The opening remarks were made by the Keiyo North Deputy County Commissioner Mr. Julius Maiyo who appreciated ICWK for finding it necessary to train the community leaders and train them since they are the ones who directly deal with the community and understand their day to day issues. He went ahead to appreciate the community leaders for finding time to attend the training and hoped that it would be of great help to them.

He encouraged the community leaders that since HIV is in our communities we need to accept it and live with PLHIVs just like other people. He went ahead to say that HIV is not a death sentence but a condition that can be managed. We need to love those who are infected and teach the rest to embrace good living behaviours to avoid more infections.

He lamented that the infection rates in Keiyo North are on  the rise despite the efforts made by different partners to educate the communities on HIV prevention. This he said is mostly caused by the high cases of alcoholism in the sub county. He encouraged the community leaders to continue with the good work they are doing to ensure that they reduce the cases of alcoholism in the sub county.

After the above brief opening remarks he wished that the participants will have a great engagement with the ICWK team and hoped for more engagements. He then declared the meeting officially opened