speaksout Blood drive againstAIDS epidemic -suppliess3 ooo I local hospitals

CARLI Pto STAFF WRITER CAP723@CABR!Nl.EDU

ing a person's life," freshman donor Beth Williams said.

Saving one person's life? Try three people's lives. One blood

Each year more than four mil- donation may help as many as lion Americans need blood trans- three hospital patients. The fusions. On Monday, Nov. 3, American Red Cross supplies about 50 members of the Cabrini blood to 3,000 hospitals across community came out to help the the country, providing approxicause and donate their blood to mately one half of the nation's the American Red Cross at ~---- d supply. Cabrini's

About 6.5 million blood drive. pie from com-

The collected _,__ unity groups, blood, like most mpanies, high received at drives, __,__ hools, colleges will go to hospitals .....,.._,1..::2' d the military, in need of blood --~-:.-.:.-..... 1 ade blood transfusions fo nations last trauma victim e<, C. year. In southheart surgeries, organ l'oaa , e a s t e r n transplants, and patients __.-/ Penn·sylvaniaand New receiving treatment for leukemia, Jersey alone, 51 percent of the cancer, sickel-cell anemia and donors were men; 49 percent other diseases. were women; 36 percent were

"Our goal here is always 50 first time donors, and 31 percent units of blood," Cabrini's Nurse were repeat donors, or donors Sue Fitzgerald, said. "Our fall that have donated at a blood drive drive always has more deferrals, before. or people whose blood is turned "I've given blood three times away, because of how many peo- now, but the blood bank also calls pie are sick." me to get my blood because l

This fact should not, however, have the rarest blood type," freshturn people away from trying to man donor Chelsey Pernic said. donate their blood. Only about "I thought the drive at Cabrini five percent of the eligible popu- was cool, and the free cookies lation in the United States were great." donates blood and in the Delaware Valley alone, 1, I 00 donors are needed daily to serve hospital patients.

"I have a rare blood type, 0 negative. That also happens to be universal, so that gave me an extra push to donate, besides the fact that I might possibly be sav-

For more information about giving blood, or other ways you can help, call 1..S0O-GIVELIFE (1800-448-3543) or visit pleasegiveblood.org.

MICHAELA.SITIRICHE

STAFF WRITER MAS723@CABRINI.EDU

Charity is a young woman from Africa who lost both her parents by the time she was 13. She had no one to take care of her, no other family. She had to drop out of school and for young women there were only two jobs for them when they dropped out. Charity had them both. She started working as a house maid. Cleaning up after a family, low wages and bad treatment, she was sexually abused by the man of the house. She left that job and decided to become a "sex worker."

Charity is now a Youth Educator, teaching the youth of the epidemics called HIV and AIDS.

That is just one of the stories Abbie Asha Marambika Shawa the program manager, told to all though who were present at Tuesday, Nov. 11, in the Grace Hall Board Room.

"It was very enlightening, there were a lot of cultural aspects that are involved in HIV/ AIDS that being in the United States," Teresa Boyd,junior English/communications major, said.

The Catholic Relief Service has been responding to AIDS since 1989. CRS promotes programs that respond to the needs of the afflicted, the cause of the disease, and the reduction in transmitting the HIV virus.

As much as 45 percent of the money raised by CRS goes to help Africa with water, sanitation, agriculture and of course HIV/AIDS. Africa, which is made up of 53 different countries has an estimated 28 million people who are suffering from HIV/AIDS. South Africa has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world.

Shawa spoke to the students about his own experiences in his community of Malawi. Malawi is the 10th poorest country in the world. Twentythree percent of the country's 11 million people are infected with the HIV virus or have contracted AIDS.

Malawi's total HIV/AIDS cases are 845,000, more than 100,000 in children alone. That's 10 percent of its population who are infected. Most children born with the disease die before the age of five. The hospitals in Africa occupies 70 percent of its beds to HIV/AIDS patients.

Youth between the ages of l 0 and 24 are approximately a third of the population. Forty-six percent of all new infections occur among the youth and 60 percent among females because of their status in African society. Africa depends on their youth to lead the community but it's those who fall between the ages of 15 to 49 year th~t are dying.

David Chiles, coordinator of Service Learning Resources, said, "We were glad to have Catholic Relief Services and Abbie come on campus, they gave the issue a human face. They brought the government to our attention so that possibly we can do something to make a difference"

Deidre Beadle, sophomore, sociology major, said, "It was educational and informative on how many cases there are in one country and how it's such a widespread issue across Africa."