Creating an AIDS-free generation — from Brooklyn to South Africa and everywhere in between

Nov 30th, 2010 5:49 PM UTC
By Malaak Compton Rock

Through my work with Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service, a service program for at-risk youth from Brooklyn, New York, I’ve seen firsthand the tragic toll that AIDS has on families and communities both in Africa and here at home.

This summer, our group of teens from three Brooklyn neighborhoods served in the poverty-stricken South African shantytowns of Diepsloot and Soweto, helping orphaned and vulnerable children and granny-led households. While some may feel like the fight against AIDS is too big to overcome, tomorrow I plan on standing on the steps of the Brooklyn Borough Hall to turn it (RED) and help raise awareness of a very real, exciting and attainable goal in the fight against this disease: virtually eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV within five years.

This lighting marks the launch of (RED)’s campaign “An AIDS Free Generation is Due in 2015,” which includes more than 80 landmarks in more than 13 countries turning (RED). What makes this lighting ceremony particularly special and unique is that it is being led by the Journey for Change Ambassadors themselves, who range in age from 12 to 17.

And as residents of Brooklyn and citizens of the world, they will not only advocate on behalf of (RED) but will also launch the “Brooklyn Knows Project” to encourage every Brooklynite to get tested and know their status.

It is incredible to think that the first AIDS-free generation in nearly 30 years is within our reach. There is treatment that exists to reduce a mother’s chance of transmitting this disease to her child from around 40 percent to less than 1 percent. Still, global citizens, governments and businesses all have more work to do. Just half of the women who need this treatment have access today, and every day, more than 1,000 children are born with HIV.

Almost 90 percent of those children are born in Africa — the region hardest hit by this disease — and new infections have negative impacts on children’s health, their families, their communities and their opportunities. And even here at home, we still have work to do. Brooklyn is home to more than 7 percent of this country’s children who are living with HIV.

If we can ensure that all pregnant women are tested for HIV and — if found to be positive — have access to treatment to control their disease and prevent transmission to their babies, we can create an entire generation of healthy children and stronger families. I am proud to join the Journey for Change Global Ambassadors tomorrow to advocate for “An Aids Free Generation is Due in 2015.”

To learn more, watch ONE’s new PSA and help turn the world (RED) at WWW.JOINRED.COM. For more information on Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service, visit www.angelrockproject.org.

Malaak Compton-Rock is founder and director of Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service and author of the book “If It Takes A Village, Build One: How I Found Meaning Through A Life of Service and 100+ Ways That You Can Too.

TAGS: (RED), HIV/AIDS, New York, World AIDS Day 2010