Speaking Up and Speaking Out Part I

Saturday was World AIDS Day. A day to remember the disease is still out there and still growing. I was an HIV/AIDS educator in college and used to keep up on the statistics. I learned a few scary ones today. The vast majority of people contracting the disease right now are between the ages of 15-25 and over the age of 55. It seems the young still think they are invincible and the old think it doesn't apply to them. Every 60 seconds another person under the age of 25 gets the disease.
I lost an uncle to the disease in 1997. Now parents are facing losing children. Apparently, we need to step up education in school. Unfortunately, just saying, "don't have sex" doesn't work. Education also needs to be stepped up for the AARP crowd as well. Just because you are old enough to get an AARP newsletter doesn't mean you are safe from a sexually transmitted disease.
BTW, one of the fastest growing groups of people getting HIV are straight women. There's some interesting food for thought.
I had the good fortune to be present in the 1990's in Washington, D.C. to witness the last time the AIDS Quilt was laid out in its entirety. The Quilt is composed of large panels created by friends and family in memory of someone they lost to AIDS. The reason the whole thing hasn't been laid out since the 1990's it it is now too large to do so. When I saw it, the Quilt took up the entire Mall. If you stood at one end you couldn't see the other due to the curvature of the Earth. I can't conceive of it's size now. Different organization can request a section of the Quilt to display. Part of the agreement is you will read all of the names of all of the people who have a panel. The list takes days to read non-stop. It's a powerful experience to see a Quilt section. It puts a face to such a large epidemic.
I know, I sound like I'm lecturing but I stepped away from educating others on this disease years ago and feel like I should take some steps back toward that.
The visiting pastor in church today spoke of Linus from the Peanuts. She mentioned that if you go through life with your thumb in your mouth like Linus, you can't speak up for yourself or others who cannot speak for themselves.
Take a moment and remember those who have HIV and those who have lost the fight. Most importantly, take a moment to think about those who are at risk for contracting it, especially the teenagers.