Three university students will work to combat spread of disease
By: David Dankwa
Three Princeton University students will leave on a two-month mission next week to Ghana, West Africa to promote awareness of the AIDS epidemic in the small fishing village of Komenda.
Armed with facts, scientific data and educational training — all provided by the American Red Cross of Central New Jersey — Brian Cho, 20, Annamarie Holmes, 21, and Kate Sylvester 21, hope to combat the spread of the deadly epidemic by hosting village presentations, group discussions and patient counseling in Komenda and its neighboring villages.
“We don’t want to go there and seem like missionaries who are there to change their beliefs,” said Ms. Holmes, a junior from Minnesota. “We will present the facts and the myths about the disease, and hopefully break the stigma that surrounds it.”
The students are members of a student-organized nonprofit organization, the Ghana Education Program, which was established in 1997 to provide basic, educational opportunities in West Africa.
The program is divided into three main projects — library, tutoring and the AIDS awareness campaign. The students hope to expand the program soon to include a scholarship project to help further the education of promising, impoverished village students.
While Ghana has one of the lowest AIDS infection rates in Africa, the students say they fear the number is growing because of the lack of education.
“It’s such a stigma,” said Ms. Sylvester, an Arizona native. “There is also so much misinformation out there — like you can get it from casual contact.”
This is the third straight year that a Princeton University student group has gone to Ghana. Last summer, another group who visited Komenda noted the disease was spreading because of fear of the shame of the disease, as well as general ignorance.
The students said while there in the summer of 1999, they learned that a local priest of a Komendan woman inflicted with the disease burned the positive results of the HIV test and told the woman she had a stomach ailment.
Despite the fact that the last group that went to Ghana was very “well-received,” Mr. Cho said he is still concerned about the kind of reception that awaits them.
“I worry we’re going to a place — with all this scientific knowledge — where there’s no way we can ever fathom the way the people think,” he said.
Kathy Schroeder, a Red Cross workplace program specialist who was giving the students last-minute tips Tuesday afternoon, said that while implementing the educational program is not easy, she believes the three will do their very well.
“They can reach so many people, and change so many lives,” she said. “We admire them and that’s why we’re helping.”
The American Red Cross, which is widely recognized for teaching life-saving skills and techniques, is offering its services free of charge to the students. Also, the university has donated $1,000 to the Ghana Education Program, and the students hope to raise more money through private donations.
The three hope to arrive in Ghana by May 24. Then, from the capital Accra, they’ll catch the infamous “trotro” bus to the village, find a translator (even though most people speak English) and then brace themselves for the life-changing experience.
“The village is ready for us,” said Mr. Cho, laughing. “They know we’re coming.”