Namibian woman to tell of her struggle with HIV, Dec. 1

Anita Isaacs, a Namibian woman who contracted HIV from her husband in 2000, will discuss her personal story and her effort to educate others about the AIDS epidemic in Africa during a program at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 1 in Whitley Auditorium on the Elon University campus. Her presentation is free and open to the public. Her visit to Elon coincides with World AIDS Day and its 2004 theme, Women and AIDS.

Isaacs is regional director of Lironga Eparu, an organization whose name means “learn to survive.” Lironga Eparu assists Namibians who have been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS, and promotes education and prevention through a variety of programs. Isaacs is an advocate for women who are affected by HIV in Namibia, where women have struggled to gain equal status with men. This will be her first trip to the United States.

During the Dec. 1 program, Elon students in the Project Pericles program will debut a documentary they produced about Isaacs. Students in Project Pericles, which promotes civic engagement on a local and global scale, have conducted extensive research into the problem of AIDS and HIV infection in Africa and are working to expand global awareness of the epidemic.

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