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As a member of the International Youth Leadership Council, a group comprised of eight university students from schools in the Washington, D.C. area who work together to advocate for international family planning services and global HIV prevention and treatment, I really wanted to develop an initiative for World AIDS Day that could potentially reach every young person around the globe. Within the IYLC, we aim to educate the public and United States policy makers on the importance of providing funding for global HIV prevention and family planning through lobby visits, participation in conferences and meetings and campaign initiatives like this one.
Consequently, I wanted to create a project that was not restricted to our college campuses or immediate communities, but could involve young people everywhere…and so I came up with the “World AIDS Day Blog-a-thon”. My goal in this endeavor was to facilitate a dialogue around the reality of HIV in the lives of young people. I wanted something that could captivate young people, allowing them to engage their passion and creativity in sharing their experiences with HIV, not only to start a discussion, but also to educate peers on the cultural differences and faces of HIV/AIDS. For some, the HIV epidemic is a distant concept, for others it represents a daily challenge. This blog-a-thon serves to provide a global online arena for individuals to exchange diverse experiences and to find a common ground: the hope and desire to end the AIDS epidemic.
So, I would like to officially welcome you to Advocates for Youth’s first World AIDS Day Blog-a-thon!
Amplify's World AIDS Day blog page is a safe space for you to share your stories and express how HIV/AIDS has impacted you through images, poems, haikus, videos, song lyrics….ANYTHING!!! By taking part in this initiative, you have become a crucial component in the youth-led movement to eliminate social stigma around HIV/AIDS and shed light on the experiences of young people and HIV worldwide. Just by sharing your experiences, you have already begun changing the face of the epidemic, serving as a voice for all young people to bring issues of social justice, health and human rights to the forefront of this discussion. This is a global initiative, just as HIV transcends geographical, cultural and social barriers so does this World AIDS Day Blog-a-Thon. Use this blogosphere as an open forum to connect with young people just like you all over the globe, celebrate World AIDS Day and continue the fight against HIV/AIDS. SPEAK UP, JOIN THE MOVEMENT, BLOG ON!
btw, the Facebook event for the Blog-a-thon currently has 315 people. Yowza!