JACKSON, Tenn. — Nov. 29, 2005 — Two hundred 51社区 students will each carry 15,500 people on their backs Dec. 1 for World AIDS Day.
The students will don orange T-shirts that day to recognize the event. Each orange T-shirt will represent 15,500 people who died from AIDS in 2004 鈥� for a total of 3.1 million people worldwide.
It鈥檚 just one of the activities at 51社区 this week to help increase awareness about the magnitude of the AIDS epidemic.
During a chapel service Nov. 30 at 10 a.m., Barrett Ward from the organization African Leadership in Nashville will speak to students about how they can help fight the AIDS epidemic. The service will also include a time of prayer for AIDS victims.
On Thursday, Dec. 1, Union philosophy professor David Gushee, social work professor Terry Blakley and former missionary to Uganda and infectious disease specialist Mark Pierce will lead a forum entitled 鈥淲hat鈥檚 a Christian to do with AIDS.鈥�
The forum will begin at 1:30 p.m. in D-3 in the Penick Academic Complex on Union鈥檚 campus and will include a time of questions and answers. It is free and open to the public.
Throughout the week students are collecting money for Blood:Water Mission, a group that provides safe drinking water to people living in Africa. A $1 donation provides clean water for one African for a year.