Global Issues

If you’re a Facebook addict, you may have already heard about Starbucks going (RED) on World AIDS Day. When you buy a handcrafted Starbucks drink on Monday, Starbucks will donate five cents to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

Starbucks will also donate five cents for every (RED) beverage sold until January 2. The (RED) holiday flavors include gingersnap, peppermint mocha twist, and espresso truffle. According to the Starbucks web site, 9 (RED) drinks pay for one day’s worth of the antiretroviral medicine (ARVs) that fight HIV/AIDS–a cost of 45 cents.

HIV/AIDS is a rising pandemic comparable to the black plague. In his book Red Letters, author Tom Davis points out that after the bubonic plague devastated Europe, one third of Europeans had died. In comparison, over a third of adults in Zimbabwe had HIV by the end of 2003, Davis said. For more information, read my review of Red Letters here.

Here are some more creative ideas on ways you can celebrate the 20th World AIDS Day this Monday, December 1. The World AIDS Campaign set this year’s theme as “Lead - Empower - Deliver.”

1. Wear a (RED) T-shirt or red ribbon on Monday, and make sure to tell your friends about World AIDS Day. You can even make red ribbons for your friends and give them away at school.

2. Ask someone to take a picture of you with your (RED) gear or HIV/AIDS red ribbon and post it on your Facebook. Then write on the wall of the Teen Ink Global Issues Facebook group to show your support.

3. Watch this video for a visual of the 33.2 million people living with HIV/AIDS today. Then e-mail it to your friends or post a link on your Facebook.

4. Click through this Access to Life photo essay. It portrays some of the people living with HIV/AIDS before and after they received ARVs.

5. Donate $1 to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. That’s two days’ worth of ARVs.

6. Remember one of these HIV/AIDS statistic for Monday, and bring it up when you talk to your friends about World AIDS Day: 12 million African kids have lost one or more parents to AIDS (according to Red Letters), 33 million people today are living with HIV/AIDs (according to AVERT), and 25 million people have died from AIDS since 1981 (according to AVERT).

7. Sign the World Vision Stand Up for the Fight Against AIDS petition.
8. Share an idea by posting in the comments section.

Subscribe to the Teen Ink magazine Global Issues blog or join the Facebook group.

I’ve found that problems only get fixed when you’re ready to take care of them. Letting them drag on with out fixing them just makes everything more complicated in the end.
Problems are alot like glow sticks they dont last very long. They give off a bright light at first, then start to dim into a duller color til eventually there is no more light. Like are problems which eventually dim into nothing.
What I’ve learned though is that problems come and go but we usually always have happeness there. It’s light never dulls only burns bright enough that when you want to see it it’s there for you to grab, holding it tightly in your hands.
It’s your decision if you want it or not……what are you going to do about it?

-Panda Bear

Rite now i feel like my body is numbing. Turning into stone waiting for someone to break it in many shattered pieces. My body is shacking while tears refused to come out of my eyes, except for one tats already streamed down my face to the floor.
The earge to cut is stronger then ever. But I dont think im going to do it. Will power might not be in full force but it hasnt completely left my body.
Huge cuts seemed to travel down my body but I cant see them. Though I can feel them burning into me affecting every part of my body.
My stomach has spasms every few seconds. Breathing is getting harder, almost to the point of hypervenilation.
Grunts of pain and regret escape my lips making it even harder to talk.
By tomorow I’ll be fine but its now im worried about. Sometimes I dont my will power will be enough but I’m hopefully wrong in the end.
I’m goin to escape for a while. Run away from my torcher like you would run away from something scary.

-Panda Bear

Here are five easy - but meaningful - ideas on how you can spread some holiday joy and make a difference this holiday season.

1) Ask your parents for a goat this holiday season. Or two chickens. Or five ducks, some clean water tablets, or a bag of seeds. After they get over their confusion about having two chickens strutting around the house, explain that you’re actually talking about World Vision. The goat, the chickens and the rest will support a needy family with food and a source of income. For more information and gift ideas, check out the World Vision Gift Catalog at www.worldvisiongifts.org.

2) Join the Marines … in a toy drive. Launch a toy drive in your neighborhood to benefit the U.S. Marines’ Toys for Tots. Every year, the Marines deliver presents to American kids whose families can’t afford Christmas gifts. Distribute a flier to let your neighbors know about your Toys for Tots drive and suggest some toy ideas. You can grab some images to brighten your flier on the Toys for Tots web site. After you’ve collected toys, deliver your presents to a local Toys for Tots Drop Location, found on www.toysfortots.org.

3) Go shopping! If you’re planning to shop online this Christmas through iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, GAP, Target, Walmart, Macy’s and many more online stores, then you can give money to worthy causes just by shopping. Really. By using GoodSearch.com, any online store you buy from will donate a percentage of your purchase price to the organization of your choice. Some worthy organizations participating include World Vision, Feed My Starving Children, Invisible Children, Samaritan’s Purse and Compassion International. eBay is one of the biggest donors—they give between 25 to 37.5 percent of your purchase price. To use this service, go to the GoodShop page, enter the organization you’d like to help and select your store. It’s that easy.

4) Get rid of the extra change. With Feed My Starving Children—a humanitarian organization that sends nutritious meals to third-world countries—a little money goes a very long way. Just fifteen cents provides a meal for a starving kid. In fact, one child can get one meal a day for an entire year for only $55. If you have a little extra change, consider donating it to put food in the stomach of a starving child.

5) Donate in a friend’s honor. Give your friends UNICEF-Inspired Gifts—education, immunization, water, nutrition, HIV/AIDS care, or emergency help—to benefit the world’s neediest. Some cool gifts you’ll want to check out are high energy/protein biscuits, therapeutic milk, mosquito nets, measles vaccinations, bikes, and wool blankets. Check it out at inspiredgifts.unicefusa.org.

A version of this article previously appeared on IgniteYourFaith.com.

Subscribe to the Teen Ink magazine Global Issues blog or join the Facebook group.

I’m still having problems with everything but I still believe I can make it. Still feeling alone and unloved, even though in the back of my mind its not true.
Feeling like I’m the only one out of my friends and school and town who feels this pain. An really I’m wrong….there are thousands of teens just like me who want someone to reach out to them.
I always felt things would go so much better if I just dropped dead. That everyone I love will go on to live better lives and just pretend we never existed.
Yet, somehow we know that this is the total opposite of what they really would be doing. Though they would stop crying and mourning over us they’ll never forget us. Expecially, if you were an amazing person.
When I got out of the hospital I was talking to my best friend Sarah. She told me it would have ruined her life if I had died. I just told her she would eventually forget and go on with her life. Her exact words back to me were “Amanda if you would have died I would have commited suicide” because it hurt her so much that her life would have probably been ruined beyond repair.
Til then I had no idea how much I impacted the people around me, in ways to complicated to understand.
Then I knew that I would never do that again. To never put my friends future on the line. Hurting my best Friend was not part of my plan……and I hope its not you’re either.