What if 30 percent of your teachers had a deadly disease?
What if you could do something to help?

For many years, a culture of silence has surrounded the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Effective education and prevention campaigns have not been implemented to the extent required by the crisis. In too many African countries, teachers have been unable to break through the stigma associated with the disease. Now, more than ever, effective prevention programs are needed to help teachers in Africa understand how the HIV virus is transmitted, and how behavioral changes can reduce the growing rates of infection.

The AFT-Africa AIDS Campaign -- a multi-year, multi-country project -- provides African teachers with the resources and support they need to develop effective peer-education programs to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, along with counseling and care for those who are sick. Building on a long tradition of international professional and union collaboration, African teachers' unions and the AFT are acting as catalysts to create a self-sustaining network of trained HIV/AIDS peer-educators and counselors in African schools.

A Staggering Crisis: (South Africa)

- An average of 1,000 teachers a year are dying of AIDS
- 420,000 children have lost one or both parents to AIDS
- Half of today's 15-year-olds will die of AIDS in the
next 10 years.

In addition to developing teacher-training programs in Africa, the AFT-Africa AIDS Campaign is working to raise the funds needed to help our African teacher organizations expand their effective programs.

- Awareness-raising projects that can increase student
understanding of the AIDS epidemic.
- Classroom- or school-based activities that can increase
funding for the efforts in Africa.
- Links to organizations working on the AIDS crisis in
Africa.

What if We Could Do Something To Help?!?
...Well, you can help by purchasing the CAMPAIGN PIN - it really is pretty. :-) Take a look: www.aft.org/africa_aids/pins.html

Your contribution to the campaign will go directly for union initiatives to provide resources for HIV/AIDS education, teaching materials and supplies. The AFT, U.S. government agencies and private foundations are providing funding for other program expenses.

AFT's website is:
http://www.aft.org/africa_aids/overview.html