Looking sharp at ten

The UCT HIV/AIDS Unit has held a ceremony to honour the work of the Students HIV/AIDS Resistance Programme (SHARP) in their 10-year struggle against HIV and AIDS. The event on the plaza included a torch lighting ceremony and saw the release of 1 000 balloons. The ceremony formed part of SHARP's AIDS Week, which included an art exhibition, body painting, stilt walkers (right), dancers and talk shows on UCT Radio. The finale of the week was the "10-year friends of SHARP" function held at Welgelegen. At the event, Mpumi Maseko, chair of SHARP for 2005, took the opportunity to pledge SHARP's commitment to following in the footsteps of the organisation's founders, who were also in attendance. Maseko was also one of several SHARPies to be presented with an award for outstanding service in the field of HIV/AIDS. SHARP is the flagship project of the HIV/AIDS Unit. Launched in 1994, SHARP has annually serviced a student population of 19 000 and is the longest-running peer education programme at any tertiary institution in the country.