Hey AMSA Turkeyheads, Bono, Ashley Judd (check her out in the splendid new movie, "Frida" along with Salma Hayek) and African AIDS activists are coming to town to talk about AIDS! Well, at least they're coming nearby. Check out the midwestern tour they are undertaking in a few days! If only we knew that they were coming as close by as Iowa, we could have worked the magic and convinced them to come here. In between bites of turkey, I may actually try to send a last ditch desperate plea for them to stop by MN on their grand tour - I know, highly unlikely given the short timeframe, but at least they may consider supporting us in our current and future efforts, or maybe even come after their tour for Human Rights Day. HAPPY THANKSGIVING Turkeyheads! Quy P.S. Megan (at PHR), do you know who we can contact regarding the Midwest AIDS tour? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Megan Gaydos" <[log in to unmask]> To: "AMSA Health and Human Rights" <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 10:09 AM Subject: [hhr] AIDS Events - Bono & Ashley Judd in Heartland Next Week!! As you may have heard, leading AIDS/debt relief activist and U2 singer Bono is going to tour the midwest next week with actress Ashley Judd and several African AIDS activists. He is going to be speaking in 12 "heartland" cities in 8 days to drum up support for efforts to combat global AIDS. If you are in one of the cities below - please try to attend this event! It will be educational, inspiring, and action-oriented! If you are a health professional student living in one of these cities, please consider creating and bringing a simple quilt panel demonstrating health professionals call to action on global AIDS. For more information, please email Megan Gaydos at [log in to unmask] or go to: http://www.phrusa.org/campaigns/aids/quilt.html If you are not in one of these cities, but know of others who are, please forward this message to them and encourage them to attend the events! If you cannot attend these events, but are interested in doing something for World AIDS Day, please visit: http://www.phrusa.org/students/hiv.html for ideas! ******************************************************* Lincoln, Nebraska University of Nebraska Lied Center Box Office 1-800-432-3231 Iowa City, Iowa University Box Office 1-800-346-4401 Wheaton, IL Wheaton College 630-752-5390 Indianapolis, IN- Location TBD- Please watch for announcements! Louisville, KY NE Christian Church 9900 Old Brownsboro Rd. *************************************************** Info on DATA 's Heart of America Tour: Stops: Dec 1 -- Lincoln NE Dec 2 & 3 -- Iowa City and other stops in Iowa Dec 4 -- Wheaton IL; Chicago Dec 5 -- Indianapolis Dec 6 -- Cincinnati Dec 7 -- Louisville Dec 8 -- Nashville DATA 1317 F Street NW Washington, DC 20004 DEBT AIDS TRADE AFRICA November 22, 2002 For more information, call (212) 843-8025 HEART OF AMERICA TOUR: AFRICA'S FUTURE AND OURS KICKS OFF ON WORLD AIDS DAY; BONO, ASHLEY JUDD AND AFRICAN FRIENDS HEAD TO THE HEARTLAND Sunday, December 1 marks the beginning of the Christmas season. It is also World AIDS Day. In Africa that day, like every other, 6500 men, women and children will die of AIDS and another 9500 Africans will be infected with the disease. It does not have to be this way. African determination matched with American leadership, know-how and faith can beat this plague. Bono, Ashley Judd, African entertainers and health workers will be setting out on the Heart of America Tour on World AIDS Day to spread awareness of the AIDS emergency and the opportunity we have now to stop it. They will visit seven heartland states in seven days, meeting thousands of people who want to know more in church halls, colleges and coffee shops--and local heroes who are already making a difference in their communities. Bono said: "We've been invited by people in the heartland to talk about the AIDS emergency in Africa, hear what people have to say, and see what we can do about it. A preventable, treatable disease is killing 2.5 million Africans each year, leaving behind generations of orphaned children. This generation of Americans has the opportunity to change the course of history." Ashley Judd said: "I believe Americans truly want to reach out and make a difference. No mother should face giving her own child a death sentence by HIV/AIDS in childbirth. Every father should have the hope of living to see his children grow up. This tour is about showing that we can help bring hope back to millions of African families." There is a growing movement, including Pope John Paul II and Secretary of State Colin Powell, who believe that the health crisis in Africa is the critical moral challenge of our time. President Bush is traveling to Africa early in 2003 to see the crisis for himself and see what more must be done to beat AIDS. The tour will open in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Sunday, December 1, and travel by bus to Omaha, Iowa City, Dubuque, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Nashville, with formal and informal stops in smaller communities along the way. The Heart of America tour is sponsored by DATA, a new non-profit organization that aims to raise awareness about the crisis of unpayable DEBTS, the urgent need for more and better development assistance, especially to fight AIDS, and the unfair TRADE rules that keep AFRICA poor. DATA works to bring politicians, celebrities and civic activists together as campaigners to strengthen public support for U.S. leadership in helping Africans build a better future. # # # Agnes Nyamayarwo TASO AIDS clinic Agnes Nyamayarwo is a nurse from Kampala, Uganda. She had left nursing to raise her eight children when her husband died in 1992. After she discovered that he had died of AIDS, she went to be tested C and discovered that she too was HIV positive. But more was to come. She then learned that she had unknowingly passed on HIV to her youngest child in childbirth, one of 1400 African mothers who unwillingly give their children the disease every day. He died at age 6. She held herself responsible for his death. Her eldest son, who is not HIV positive, was teased at school and treated as if he too had AIDS. He suffered severe depression, ran away from home and never returned. But Agnes refused to give up. She planned ahead for her family after her death, compiling a ˇ°Memory Bookˇ± for her children, filled with stories about her, her family, her character, about her children when they were growing up. But she also looked for a way to give her life meaning, and help prevent others from suffering what had happened to her. She began to volunteer for a community AIDS organization called TASO (The AIDS Support Organization). TASO volunteers, many HIV-positive like Agnes, work in neighborhoods all around Kampala, teaching people and families how to prevent HIV/AIDS and providing support to the sick and their families. It provides food and medicine, promotes avoidance of risky behaviors, and works to end discrimination against people living with AIDS. TASO is recognized around the world as a leader in providing innovative, affordable support for people living with AIDS. TASO, and its courageous citizen volunteers like Agnes, have been a major part of Ugandaˇ s success story C reducing AIDS prevalence rates from 15 percent of adults ten years ago to just 5 percent today. Agnes herself is now on anti-retroviral AIDS drugs that have helped her stay healthy and keep working to help the vast majority of Africans who have no access to those lifesaving medications. This month, her daughter will graduate from college. The Gateway Ambassadors The Gateway Ambassadors are young people ages 10-18 from the West African country of Ghana. They auditioned from all over the country to attend performing arts school in Accra, the capital city. As part of their education, they share their faith and heritage through performance. The eight Gateway Ambassasdors performing on the Heart of America Tour are performing throughout the United States to raise money for college scholarships, and to spread hope about Africaˇ s greatest resource, its children. With great joy, enthusiasm and spirit, they sing the good news about Africaˇ s people, their spirituality, and their values and determination in fighting war, poverty and AIDS. The Gateway Ambassadors have performed at the White House for First Lady Laura Bush, the Today Show, on Wall Street, and before thousands of people in the United States and Africa. *************************************************************** Physicians for Human Rights promotes health by protecting human rights. To learn more, go to: www.phrusa.org Megan Gaydos Program Associate - National Student Programs Physicians for Human Rights 100 Boylston Street, Suite 702 Boston, MA 02116 (617) 695-0041 [log in to unmask] --- You are currently subscribed to hhr as: [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [log in to unmask]