A.N.G.E.L.S. attend Atlanta AIDS walk

     According to the WebMD Web site, “HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).”  The affects of having this virus causes one’s immune system to break down, which means it is unable to fight infections.
     One misconception that people have regarding AIDS is usually that HIV and AIDS are one in the same; however, this is incorrect.  A person can very well have HIV and not have AIDS.  The dilemma with HIV/AIDS is that there is no cure.  The web site also states that at this time, there are only remedies that can help “people stay healthy and live longer.”
     Common ways to contract the disease is “sharing needles to take drugs and having unprotected sex with an infected person,” according to the WebMD website. However, A.N.G.E.L.S. wants to insure that rape victims, and poorer people who do not have the funds to afford treatment are not forgotten about.
     The A.N.G.E.L.S. program at GCSU has a mission “to provide educational and preventive AIDS program, which includes inviting speakers here on campus,”  Tameka Dean, who is the president of the program, said.   
     A.N.G.E.L.S., which stands for AIDS Now Grasping Every Living Soul, was established in 1999, “by students who were fighting to get free HIV/STD testing here on campus,” said Dean.
     Since 1999, this program has grown from just doing free test, to raising funds that help other outside organizations.  The Foundation and the Diversity House are two of the organizations that get some of the money raised by the GCSU AIDS program.
     One of the largest community service projects that they get involved in is the AIDS Walk in Atlanta, which was held on Oct. 21, 2007. 
     “It is our second year participating in the AIDS Walk,” said Dean. 
     One of their future goals consists of organizing a walk here in Milledgeville.
     The program had about 32 volunteers to represent GCSU at the AIDS Walk.  “We advertised the event by word of mouth,student digest, information tables, through the GIVE center, and facebook,” Dean said.
     Since carpooling was their form of transportation, SGA was willing to give donations to the volunteer drivers to offset the cost of transportation.
     At the actual event in Atlanta, “I realized how many people are willing to stand up for a good cause,” said Lashaundra Pierce, who is the vice president of A.N.G.E.L.S.
     Before the walk actually starts, “all the people around you make you feel like you are apart of a cause that is going somewhere,” said Pierce.
     Aside from the many fundraisers that A.N.G.E.L.S. participates in, both Dean and Pierce were very passionate about the awareness of AIDS.  Dean explained that often people become disconnected from the real affects of AIDS, because they feel it is not their problem.
     Pierce supported her by saying that through A.N.G.E.L.S. she felt she could personally help in “decreasing the amount of bias about people with AIDS, and get more accurate knowledge out there.”
     “I know I can not change the world,” said Dean, “but A.N.G.E.L.S. has at least given me a start.”
     A.N.G.E.L.S. believes that once the world realizes that AIDS affects all of us, we can truly begin the education that will help solve this epidemic.  They are simply starting small by opening the eyes of GCSU students, which will in return open the eyes of the world.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 1 2007. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry