What Dance Marathon Means to Me

The sheer magnanimity of decorated Pauley Ballroom astounded me and the bright lights blinded me. This was Dance Marathon 2009 and I, the awed volunteer was there. In that moment, I realized that I wanted to not only help set-up next year’s event but also promote our valiant fight against Pediatric Aids. This is why I applied for the Outreach Committee. Dance Marathon’s cause is what I feel really defines the event and its hopeful message. It is a chance for the different communities of Berkeley to join together in a united, just cause and inspire hope/determination in those who have suffered from Pediatric Aids. As cliché as this may sound, Dance Marathon is an opportunity for me to feel as if I am significantly impacting other peoples’ lives in the world. Spreading the idea of a “generation free of AIDS” invokes a wonderful feeling within my heart especially when I see adults and children alike first stare and then smile with wonder.

I am not naïve to think that one person can completely eradicate a deadly disease like Pediatric AIDS but here in an interesting fact for you. As stated on the Elizabeth Glaser website, a donation of just $15 could reach one pregnant woman with the services she needs to prevent transmission of HIV to her baby. This means that $15 donated from me or you can help prevent a child from receiving HIV from his/her mother. This is a step in the right direction towards a “generation free of AIDS.” I feel as if it is my responsibility along with others in the committee to make sure that people are aware of important facts about the global AIDS epidemic such as this one. Our cause has made me want to become more knowledgeable about the global AIDS epidemic and what measures can be taken to prevent it from becoming an even more pressing issue. I want to inform people about the goals of both Dance Marathon and the Elizabeth Glaser Foundation and allow them to choose whether or not to support a possibly life-changing, monumental organizational effort.

With Much DM Love,

Amir Afshar

(Member of the DM Outreach Committee 2010-2011)

Kids getting AIDS and Kids giving AIDS

The goal of the Elisabeth Glaser

Pediatric AIDS Foundation is to eradicate pediatric

AIDS through education, research, public policy, and by providing funds for programs. Their work is tremendous in its breadth and feasibility of application. But they face steep opposition, even beyond the disease itself, from established cultures in highly infected countries.

In the small south African country of Zimbabwe, the common belief is that having sex with a virgin girl can cure AIDS. Local spiritual leaders, community leaders, and even billboards preach this home remedy. The ingredients are as follows: Take a virgin girl, preferably one of young age, rape her, take her virgin blood, mix it with a few herbs, drink it, and live a long happy life without AIDS.Virgin girls can range in age from one day old to 92 years of age and anywhere in between. There have been reported cases of all of these ages being raped and having their blood used to "cure" their attacker of AIDS.

Disturbingly, the rape of young innocent girls isn't the most haunting part - the fact that these girls become HIV positive and give birth to young girls of their own is the truly upsetting part. Not only does the practice of raping for a cure create a society of hate and a population of women degraded and fearful, but it also breeds a whole new generation of HIV positive children.

Despite information otherwise, men continue to rape girls in the belief that they will be cured, men continue to impregnate children, and men continue to create new generations of HIV positive babies. This is the kind of thing that the Elisabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation has to confront beyond simply educating about how to prevent transmission. They are confronting cultural discontinuities and hoping to make the world a brighter place for all children, whether in regards to their birth or their sexual development. Needless to say, it's not an easy task.

Check out the trailer for Tapestries for Hope, a documentary about the Girl Child Network in Zimbabwe that helps empower girls that were raped and is trying to eliminate the superstition of virgin blood as an AIDS cure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA5EO4yMznY