2008 Woodie Awards
Club presents film in observation of World AIDS Day
Dani King, Staff Writer
Issue date: 12/5/06
Last Updated: 12/29/07
To bring awareness to the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS, Whitworth's Acting on AIDS club showed the film "A Closer Walk" on World AIDS Day last Friday. About 25 students attended the showing.
The film addressed HIV/AIDS in Africa, Central Europe, India and the United States. Today, Acting on AIDS is hosting a speaker from the Spokane Health District to talk about the AIDS community that exists in Spokane.
President of the Acting on AIDS club, senior Rebekah Miner, said that there are common misconceptions about AIDS.
"People tend to think that we have it under control and that everybody's getting treatment who needs it," Miner said. "People also are confused about who has AIDS. Most people think of a homosexual male as being most at risk when really the black female is."
Students were initially shocked by the film's opening scene in which a small, disturbingly frail African child lay on a hospital bed on the brink of death. The film gave testimonies of people's encounters with AIDS from around the world from a gay man in the United States who had been severely persecuted and considered "sub-human" to the stories of orphans in Africa and India.
"The problem isn't anything like food scarcity or lack of resources; it's wrong distribution," said junior Leah Robin co-chairman of the Acting on AIDS club. "The reality is that there are enough resources to fight the disease; it is possible."
The documentary also mentions Paul Farmer, who is known from the book "Mountains Beyond Mountains." Dr. Farmer, who treated people in Haiti, is an example of doing what the world's health establishments said could not be done.
Farmer showed that it is possible to help people and see real results despite cost effectiveness.
Other co-chairmen of the Acting on AIDS club are juniors Julie Foran and Allyn Krzymowski who commented on the abilities of the Whitworth student body to have a real impact on the global fight against HIV/AIDS.
The film addressed HIV/AIDS in Africa, Central Europe, India and the United States. Today, Acting on AIDS is hosting a speaker from the Spokane Health District to talk about the AIDS community that exists in Spokane.
President of the Acting on AIDS club, senior Rebekah Miner, said that there are common misconceptions about AIDS.
"People tend to think that we have it under control and that everybody's getting treatment who needs it," Miner said. "People also are confused about who has AIDS. Most people think of a homosexual male as being most at risk when really the black female is."
Students were initially shocked by the film's opening scene in which a small, disturbingly frail African child lay on a hospital bed on the brink of death. The film gave testimonies of people's encounters with AIDS from around the world from a gay man in the United States who had been severely persecuted and considered "sub-human" to the stories of orphans in Africa and India.
"The problem isn't anything like food scarcity or lack of resources; it's wrong distribution," said junior Leah Robin co-chairman of the Acting on AIDS club. "The reality is that there are enough resources to fight the disease; it is possible."
The documentary also mentions Paul Farmer, who is known from the book "Mountains Beyond Mountains." Dr. Farmer, who treated people in Haiti, is an example of doing what the world's health establishments said could not be done.
Farmer showed that it is possible to help people and see real results despite cost effectiveness.
Other co-chairmen of the Acting on AIDS club are juniors Julie Foran and Allyn Krzymowski who commented on the abilities of the Whitworth student body to have a real impact on the global fight against HIV/AIDS.
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