A number of student organizations will unite to celebrate "Global AIDS Awareness Week" from Nov. 27 through Dec. 1 to educate and engage the student body on the toll of the AIDS epidemic.
Dissatisfied with the poor turnout of past AIDS week events, Caribbean Circle sought out multiple student groups to help organize this year's "Global AIDS Awareness Week," according to Amerita Lue-hing, the programming coordinator of Caribbean Circle.
"I decided to see what Caribbean Circle could do to get student organizations involved in planning a comprehensive, organized and effective week of events," she said.
The week is now structured so that individual organizations are responsible for a specific day's events.
Student Global AIDS Campaign will kick off the week with a focus on AIDS in D.C. on Nov. 27. It will emphasize the diseases' effects on African Americans and youth, Lue-hing said.
"We're working on promoting awareness," said Brittany Alston, a sophomore in the School of Communication and founder of the AU chapter of the Student Global AIDS Campaign. "We want to help erase the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS."
Helping to culminate the week's events, the multinational video conference "Fighting for What's Right: Stopping Global HIV/AIDS" arranged by the AU Foreign Policy Association will focus on the role of young people in dealing with the AIDS pandemic. The conference aims to create a dynamic discussion amongst the participating universities from Europe, Africa, Latin America and the United States.
"I hope that students learn that AIDS is not a disease that doesn't affect them," said Lynn Nguyen, a sophomore in the School of International Service and a member of the AU Foreign Policy Association. "Globally, the toll of AIDS becomes a number to most people, but I think that bringing that level of global awareness to a more personal level will be much more effective."
During the week, Tuesday's events on Nov. 28, organized by Caribbean Circle with help from University Chaplain Joe Eldridge, will emphasize AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean, followed by Wednesday's focus on the correlation between AIDS and politics, coordinated by Women's Initiative and Queers and Allies.
The film "ABC Africa," shown by the Center for Social Media in the Wechsler Theatre, will be the highlight of Thursday's focus on AIDS in Africa, organized by the Student Organization for African Studies.
Friday, World AIDS Day, will feature the Community Service Center's partnership with the local organization "Food and Friends" to deliver food to people living with HIV and AIDS.
Lue-hing said she hopes above all that students will be inspired by the week's events to take action on the issue of AIDS.
"We want students to be aware of how this epidemic affects so many people around the world, from right here in Washington, D.C., to Africa," she said.
