HIV /AIDS: GREAT CHALLENGE OF OUR AGE AND GENERATION
People... following the accidental deletion of the previous posting with the topic: HIV / AIDS : IS IT A POVERTY, VULNERABILITY OR A GENDER ISSUE. I will like to introduce this particular topic above. I guess that it will give us a direction and we will get to talk about the previous topic along the line.
The above topic can be linked to this particular link: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/sgsm9906.doc.htm. This is a press release that I would like itto challenge our mindset about what exactly what we aredoing on this blogger.
This few statements have some connections to the question of what really is HIV / AIDS.
If we say POVERTY: From recentUnited Nations finding, it is said that an average african lives on less than a dollar at worse. This among other things made the rapant increase ofHIV /AIDS in the third world countries especially Africa. People aretryingto survive by doing what it takes to survive and try to be somebody in life.
Taking for instance, from a discussion that was had around this topic, it could really be seen from here that an average student in school is putting his / herself through school. Our parents can barely send us to school and ifthey are able to pay our school fees, they can barely be able to feed us talk less of clothing us.. In the process of trying to live a very good life style in school.. we decided to do whatever it will takes, making the selling of ourbody in exchange for cash, comfortability amuch higher priority than our future.
If we say VULNERABILITY: in this case it is the young ones that arereally affected with this factor. We want to be able to communicate among our peer group. We do not wantto be seen as the odd one out.It becomes a case of everyone is doing it so why can't I do it. If we really look at the statistics of the people that are more affected, it si between the ages of 18 -30 yrs of age.
These particular grouo arethe future of any nation, so are we going to allow this epidemic to continue ruining our future? Also it could be said that most areas do not have easy accessibility to materials that educatethe youndg ones on the after effect of having unprotected and safe sex. More on the fact why they should not indulge in it.
If we say GENDER: In Africa it is known that due to alot of traditions and all the rest stuffs, that the female gender is always at the receiving end of whatever the male gender puts across their way. They have to take all sorts of attitude from their husbands all in the name of being married.
Steps to avoiding some of these issues that is being discussed are:
1. Easy access to materials and reading materials on the HIV / AIDS Epidemic
2. Eradicating of Customs that will not bring about progress to people.
3. Having laws laid down againg Gender brutality
4. Educating the young ones on what exactly the HIV / AIDS epidemic is all about.
Another major issue as AIESECERS that I feel we need to really talk about is the stigmatization against people living with HIV / AIDS.Once people have been discovered to be infected, they are treated like dirt. I believe that with real love, these people will live beyond the medicine that is being prescribed for them.
But the major questions I have to put to we all : DO YOU KNOW YOUR STATUS?
Please people do join me on tackling these issues, and which way forward please. I hope to read about more responses from people.
The above topic can be linked to this particular link: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2005/sgsm9906.doc.htm. This is a press release that I would like itto challenge our mindset about what exactly what we aredoing on this blogger.
This few statements have some connections to the question of what really is HIV / AIDS.
If we say POVERTY: From recentUnited Nations finding, it is said that an average african lives on less than a dollar at worse. This among other things made the rapant increase ofHIV /AIDS in the third world countries especially Africa. People aretryingto survive by doing what it takes to survive and try to be somebody in life.
Taking for instance, from a discussion that was had around this topic, it could really be seen from here that an average student in school is putting his / herself through school. Our parents can barely send us to school and ifthey are able to pay our school fees, they can barely be able to feed us talk less of clothing us.. In the process of trying to live a very good life style in school.. we decided to do whatever it will takes, making the selling of ourbody in exchange for cash, comfortability amuch higher priority than our future.
If we say VULNERABILITY: in this case it is the young ones that arereally affected with this factor. We want to be able to communicate among our peer group. We do not wantto be seen as the odd one out.It becomes a case of everyone is doing it so why can't I do it. If we really look at the statistics of the people that are more affected, it si between the ages of 18 -30 yrs of age.
These particular grouo arethe future of any nation, so are we going to allow this epidemic to continue ruining our future? Also it could be said that most areas do not have easy accessibility to materials that educatethe youndg ones on the after effect of having unprotected and safe sex. More on the fact why they should not indulge in it.
If we say GENDER: In Africa it is known that due to alot of traditions and all the rest stuffs, that the female gender is always at the receiving end of whatever the male gender puts across their way. They have to take all sorts of attitude from their husbands all in the name of being married.
Steps to avoiding some of these issues that is being discussed are:
1. Easy access to materials and reading materials on the HIV / AIDS Epidemic
2. Eradicating of Customs that will not bring about progress to people.
3. Having laws laid down againg Gender brutality
4. Educating the young ones on what exactly the HIV / AIDS epidemic is all about.
Another major issue as AIESECERS that I feel we need to really talk about is the stigmatization against people living with HIV / AIDS.Once people have been discovered to be infected, they are treated like dirt. I believe that with real love, these people will live beyond the medicine that is being prescribed for them.
But the major questions I have to put to we all : DO YOU KNOW YOUR STATUS?
Please people do join me on tackling these issues, and which way forward please. I hope to read about more responses from people.
1 Comments:
Hello everyone,
I meant to ask you if you still accept new contributors? My name is Carissa, I've been an AIESECer since October 2002. I was VP Projects and Learning 04/05 of my LC (Geneva, Switzerland) and am currently on the NST Alumni Relations 05/06 of AIESEC Switzerland. HIV/AIDS is a topic that's been worrying me for quite a while now, and last summer I decided to join Groupesida Genève, Geneva's AIDS foundation, as a volunteer in the sector of prevention (last year their campaign was focused on women and HIV/AIDS). I wasn't able to start until January 2005 because I had to attend a mandatory four-module course before being able to volunteer. The training included transmission of AIDS, reproduction and STD's, condoms and sexual practices. I will be working on several local projects in Geneva (Geneva has around 4,000 people with HIV/AIDS) in the near future, particularly this summer, and I look forward to my job as a volunteer. You can check out their site: www.groupesida.ch (I think it's only in French though).
Other than that, I was lucky to be able to attend a summit organized by the World Bank at the UN headquarters in Geneva on the current state of the AIDS epidemic in the world (my EB was invited there, this happens quite a lot at AIESEC Geneva, we get a lotta invitations to events of this kind, which is really cool) and it was very insightful.
What else, for the past two years, my LC has been organizing a stand and a conference at our University on December 1st (World AIDS Day). Last year it was in collaboration with Groupesida Genève, and in 2003 with UNAids and Groupesida Genève.
Would love to be part of Genesis, thanks for letting me know...
Greetings, Carissa
carissasahli.nomadlife.org
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