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| Event flyers |
Baton Rouge, La.
– On World AIDS Day, December 1, 2015, the Southern University Agricultural
Research & Extension Center in collaboration with the AIDS Healthcare
Foundation,
will harness the power of social change.
Youth in St. Helena and Tangipahoa Parishes will be encouraged to,
“Dream big! End it,” through the arts.
Ending the AIDS epidemic is possible, but only by educating our youth
and connecting them with people who have access to HIV prevention, treatment,
care and support services.
World AIDS Day activities will kick-off at the St. Helena College & Career
Academy, at 9:00 a.m., as Gifted & Talented Art students, Shy’Janae Hookfin
and Javier Smith, unveil the “Dream big! End it,” social change mural. Immediately following the unveiling ceremony,
students at Kentwood High Magnet School will gather during their regular lunch
shift for a ‘Poetry Slam.’ Youth
participants will use word play to encourage their peers to Dream big, and end
the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
“Dream big! End it,” means empowering youth in
Louisiana, to take a stand for people who may not necessarily be able to stand
for themselves. It encourages the
students to be a voice of reason when their peers are being pressured into
compromising situations. It also opens the door for dialogue with key decision
makers in congress when youth dream big to end this crippling epidemic.
Dreaming big to end it, means:
Dreaming big to end it, means:
·
Reducing the large percentage of new HIV and
syphilis diagnoses in Louisiana. According to the Louisiana HIV, AIDS and Early
Syphilis Surveillance Quarterly Report released on June 30, 2015, 25% of all
new HIV diagnoses in 2014 occurred among persons 13-24 years old. The report
also stated that in the first half of 2015, 44% of all early syphilis diagnoses
occurred among persons 13-24 years old.
·
All 395 people living in both St. Helena and
Tangipahoa Parishes with HIV will have access to life-saving medicine.*
·
The 19 million people who are unaware of their
HIV-positive status can begin to get support.
·
Access to medicines for all children living with
HIV/AIDS in Louisiana.
·
All people can be included as part of the
solution.
For more information on how you can
get involved, please contact Nicolette Gordon, (Assistant Area Agent – Youth
Development), in the Tangipahoa Parish Extension Office at 985.748.9381, or in
the St. Helena Parish Extension Office at 225.222.4136.
*Information in this press release was
obtained from the Louisiana HIV, AIDS and Early Syphilis Surveillance 2015 2nd
Quarterly Report and “The Gap Report,” published by UNAIDS.
(Article written by Nicolette Gordon,
Assistant Area Agent at the SU Ag Center.)
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