Monday, December 15, 2008

Team Charlotte World AIDS Day


Team Charlotte- World AIDS Day Reporting

For World AIDS Day Team Charlotte was lucky enough to get to participate in a testing event at The University of North Carolina Charlotte. Student organizations and the Health Services office organized a day of HIV awareness and invited the county Health Department and Team Charlotte to bring information and services to complete their program. The day focused on trying to stop the ongoing spread of HIV through the uniting of these groups and a push for everyone to know their status. Students were encouraged by fellow classmates and campus staff to take the time to recognize World AIDS Day and get tested. Team Charlotte was on hand to help support the seventy four students who tested and to provide hundreds of other students on campus with vital facts and information to protect themselves and live healthier lives.
Two members of the team worked the information table in one of the main hubs on campus. They were able to provide condoms, statistics, and impart their knowledge on students as they pass from class to class, sending many of the seventy four who tested in the right direction. These two team members stood alongside ten student groups who had also set up information tables as a sign of their support in the fight to educate young people. The remaining four members of Team Charlotte helped the Health Department staff counsel and test seventy four students in a matter of a few hours. This task could not have been accomplished without the enthusiasm and organization of these four team members. Not only did these four women help things run smoothly, they were there to help bring support to nervous students who were getting tested for their first time.
It was an amazing experience to be able to see the coming together of all these young people, all very close in age to the members of our team, and to get to help them in empowering and educating themselves. The slogan of the day, “Are you positive you’re negative” resonated throughout the school and everyone involved in the days event felt an overwhelming sense of pride for the number of students who were able to say that in fact, they were positive they’re negative.

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