As I sat picking at my cafeteria Caesar salad, I was surrounded by heated discussions about changes to the online network Facebook. Students ignored their soup and PB and J’s to rant and rave about the ridiculous new features on their favorite Web site. A junior who sat quietly during the conversation finally remarked, “People are dying of AIDS every day, world hunger continues to be a problem, and our generation has finally found our cause…we want them to change Facebook back.”

He has a point.  More than 40 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS at the end of last year, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Lizzy, 19

 While some teens worry about changes to Facebook, others are taking action in the global fight against HIV/AIDS. 

Chin Mardy Makes Sure Young People Are “in the Know” in Cambodia

One soldier leading the charge is 23-year-old Chin Mardy, who is founder, executive director and peer counselor for Cambodian Youth Development (CYD).  Chin was a university student in 2000 when he did some self-development and leadership training, which led to him working with young people in his community. According to Chin, “Sixty percent [of Cambodians] are living [on less than] $1 per day.” There is little money for many young people to attend school, let alone receive sex education. Chin realized that youth in his community “[do] not receive any information regarding HIV/AIDS.” In response to what he calls a “lack of information and education,” Chin founded CYD. 

He is driven by the fact that “HIV/AIDS transmission is not a problem for only one person, but it is a big problem for each of us.” Chin is promoting change by training other peer counselors and speaking frequently with the media to raise awareness.  When I ask Chin how he keeps from getting discouraged in the face of such an immense problem, he says, “I make myself work so hard, [so] I never [feel] hopeless.”

Kerrel McKay Turns Tragedy into Action in Jamaica

Kerrel McKay is another young soldier in the fight against HIV/AIDS.  She is a twenty-year-old Jamaican who says she got involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS “after I cared for and watched my dad die from the disease.”  

Kerrel works as the youth interventions coordinator for the Ministry of Health in Kingston, Jamaica, and is committed to educating young people about AIDS…but it isn’t always easy.  “My age at times [has] caused a problem when [sharing] info with adults. They often undermine [me] because of my age, and therefore sometimes the message is not well received because the main [issue] for some people is that I am young and they [think they] know more than I do.”  

But Kerrel is committed to her message nonetheless, and has frequented bars and clubs to spread sexual health education. Kerrel realizes that a “majority of all new infections are among young people,” and she emphasizes that “young people have a lot to contribute [in terms] of skills and creativity that can be harnessed in the response [to HIV/AIDS].” Kerrel stresses that “[Y]oung people are crucial in putting a stop to the growing epidemic that we now face.”

Kerrel’s voice now reaches beyond Jamaica to anyone with an Internet connection.  She has recorded three audio diaries for UNICEF (the biggest supporter of Kerrel’s Committee Youth Group) in which she interviews Jamaicans concerning their beliefs about AIDS and sexual health. One man Kerrel interviewed—who works for an AIDS prevention program—notes the long-term effects of AIDS, which kills parents and “…leaves their children in a vulnerable situation, and the kids often become victims of crime, violence, drugs and prostitution.” Kerrel’s audio diaries give insight into Jamaican culture while simultaneously expressing the worldwide need for AIDS education and prevention. (Click here to check out Kerrel’s audio diaries.)

Teens Take Action in the United States

Chin and Kerrel are inspiring, but they are not alone.  There are groups of young activists here in the United States that are responding to this epidemic. Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC) is a nationwide movement with over 85 chapters at colleges, universities and high schools in the United States.  In only three years of existence, SGAC has already passed important legislation and gotten all the presidential Democratic candidates in the 2004 election to address the issue of AIDS during their campaigns. (For more information about getting involved with SGAC, visit www.fightglobalaids.org.)

The AIDS epidemic’s impact is overwhelming, but teens and young adults around the world are refusing to sit still. The SGAC and individuals like Chin Mardy and Kerrel McKay embody what “standing up for your beliefs” is all about. And what if we all stood up with them?  Who knows the impact our generation could have if we stopped complaining about Facebook—and other “issues” that seem important—and followed the lead of these activists who are boldly taking the initiative to do their part in fighting HIV/AIDS.