what it meant to be HIV positive I just did not get it.
But here I was with people who were telling me that they were HIV positive and they were living happy lives. I guess I needed someone who could relate to me their stories of living with HIV.
That gave me a boost. I immediately became a new person. I changed my attitude. I wanted to live and it was my call to make the most of it.
I picked up the pieces. I got back on my feet. I started to live. I took care of my self. I got a boyfriend. I told him my status and he accepted me the way I am. Later we got married
My husband and I decided to have a baby. I had gathered that as long as we followed medical orders we could give birth to a healthy, HIV-negative baby. The grace of God was with us and the baby was born HIV-negative.
Now my work is to revive the life of those who think being HIV-positive is a curse; that there is no hope for them.
I tell them they are wrong. I am a living example.
source:news24.com
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