Waynesburg College community joining fight against AIDS pandemic
WAYNESBURG – While the solution for the global AIDS pandemic most offered by Christian and humanitarian groups is centered on mercy and compassion, an international justice advocate told students, faculty and staff at Waynesburg College on Tuesday that what those suffering really need most is justice. As part of the college’s weekly chapel service, Serge Duss, senior advisor for global affairs, advocacy and communications for the Christian relief and development organization World Vision, challenged the college campus to join the fight against AIDS.
“There is always a time for compassion. There is always a time for mercy. But now is the time for justice,” he said. “People don’t just need charity; they need justice.”
Duss also showed the large crowd in Alumni Hall a short video with startling statistics comparing the resources of America to countries in AIDS-stricken Africa. For example, the average American student spends $101 a week. That same $101 could send two African children to school for an entire year.
Another example from the film that caused many of the students to shift in their seats was the following statements flashed across the screen: “Some African women travel six miles every day for clean water.” “The average American walks six miles a year.”
Instances like that help put things in perspective, Duss said.
“AIDS is affecting the poor and the developing world much, much more greatly than here in the United States,” Duss said after his talk. “Telling the story and informing people of what’s going on there, so they can become involved here, is very important.”
During his talk, Duss told the crowd that more than 3 million people in Africa died from AIDS last year, that every 14 seconds a child loses a parent and that 15 million children worldwide have lost one or both parents to the disease.
“Those who travel overseas come back changed and appreciate so much more all that we have in the U.S. because we are so, so blessed in this country,” he said. “For those who don’t travel overseas, you can only show the pictures and tell the stories to show that things are so different in the rest of the world.”
Duss, who built World Vision’s advocacy and lobbying voice to promote justice among foreign-policy decision makers in Washington, D.C., encouraged the students to be the “hands and feet of Christ” and make a difference.
“It’s up to us in one small way to do something big together,” he said. “To have students get involved in advocacy and lobbying is key to what can change our policies to do more to fight AIDS.”
However, he cautioned against empty promises.
“We should never confuse talking about justice with doing justice, and I want to congratulate Waynesburg College for doing its part for justice,” Duss said, referring to the launching of the college’s chapter of Acting on AIDS, a program of Christian colleges working in conjunction with World Vision to help create AIDS awareness and activism.
Waynesburg College launched their chapter Friday on World AIDS Day, which Duss, who has 22 years of experience in international humanitarian work, called the “first and very important step for the college.”
“These are the formative years when students are exploring what significance they can have in our society,” he said. “To get students paying attention to something like global AIDS, which is the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time, it is extremely important and the students here at Waynesburg College have just responded magnificently, which is evident with their involvement in World AIDS Day.”
Tom Ribar, Waynesburg College chaplain, said Duss “hit the nail on the head” in terms of what should motivate students to be actively involved because AIDS is more than just a health problem.
“My hope is that they take away the motivation to simply do something to act, even if it’s simple things like sending e-mails or responding to governing officials,” he said. “Even more, my hope is that they would even begin at least to think about their own lifestyle and how they spend their money, because AIDS is not just a health problem, it’s an economic problem and a political problem.”
The Waynesburg College chapter was founded by freshmen Erika Sherry and Katlyn Edwards, who were sparked by another speaker who had touched on the AIDS crisis earlier in the semester.
“We just both felt called that this is something that we could make a difference,” Edwards commented.
“I had always been aware of what’s going on with the AIDS pandemic but never really knew what to do about it,” Sherry said. “Since being at Waynesburg and seeing how many opportunities it gives us to do something in our world it raised my awareness even higher than before.”
Edwards said the greatest advantage of having a speaker like Duss is he touched on actual methods of action such as advocacy and lobbying that students can get involved with.
“A lot of the reason why people don’t do anything is because they don’t know what to do,” she said.