By Tuhairwe Joab
The 2nd annual Youth Living With HIV beauty contest was held at Golf Course hotel last Friday after traversing the country for contestants.
With a theme of celebrating beauty with zero discrimination, many youth across Uganda were competing to be crowned the next Miss and Mister Y+ (Youth Positive).
Miss and Mister Y+ started last year with an aim of fighting stigma among the youth living with HIV by organising a beauty contest and last Friday, Golf course was under fire as over 15 boys and girls aged between 15 and 25 tussled it out for the crown.
At the end of the event that was attended by quite a good number of people and many organisations that deal with people living with HIV, Babirye Robinah, a student of Kyambogo University was crowned Miss Y+ while Silas Lubangakere was crowned Mister Y+. The winners will each receive a full year bursary.
According to Babirye Robinah, winning this contest has given her the courage to keep moving despite the challenges of living a positive life and will also help the rest of the youth out there to open up about their true status.
The beauty contest was organized by Uganda National Association of Young People Living with HIV/AIDS (UNYPA).