Christian Colleges Nationwide Mobilize Students to Battle AIDS
What began with a few students at Seattle Pacific University has become a nationwide mobilization of mainly Christian colleges that ''have come out strongly'' in raising awareness on the AIDS epidemic.
The AIDS awareness campaign had not reached more than one college campus 12 months ago. This World AIDS Day, however, students from 42 campuses nationwide are joining the effort to act on AIDS both on an international and local scale.
What began with a few students at Seattle Pacific University has become a nationwide mobilization of mainly Christian colleges that "have come out strongly" in raising awareness on the AIDS epidemic, said Steve Haas, vice president of church relations at World Vision.
Campuses including Wheaton College, Westmont College and John Brown University have picked up the student program called Acting on AIDS and this year, will take part in the grassroots advocacy program "Lives are at Stake" to educate and engage students. With students mobilizing students to create activism on the global AIDS pandemic, a growing number of colleges and universities have formed a network of Acting on AIDS chapters, supported by World Vision.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"It's amazing to me the level of ignorance on college campuses," said Haas. "There is so much misunderstanding around HIV/AIDS," he said. "Too often, we create barriers to getting involved."
Many lack clear knowledge of the reality of the AIDS crisis around the world, leaving room for judgment, said Haas.
"Even the church community," he added.
Haas described the "tremendous stigma barriers" that exist among the churches. Many times, AIDS is associated with an "at-risk lifestyle" such as homosexual practice.
"This becomes a barrier to [churches] getting involved," commented Haas. "There's judgment, there's stigma, there's misunderstanding as to how AIDS is contracted. So it's 'hands off.'"
Disproving the rash judgments that are made, Haas pointed that only 4-6 percent of the infected contracted the AIDS disease through same sex relations. While AIDS is also associated mainly with males, over 60% of those living with AIDS are women, many of whom are faithful wives. Additionally, many perceive sex as the main cause of AIDS when in Russia, which has the fastest growing rate of the pandemic, intravenous drug use accounts for spreading disease. And India has more people infected with HIV than any other country - not Africa, but Asia, Haas further noted.
Haas stressed the need to break down the barriers and walls of such misunderstandings and have the church community realize that "these are real people with needs and we have the capacity to meet them."
Much of the evangelical church community has already caught on in the action on AIDS, he added. Referencing Ted Green and his findings, Haas said when everyone – churches, students, the government – is allowed to speak loudly and long, then the disease is able to go in reverse as in the case in Uganda. And in this mobilization, "the key critical element was the church."
On Dec. 1, World Vision is focusing on prevention, compassionate care and advocacy with a goal to stretch awareness in greater and greater numbers, according to Haas.
When there are 8,000 deaths, 14,000 new infections and 6,000 children orphaned each day, "we've got a problem," said Haas.
"It's like a Vietnam War memorial each week and eight Katrina’s a day," he added.
"We can talk about SARS, bird flue, malaria, cancer, but nothing is ... like this apocalyptic disease."
