NPR’s ‘Morning Edition’ Examines Project Concern International India’s AIDS Walk for Life
Thirty-two volunteers are walking across India to increase awareness about HIV/AIDS as part of AIDS Walk for Life, a project by Project Concern International India, NPR's "Morning Edition" reports. Although walking to draw attention to an issue is not new in India, AIDS Walk for Life is "unique" because of its "sheer scale," NPR reports. Walkers follow a "relentless" schedule to meet their goal of covering 13 states and nearly 4,000 miles along the Golden Quadrilateral Highway -- a "major new" road connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Calcutta -- and reaching two million people from Dec. 1, 2004, to Dec. 1, 2005. According to NPR, the country's 16 languages, thousands of dialects and "widespread" illiteracy can make it difficult to educate residents about HIV/AIDS. The walkers -- who are targeting truck drivers, street vendors and rural village residents -- distribute condoms and information about HIV/AIDS, perform street plays, show videos and operate a medical clinic out of the team's mobile van at no cost to residents. According to one of the walkers, people can be reluctant to openly discuss HIV/AIDS, so one of the goals of the walk is to "create an environment where issues like HIV/AIDS, sexual health, transmission of sexually transmitted diseases ... can be talked about in an open manner" (Cunningham, "Morning Edition," NPR, 5/9).
The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.
