FACE AIDS UCLA will host a conference Saturday to discuss the challenges students face in promoting HIV/AIDS prevention on a global scale and how each student can make a unique contribution to the cause.
The group is taking a new approach to how the UCLA community advocates and supports AIDS movements, on top of asking for donations and scheduling volunteer trips to countries most affected by AIDS. The conference, Global Citizenship and the Fight Against HIV/AIDS, will feature speakers and discussions that stress the importance of how every student can use their skill set to help the global AIDS movement.
“Every skill someone has can really help this epidemic. There is so much every individual can give,” said Jyotpreet Jagpal, president of FACE AIDS UCLA.
Anand Gupta, social justice director of FACE AIDS UCLA, said the event will highlight the use of art to promote the AIDS movement.
An advocate of creativity, David Gere, world arts and culture professor and director of the Art | Global Health Center, will be one of two keynote speakers at the conference. The center is dedicated to using art based education as a way to further awareness about public health issues. Gere will discuss how the power that art and creativity can impact others, especially in the struggle for social justice.
Gere said 6000 incoming UCLA freshman and transfer students who live on the Hill were given a free copy of the book “Mountains Beyond Mountains” at the beginning of fall quarter. The book discusses Dr. Paul Farmer’s struggle to address global social justice, including the challenges that AIDS victims face. Students who had read the book and became interested in Farmer’s work initiated the conference.
“Throughout the year, faculty members and others who organized the release of this book to…students had hoped that there would be spin-off events where students who got interested in public health, or Haiti, or in Dr. Paul Farmer would find other outlets for their interest,” Gere said.
“This conference this weekend is the perfect way to take an interest in Dr. Paul Farmer’s work.”
Some of the greatest movements to challenge social injustice started out in colleges, Jagpal said. Although there is no cure for AIDS, the spread of the disease could be overwhelmingly reduced if it were not for many social, cultural and political stigmas, she added.
Jagpal said she believes students who want to be a part of the current global AIDS movement, be it in Los Angeles or India, can bring a unique skill that can change the current global perspective of AIDS.
“We are trying to teach people that the disease is not the underlying problem, but instead the lack of holistic care to AIDS victims maintains the cycle of infection.” Jagpal said.
Workshops will be held at the conference that discuss challenges students face in joining the AIDS movement. There will also be food and entertainment from UCLA student Skyler Gray who will be singing.
“Every single UCLA student has something to offer and if we come together, we can make a big change in this world,” Jagpal said.