YEP/West Africa Exchange:
What's New from Ann Arbor?
Pfizer helps empower youth to fight global campaign
against HIV and AIDS! - August 6, 2003
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"Last
week, a group of students involved with the Youth Empowerment
Project's West Africa Exchange visited Pfizer and gave an update
on their AIDS prevention and education efforts in Burkina Faso."
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By Alison Roth
Today's generation of teenagers has earned a collectively
bad reputation for apathy, laziness and playing video games
in a pile of fast-food wrappers. But at least one group of
local high-schoolers is doing something to change that perception.
After learning about the devastating prevalence of HIV and
AIDS in West African countries, members of a local organization
called the Youth Empowerment Project (YEP) knew they had to
do something to help. So they turned to Pfizer for support.
After returning home from a summer internship with the Association
pour la Paix et la Solidarite in Burkina Faso, Harvard University
student and YEP founder Justina Hierta, an Ann Arbor native,
met with David Canter and requested that he consider supporting
APS's efforts in West Africa. In turn, David requested that
the Pfizer Foundation consider supporting the efforts of Justina
and the group in which she was so involved.
Lisa Foster, Paula Luff and Atiya Ali, three colleagues from
Pfizer's Corporate Affairs/ International Philanthropy program,
were very receptive in establishing a partnership between their
office and Pfizer's Ann Arbor Labs. In total, Pfizer granted
$44,000 to APS, and later, an additional $5,000 to YEP for
a project called the West African Exchange – an attempt
to stop the spread of AIDS in West Africa through peer education.
"In that culture, youth are not the ones teaching kids – the
adults are," said YEP sponsor Ebba Hierta, who's also
Justina's mother. "And when they hear the adults talk,
they say, 'yeah, right.' That's why this project exists."
The goal of the APS project is to form youth groups in 25
villages in Kouritenga and Oubritenga to inform, educate and
increase communication about HIV and AIDS, along with distributing
condoms to community members. The project aims to prevent further
spread of AIDS and to help those already infected. Through
the West African Exchange, YEP is attempting to foster communication
between students in Ann Arbor and Burkina Faso.
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Jalle Daffa
presents David Canter with a tapestry from Burkina Faso.
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Last Wednesday, a group of YEP members came to the Ann Arbor
Labs for a tour – and to give David an update on the
progress of the exchange. "It took a little while, but
the project's gotten started," said YEP's Jalle Daffa. "They've
already formed a youth group in Burkina Faso. The next step
is obtaining two laptops for them so we can see what they've
been doing."
But the fight isn't over yet. The newest challenge in Burkina
Faso, said Jalle, is that "young men who are fighting
the civil war on the Ivory Coast are coming back to Burkina
Faso and spreading AIDS."
The students were eager to learn about Pfizer's support of
other AIDS- and health-related efforts in developing countries,
such as distributing free Zithromax in West Africa for the
treatment of trachoma, one of the leading causes of blindness
in tropical countries. "It turns out that a single dose
of this, given once a year, will prevent the infection," said
David. "We'd like to think there might be 200,000 people
in West Africa whose sight is okay, but who would have been
blind as a result of the disease."
David reminded the group that Pfizer doesn't make a single
cent on programs like the Zithromax distribution. "Not
only will we pay for the research, but we'll actually give
away the product," he said. "That's what you can
do when you're well-supported by the country in which you're
based. The United States is basically funding drug research
for the rest of the world."
Last December, Pfizer launched a global campaign to raise
awareness against HIV and AIDS, which affects about 40 million
people in the world today. The program is aimed at providing
resources to colleagues regarding HIV/AIDS infection, increasing
awareness of Pfizer's philanthropic efforts and providing colleagues
with contacts for volunteer activities and contributions (such
as the Diflucan Partnership, the Academic Alliance and the
Global Health Fellows program). Visit http://aids.pfizer.com
for more information.
"AIDS is something you tend to ignore, like Anthrax or
smallpox, because it doesn't really happen to people you know," said
YEP's Sandra Chen. "But if you start a project like this,
you start noticing how it really does affect other people."
The group presented the site with a handmade tapestry from
their counterparts in the Burkina Faso youth group. "I
think each of you have an amazing capability – and you're
not doing it for yourself," David told them. "You're
doing it for what you believe is a good cause. Try to persuade
those around you that what you're doing is really worthwhile."
The Youth Empowerment Project is a great way for area teens
to get involved in important leadership roles in the community.
For more information and sponsorship opportunities, check out
the YEP website. Return to main "What's New from
Ann Arbor?"
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