Cain Barriskill and John Redmond
Contributing Writers
With Monday marking World AIDS Day, organizations globally have been hosting events aimed at raising funds and promoting awareness of the deadly illness.
The Korean Commission for World AIDS Day has formed `Trachea 2008' a group charged with organizing events to promote AIDS awareness, education and fundraising in Korea.
``The commission's attention is on the annual World AIDS Day which has fallen on Dec. 1 since its inception in 1988,'' according to a media release.
The commission is comprised entirely of dedicated volunteers from all walks of life in Seoul. ``The student organization CLIP forms a strong arm of the commission with its roots in Korea's universities, as well as its experience in the field. Meanwhile, professionals' experience coupled with expatriate connections brings a solid direction to the campaign, forming a well-rounded task force,'' it added.
The task set for Trachea 2008 is to set up a day's worth of events to take place in the area near Hongik University, colloquially known as Hongdae ― an area renowned as a lively and communicative forum.
The day will include lectures by experts seeking to highlight not only the dangers and medical facts surrounding AIDS, but to inform of the wider societal problems and misconceptions surrounding the disease.
``It is of pivotal importance that AIDS is no longer ignored and viewed as an outcast problem in Korea if the steady spread of the disease is to be halted. This will be possible thanks to CLIP,'' said the commission.
A large part of the Hongdae allure is the cafe culture that thrives on the streets. ``These cafes will be used to provide a setting for those who attend the lectures to retire to after hearing our guest speakers in order to discuss what they have learnt. These cafes will also sell handicrafts from the two organizations for which we are raising money: Grassroots Uganda and Little Travellers.''
Grass Roots Uganda (www.grassrootsuganda.org) is an organization of women from war ravaged Uganda who make a living by coiling up pieces of colorful wastepaper to make beautiful jewelry.
These women raise their families, often single handedly due to the number of slaughtered men, with the added burden of having AIDS; often contracted when they were forced into sexual slavery for armies.
Little Travellers (www.littletravellers.org) runs along similar lines, whereby women make a living through producing handicrafts, in this case beautifully cute beaded pins (broaches).
The women are from the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa, where 40 percent of adults are infected with HIV. The money these pins generate makes an enormous difference as it enables women to feed and educate their families in one of the most HIV infected places on this planet.
The evening of Dec. 6 will be the chief fundraiser, in conjunction with three entertainment venues and a host of Korean and foreign bands, MCs and DJs. There is a cover charge of 10,000 won which includes entrance into all three venues, of which 5,000 won will go to each of the African organizations.
In return, each entrant will receive a Little Traveler pin and a Grassroots Uganda necklace. Drink specials and handicraft sales will also generate further income.
The evening kicks off at Jane's Groove with a mixture of music from around 8:30 p.m. until 11 p.m., from where it will then move to two clubs. The first club, DGBG, a long established venue for live music will feature bands late into the night. The other venue, Sensation, will cater for crowds that prefer DJs over live music.
Collectively, the evening entertainment is called Rubber Seoul ― a name that invokes thoughts of quality music and ideas, as well as a much needed reminder to use condoms.
Throughout the day and night, Trachea 2008 will be working with KFAP (Korean Federation for AIDS Prevention) (www.kfap.org), which will be providing plenty of literature and other material in Korean and English to have on display and distribute. UNAIDS will also be providing other such material.
The intention is to highlight the existence of KFAP and their invaluable services, such as confidential HIV testing, so that people know that should they be in doubt, there is a place to turn to without fear of reprisal. In addition, free condoms will be liberally distributed.
``All in all, we hope Dec. 6 will be remembered as a significant day in Korean AIDS awareness and set the precedent for future world AIDS days to educate, communicate and motivate all those who are ready to listen to a message that must not be disregarded,'' the organizer said.
For more information, contact blog.naver.com/aidsday or join the Rubber Seoul facebook group.