Events to bolster AIDS awareness

Week culminates with international remembrance day

By: Sandra Plasse

Posted: 11/28/07

Asha Best was shocked to see that there was little recognition by the Syracuse University community of World AIDS Day in 2006, her first year as a graduate student on campus.

The Department of African American Studies (AAS) is centered on activism, so it has a responsibility to bring awareness to the campus community, Best said.

This year Project R.E.D. - initiated by Best, an acronym for Remembering those infected, Embracing awareness and Dedicated to finding a cure - will host a weeklong series of events to commemorate World AIDS Day on Saturday.

All events are free and open to the public. The project will provide an opportunity for the campus community and the greater Central New York region to come together to help fight the AIDS epidemic.

AIDS, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is among the leading causes of death globally and remains the primary cause of death in Africa, according to UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and AIDS.

There are 33.2 million people living with HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus. Half of those people become infected with the virus before they are 25 years old and are killed by AIDS before they are 35 years old, according to the 2007 estimates by UNAIDS.

Today at 12:30 p.m., there will be a discussion about HIV and AIDS as a human rights issue in Schine Student Center, room 228A.

"Black and brown people are not getting medical advice or treatment, just because they are economically disadvantaged," Best said.

Lillian Baker, a graduate student in Pan African studies, said AIDS needs to be treated as a human rights issue.

"It ravages the body so there is a lot of suffering involved with it," Baker said. "If we look at individuals affected by it as human beings and see the suffering being endured, then there will be a lot more done as far as finding a cure and treating it."

Project R.E.D. will also hold an anonymous HIV testing in Sims Hall this Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. No information about students will be recorded and results will be received about 10-20 minutes after the test.

Best said it is important to be aware of one's own status to make changes in daily habits, receive medication and stop or slow the transition of HIV to AIDS.

This Friday, a remembrance vigil will be held to recognize and remember people who are struggling or affected by AIDS. Students may perform a song or speak during the informal ceremony, Best said.

On Saturday, a multi-media exhibition at the Community Folk Art Center will begin at noon. The center is located at 805 E. Genesee St.

Filmmaker Stella Washington will present an independent film called "Your Hands" about how African American women in particular are affected by HIV and AIDS. The exhibit also features a photo series called "Camp Heartland" by Katja Heinemann. Heinemann documents children at Willow River, a camp in Minnesota for children who are either infected or have family members who are infected by HIV or AIDS.

The final event this year by Project R.E.D. will be a fundraiser in Schine Student Center on Monday. Students can donate 50 cents or $1 to have their face appear in an advertisement promoting AIDS awareness. The proceeds will go to The Living Room, a local community resource center that gives nutritional advice, food and social support to more than 250 members of the HIV positive community in Central New York, according to the group's Web site.

The project is sponsored by the AAS department and co-sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs, the New York State Health Department and the Black Graduate Student Association.

Project R.E.D. will provide an opportunity for collaboration between SU students and the Syracuse community on AIDS awareness, the planners said.

Best, along with other graduate students, worked with children from the Cannon Street Community Center on a quilt to honor World AIDS Day. The quilt will be hung in Sims Hall to ensure that the AIDS epidemic is remembered throughout the year.