Assistant Professor Dorothy Bely held a presentation on the HIV/AIDS problem in Africa as part of Global Awareness Week on Feb. 11. There were approximately 30 people in the Library Loggia, where the presentation was taking place.
Bely discussed the differences between HIV and AIDS. Bely touched on the stark differences between America and Africa, which has a lot to do with the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, she said.
Near the halfway point of Bely’s 50-minute presentation she gave some startling statistics about the affect of the pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the countries in Africa. More than 11 million children were orphaned in Sub-Saharan Africa due to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, according to statistics provided in Bely’s presentation.
Bely proceeded to show two videos done by Teen Challenge Ministry Institute (TCMI) and World Vision Experience (WVE) that displayed the organizations that are trying to help children who are affected by the pandemic. The average life expectancy of Americans and Africans are 77 and 35, respectively, according to statistics in the WVE’s clip. In the same clip it stated that the average American teenager spends $101 a week, which is enough to send two African children to school for a year.
This is the third year of Bely’s presentation for Global Awareness Week. The reason she does the presentation is because she feels a “real personal connection” to Africa due to her active involvement with the HIV/AIDS pandemic in both Swaziland and Kenya, Bely said.
“I think life is important and when you think of the devastation that’s happening in Africa, it has to become important to all of us,” Bely said.
In Swaziland, there is a 50 percent prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS, said Bely.
Along with her efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa, Bely and her husband, Adjunct Professor Frank Bely, are sponsoring three children from Africa. They are sponsoring a boy from Swaziland and a set of twin girls from Kenya. Bely said that if everyone takes even a small role in the fight against the pandemic of HIV/AIDS in Africa it would make an impact.
“I hope that people will take it to heart and take action and do something to help at least one person,” Bely said. “It makes such a difference if every [person] helps one.”