World AIDS Day: Dancing Our Way To A Better World

Dancing for six hours straight in a college-campus building might sound like a bizarre way for college students to spend a Friday night. But this World AIDS Day at American University in Washington, D.C., students danced to support children living with HIV/AIDS at American University's first Dance Marathon, a fundraiser to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The Foundation is a global organization that seeks to prevent pediatric HIV infection and to eradicate pediatric AIDS through research, advocacy, and prevention and treatment programs.

With one in 20 D.C. residents living with HIV, the disease is not far from our lives. As students coming together from all corners of the globe, many of us have seen AIDS in our own communities. At Dance Marathon, we joined together to help bring HIV prevention and treatment programs to children and families around the world, and ultimately bring an end to this debilitating disease.

Dance Marathon began at 8:00 p.m. last night and ended at 2:00 a.m. today, which is World AIDS Day. Sponsors supported dance marathon participants for the number of hours they remained on their feet. Participants raised funds prior to the event and the actual marathon was a party thanking them for their fundraising efforts.

Last spring, I decided to bring Dance Marathon to American University. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay area, AIDS was always a part of my vocabulary. I don't remember the first time I learned about it, but it was always there. It was part of family conversations and school lessons and assemblies. However, it wasn't until this year that I decided to take action against the disease. After hearing from friends around the country about their participation in Dance Marathons at their respective universities (the Foundation is sponsoring 12 different marathons this year), I decided that American University could benefit from such a program.

Our goal is to establish a tradition on campus that can be carried on long after we graduate. Dance Marathon is sponsored by Women's Initiative, the women's interest group on campus. Women's Initiative's HIV/AIDS Task Force sponsors an annual HIV/AIDS Awareness Week and this year Dance Marathon was the week's culminating event. Based on the success of the event up to this point, Dance Marathon will continue to be a part of HIV/AIDS Week. We recruited more than 80 dancers and raised close to $20,000.

Our inaugural event featured a capella groups from our campus, as well as speakers from local D.C. organizations that are working alongside the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation to fight HIV/AIDS. Local businesses have been supportive of our efforts and our event received donated goods such as Luna Bars and Honest Tea, as well as a slew of gift cards to give out to participants. Each hour was themed, complete with give-aways and dance lessons.

The last few months have been jam-packed as I've balanced coordinating Dance Marathon, six classes, and attempting to maintain a social life and get more than five hours of sleep a night. However, since I brought Dance Marathon into my college life I have been extraordinarily happy. Through Dance Marathon I provided my peers with an immediate way to get involved in our world. Young people are too often told to wait until tomorrow to make a difference. But we can't afford to wait. On this World AIDS Day, American University students danced to make a difference now in the fight against AIDS.

To get involved in the fight against pediatric AIDS, please visit www.pedaids.org.

Laiah Idelson is a junior at American University studying sociology and communications with a concentration in media and government. Originally from Walnut Creek, California, Laiah has been involved in social activism since the age of 12. She is excited and proud to be a part of American University's first Dance Marathon. Next semester Laiah plans to study abroad at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

Comments

[Qbear]

I'm glad Elizabeth Glasier's foundation is getting continual and imaginative fund raising efforts. She was courageous for herself and her two children.

loved the Keith Haring image too.

http://www.giornalisti.it/binarioloco/archives/Stop_Aids_Haring.jpg

[shedances]

Oh, I LOVE this idea of dancing for hours in order to raise awareness for AIDS/HIV. Good for these young, involved Americans! When given a chance, our young(er) generation can really have a lasting positive impact on our social & public health concerns. And certainly, AIDS is an enormous worldwide problem ~ one that was, unfortunately, intentionally ignored during Pres. Reagan's time ... but is now, much more courageously addressed & better understood. Still, there's a very long way to go.

Kelli

[mouselion]

Great choice for graphics (the Keith Haring print). A Soho street artist who became famous for his subway drawings, he died of AIDS in the early eighties.