Posted on December 01, 2014
Source: Generation Tomorrow
Generation Tomorrow commemorated World AIDS Day with two community-centered activities that attracted big crowds.
GT kicked off World AIDS Day at Morgan State University for the 3rd annual citywide B’More Aware of HIV event. Students throughout Baltimore joined community members to try to break the Guinness world record for the world’s largest living red ribbon.
Generation Tomorrow was one of 24 vendors and service agencies that hosted an information table at the B’More Aware Health Fair. Visitors stopped by the GT table to play with the spinning prize wheel, pick up free condoms, and learn more information about HIV and hepatitis C.
Many of the health fair attendees were high school students. Before collecting candy and GT key chains, they asked questions about receptive condoms, HIV transmission, and the difference between HIV and AIDS. Many of the students revealed that their parents were living with or had died from hepatitis C infection, which made them more knowledgeable about HCV than HIV.
Generation Tomorrow ended World AIDS Day by co-hosting “HIV is Part of Our Story”, which was an open-mic style event inspired by The Moth storytelling series. The event brought together more than 102 people to the new Atwater’s Café on the Hopkins medical campus to share how HIV has affected each of us. 12 people shared their personal stories in front of the crowd and more than half of the attendees stayed for a guided networking activity.
The event was co-sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Student Outreach Center, the Hopkins Student National Medical Association, the Pennsylvania/Mid-Atlantic AIDS Education and Training Center, the School of Nursing, and Generation Tomorrow. Free rapid HIV testing was provided outside the venue by the GT partner organization Project Re_.
Attendees came from several organizations throughout Baltimore including the JACQUES Initiative, McDaniel College, the Urban Health Institute, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the Lieber Institute, Centro Sol, MICA, and from the Johns Hopkins community.
Check out the World AIDS Day Channel on the Generation Tomorrow YouTube page for videos and sound from the event.
