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Their Best Shot
by Aaron Dunn, 07.03.07
When it comes to global health, few issues are bigger or more challenging than how to fight AIDS. |
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Seen a good movie lately? Well, check this out. The film (Where Does AIDS Live?), put together this spring by a team of high school students in New York City, just won first place in a city-wide competition sponsored by the poverty-fighting group NetAid and the cable television company Cable Positive. The contest asked local kids to team up with their friends and shoot a crisp, educational, and inspiring 30-second short expressing their personal perspective on HIV and AIDS.
Why HIV/AIDS?
Simple. When it comes to global health, few issues are bigger or more challenging than how to fight AIDS. Nearly 40 million people, including two million children, are now infected with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The disease has killed an estimated 25 million people since it was first identified in the early 1980s.
In the United States, at least 40,000 people are infected with HIV annually. There is no vaccine for AIDS, although certain medications are effective in helping those with HIV/AIDS live longer and with better quality of life than they once did. Still, those drugs are very expensive, don't work for everyone, and, particularly in developing countries, hard to come by.
Action!
NetAid, which called its contest "What's Your Angle: Teens Take on AIDS," is interested in HIV/AIDS because people living in extreme poverty are especially prone to infection. The contest was open to teens, says the group's Director of Programs, Adriana Fernandez, for a couple of reasons. First, kids are hit hard by the disease. Youth ages 15 to 24 make up 40 percent of HIV infections worldwide. Nearly 5,000 youth are infected every day, and millions more are orphaned each year when their parents die. Second, she explains, it's the talented, motivated youth of today who hold the keys to an AIDS-free future. "By making sure their voices are heard we allow them to give their perspectives on what they think about both the global AIDS pandemic and how it's impacting them. It's critical and important because ultimately they're the ones who will be making the decisions about these issues. They're the ones who will eventually bring about a change and who can really make a difference."
Entrants, says Fernandez, went to NetAid's website for details on the contest and for background information on the many issues surrounding AIDS. Finished videos were uploaded and submitted through YouTube or sent to NetAid's offices via regular mail. Submissions were judged, says Fernandez, on a variety of merits. "We were looking for their raw perspective on the issues. We were looking at the creative piece, how they applied their own creative skills in thinking through the issue. Then there's their message, the core message that they put together. And finally, there should have been a call to action. Once they'd talked about the issues and expressed themselves, they should have addressed tangible ways for other youth to get involved." All that in 30 seconds? "It's quick," admits Fernandez. "It had to be tight."
Stay Tuned
If you're not from New York, this year you were out of luck, at least when it came to entering. Next year, though, may be a different story. "We would love to do this on a national scale," says Fernandez, noting this year's contest was held in New York because that city is the epicenter of AIDS in the U.S. "It's certainly generated a lot of interest here. I think it would have even more potential if we opened it up to kids across the country." |
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