I've been thinking about something lately. Most of these thoughts have been provoked by the combination of a specific homework assignment and the Times article, "A Perfect World".
In the next seven seconds, I want you to define the perfect world.
Done yet? Okay, chances are you said a perfect world would be where there were no war. It would be perfect if everyone just got along. Except that would be a peaceful world, not a perfect world.
Everyone focuses on a possible war with Iraq nowadays. But what do you know about HIV and AIDS? Can we just ignore deadly illnesses until there's peace? I hope not.
HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. It basically means that if you have HIV, your immune system has a hard time fighting off bacteria and illnesses that shouldn't affect a person normally. These are called opportunistic infections.
Opportunistic infections will eventually break down your immune system to a point where your body can't fight off anything. This is when you develop AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). AIDS isn't what actually kills; it's actually other infections that take over your body.
You may well be bored with all these facts about HIV and AIDS, and you might be wondering what any of this has to do with a perfect world. I'm about to tell you how many people suffer from HIV and AIDS, and then maybe you???ll understand.
Forty million. That's more then the entire population of Canada.
There is no known cure for HIV and AIDS, but there are treatments to help sufferers live longer. Sadly, almost 30 million people living in southern Africa are affected with HIV or AIDS. Three thousand children become orphans every day. Two teachers will die today, and two more tomorrow. To make matters worse, the average income in southern Africa is 50 cents Canadian, barely enough to ride the bus to the hospital, let alone afford treatment.
Peace is a beginning to a perfect world, but it???s not the final solution. We need to realize that, and help protect ourselves from getting infected. Don't share drug needles (why are you doing drugs, anyway?) and (am I allowed to say this on Whyville?) always use a latex or polyurethane condom during sex. Want to make sure you don???t get HIV or AIDS? Don???t do drugs and hold off on sex until marriage -- that makes avoiding disease a pretty good bet.
People are living longer because of treatments, but we need to help fund research for a cure. Forty million people is too big a number. If you'd like to learn more, you can go to these sites, which I found really helpful.
www.aids.org
www.aids.com
aids.about.net
And CTV has also taught me a lot about AIDS and HIV through various programs, including the evening news.
I make the rockin' world go round,
Giggler01
(and I see TIKE in an ugly hat!)
P.S. I promised TIKE that when I mentioned him wearing an ugly hat in one of my articles, I would also let the Editor know that the two of us are volunteering to write the captions under the titles on the front page.
Editor???s Note: All authors are welcome to write their own blurb lines! Saves me time, energy, and what little brain power I???ve got left, come Friday! Heheh....
