Across the Globe

Eurasia FLEX Alumni Provide Knowledge and Hope on World AIDS Day

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On December 1, 2011, 62 Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX) program alumni from across Eurasia marked World AIDS Day by coordinating HIV/AIDS awareness presentations, trainings, flash mobs, and charity concerts with 15 partner organizations in their home communities. Since 1988, World AIDS Day has raised awareness about the transmission of HIV, supported people living with AIDS, and helped to stop the pandemic, which has infected approximately 34 million people worldwide.

Reaching more than one thousand people across ten Eurasian countries, FLEX alumni spread hope and awareness of HIV/AIDS through a range of activities. In collaboration with the Red Cross and the Youth Development Center of Astana, Kazakh FLEX alumni organized a World AIDS Day charity concert in the city's Mega Center mall. Kamila Tuyakbayeva (2009 FLEX alumna) and Nursultan Nyssanbayev (2009 FLEX alumnus) hosted the concert, which featured one of Kazakhstan's best hip-hop and break dancing teams.

In Saint Petersburg, Russia and Yerevan, Armenia, FLEX alumni participated in flash mobs to demonstrate solidarity with those affected by the pandemic. Partnering with non-profit organizations, Dance4Life, Svecha, and Equity Verity Advocacy (EVA), FLEX alumni staged a dance performance in the Galleria, Saint Petersburg's largest shopping mall, and distributed red ribbons as a symbol of unity in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In Yerevan, FLEX alumni joined one of Armenia's most famous disc jockeys - DJ Vakcina - in a flash mob to promote a greater understanding of HIV/AIDS.

With support from the United Nations Development Program and the Georgian Youth Development and Education Association, 20 Georgian FLEX alumni launched an online campaign, called "Learn, Teach, Protect!" that facilitates open discussions on HIV/AIDS using social media, including Facebook and blogs.

Administered by American Councils for International Education, the FLEX program sends students from ten Eurasian countries, including Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Russia, to study in American high schools for one academic year. After being exposed to American volunteerism in their host communities, FLEX participants return home with a commitment to improving their own communities and countries.

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