Tuesday, December 1, 2009

World AIDS Day—Red Ribbons Rock!


Okay first of all, OUCH yes! Pinning the ribbon onto my hunky cover guy totally hurt him, but like a true hero he didn't even flinch. Well, maybe a little pec ripple happened, but I pretended not to notice!

Secondly, what an awesome day! I just finished my shift volunteering to sell Red Ribbons on the streets of Sydney! Made some great new friends and met so many lovely people wanting to buy ribbons, pins and wristbands! My faith and hope in humanity is alive and well!

I have to admit I was very excited and a little bit nervous about starting my day (I'm not a very good salesman!) but this is the kind of fantastic experience everyone should have! The most unexpected people prove generous and loving, and there's a weird and wonderful bond that happens between strangers, like forming an instant lifetime companionship when you're backpacking. It was amazing!

While a lot of people think that AIDS is something that can now simply be treated with medicine, like an aspirin for a hangover, the frightening facts are that almost 33 million people are living with HIV worldwide today and 28 million have died from an AIDS-related illness. A new HIV infection is diagnosed somewhere in the world every seven seconds and someone dies from an AIDS-related illness every 11 seconds. This is a fight we can win! We just have to keep up the support!

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