On the 30th of this month and the 1st of July, Rev. John Kwarshie Johnson Azumah, Ghana's foremost HIV advocate and Ambassador, will walk down the aisle with an HIV-negative fiancée, making history.
It would be the first open relationship between two contrary statuses in the country's HIV/AIDS history since the disease was discovered in 1986.
Despite the fact that Rev. Azumah's HIV-positive status has been an open secret for more than two decades of his life, the engaged couple met about a year and a half ago and are already committed to living their lives together until death do them part in accordance with God's will.
They have scheduled their traditional wedding for June 30 and their church wedding for July 1, Ghana's Republic Day, the day Ghana won its independence from its British colonial overlords.
The traditional marriage and ceremony will take place at Sowutuom Market, near the Light Pentecost Church and Rhema Redemption Faith Chapel, respectively, across from the Sowutuom Police Station.
Rev. John Azumah, Ghana's HIV Ambassador, will accompany an HIV-negative woman down the aisle.
That the date of July 1 simply came to mind when they were deciding on a date for their special event; however, it may have been divinely orchestrated. heavens making a statement with their union for Ghana to finally be liberated from society's misconception of the disease and to live in harmony without stigmatizing HIV-positive individuals.
Ruby, his intended bride, is an attractive, fair-skinned young lady who works as a seamstress, just as her name suggests.
His union with Ruby is anticipated to be a landmark victory in the country's battle against the stigmatization of HIV-positive individuals. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over fifty percent of HIV patients worldwide are in serodiscordant relationships.
A serodiscordant couple consists of one HIV-positive partner and one HIV-negative partner.
The Azumahs, HIV Ambassadors Rev. Azumah and Mrs. Lydia Azumah, announced in 2011 that they are HIV-positive, and the rest is history.
Together with other Ambassadors and the Ghana Aids Commission, she has been advocating for HIV and AIDS patients and providing a home for children who contracted the disease through no fault of their own for over two decades.
Rev. John Azumah, Ghana's HIV Ambassador, will accompany an HIV-negative bride down the aisle. Rev. John Azumah with fellow Ambassadors (Photo credit: Ghana AIDS Commission)
Rev. Azumah with students during an HIV awareness campaign
Mrs. Azumah, however, was taken by death roughly two years ago.
As Rev John Kwarshie Johnson Azumah and his Ruby embark on this extraordinary journey, and wishes them the best of everything in the world and joins the thousands of HIV/AIDS patients in Ghana and around the world in saying "No To Stigmatization Against Persons Living With HIV And AIDS.
