Team IDS raised $3,200 for AIDS in Africa
Melissa Evans, News Contributor
Bob Huish of Dalhousie’s International Development Studies department will dye himself blue if enough students at the university also vow to complete dares for the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
The foundation launched a Dare to Remember campaign on Oct.19 which will last until World AIDS Days on Dec.1.
The campaign encourages people to complete dares in an effort to bring awareness to HIV/AIDS in Africa. Men, women and children in sub-Saharan communities are struggling with this disease every day and are still finding innovative ways to make it through and contribute greatly to their communities. The Dare to Remember campaign hopes to acknowledge their efforts and raise money for families working to turn the tide of AIDS in Africa.
“What’s really great about this campaign is that it’s got an element of solidarity to it,” says Huish, whose IDS Team has raised just over $3200 so far. “I think it says that people understand their plight and appreciate it.”
You can’t raise funds without first raising awareness.
Huish believes dying himself blue will generate great opportunities to engage with strangers and talk about the importance to the foundation’s campaign and what Dalhousie staff and students are doing to support it.
“Most people, if they’re lecturing or going to the bank or walking down Spring Garden Road and they’re not painted blue, nobody will notice,” says Huish. “But, if you’re painted blue, a lot of people will notice and they’re either going to run away or come and ask you what’s up.”
Students participate in the campaign by doing a dare, daring someone else something, or finding a person or team to sponsor, such as Team IDS or Team Dalhousie Medicine.
Catherine Macneil, a Dalhousie student and member of Team IDS took on a personal fundraising goal and an interesting dare for herself.
“My hair has been long, it’s been short, but you’ve never seen it like this before. Help me raise $500 and my hair will be cut Mohawk style,” Macneil writes on her personal dare page.
“Not good enough? Push it to $700 and it will also be dyed. What colour? That will have to be decided by the masses,” says Macneil.
So far, Macneil has raised $590 for sub-Saharan communities and says she is looking for a good hairdresser.
Second year student, Brandon Robinson, says he wanted to say something about the issues without saying anything at all. He is taking a vow of silence for seven full days in order to raise awareness for the foundation. This includes electronic communication.
“I could say something about how this is symbolic of all the people living in poverty who don’t have a voice or something, and in a way, that’s true, but it’s not why I’m taking a vow of silence,” writes Robinson on his personal dare page. “I’m taking it because for what I’m doing to really mean something to me, it needs to be difficult … To that end, I’m going to do something I never thought I’d ever be able to do. Something I’m sure most people who know much about me don’t think I can ever pull off.”
Robinson will begin his vow of silence on Nov. 22.
To donate to Macneil or Robinson’s personal cause, visit adaretoremember.com/dares_campus.cfm
Kristin Rowe of the Stephen Lewis Foundation says she is “thrilled that Dalhousie has once again come out full force” in support of the campaign.
“I love how some of the leadership has been shown from the faculty like Dr. Huish and John Cameron (who will be lecturing as “Sustainable Development Person” as his dare) and how they’re incorporating this into their curriculum and advocating on campus, mobilizing students on campus in the Dare campaign.”
Rowe says she is not surprised with Dalhousie’s involvement in the campaign.
“Dalhousie and Halifax in general are one of our most present and engaging communities when it comes to the Stephen Lewis Foundation,” says Rowe. “We love it. It just shows us how generous communities in the Maritimes are toward the Dare campaigns.”
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