Students address skepticism, celebrate raising over $1 million for PIH Rwanda

By Melissa King

HIV/AIDS knows no borders. This was obvious from the start of the recent FACE AIDS Spring Conference, which brought together student leaders and speakers from across the nation and the world to build alliances in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

	(From left to right) Sheri Fink, MD, PhD; David Ryan; Henry Epino, MD; FACE AIDS Managing Director Annie Kalt; and Emmanuel Ahishakiye stayed after the keynote address to speak with students. Annie left for Rwanda on May 1 to help coordinate the FACE AIDS pin-making program.

“The discussion we need to start today is how to battle skepticism,” said FACE AIDS Executive Director David Ryan in his opening remarks on April 11, referring to those “who disagree that they can make a difference.” This set a tone of action and creativity for the three-day event at the University of Texas at Austin, which featured workshops, speakers from the field of health and social justice, and a concert to show attendees a true welcome to “the music capital of the world.”

FACE AIDS was founded in 2005 with the mission of “mobilizing and inspiring students to fight AIDS in Africa.” The organization centers around a microfinance program, where HIV-affected individuals in Africa are hired to craft beaded awareness pins that are in turn sold by students in the United States. Each sale is then matched dollar for dollar by private donations. After program costs (supplies and pin-maker wages), all proceeds go to benefit PIH programs in Africa.

Since 2005, FACE AIDS has recruited 150 high school and university chapters, supported 170 individuals in Zambia and Rwanda, and distributed roughly 70,000 pins. Earlier this spring, the organization passed a major milestone by reaching its goal of raising $1 million for PIH.

FACE AIDS began a formal collaboration with Partners In Health in 2007 to operate the pin-making program at Inshuti Mu Buzima in Rwanda. Emmanuel Ahishakiye, who helps coordinate this project, attended the conference. A talented filmmaker whose work has been featured at the Cannes Film Festival, Emmanuel shared a documentary on the program that he had written and directed. Through his camera, students caught a glimpse of how the pin-making project is impacting lives, from a young woman who for the first time had career options, to a mother who could send her son to school.

Keynote presentations were delivered by award-winning journalist Sheri Fink, MD, PhD, and Henry Epino, MD, PIH medical director for IMB Rwanda. Dr. Fink spoke about her experiences reporting on the treatment of HIV in war and conflict zones, while Dr. Epino discussed the challenges of caring for patients in rural and impoverished settings.

The speakers emphasized that infectious disease knows no borders, a fact that they encouraged student leaders to use in battling skepticism. Quoting a recent adage, Dr. Epino challenged the students to help break cycles of poverty that exacerbate the spread of HIV: “You are the change, you are the people you’ve been waiting for,” he said.

Help build a student movement! Anyone interested in starting a new FACE AIDS chapter should contact Cristin Weekley at cristin@faceaids.org.

[published May 2008]