Evanston will commemorate World AIDS Day on Saturday with a photograph memorial, several panels and a candlelight vigil.
The Evanston Health and Human Services Department is organizing a mobile memorial called “Unforgettable Faces of AIDS” that will be on display at the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave., throughout December. The department asked Evanston residents to send photographs and descriptions of loved ones who died of AIDS-related complications.
World AIDS Day started in 1988 as a result of the World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programs for AIDS Prevention. Governments around the globe plan events for the internationally recognized day. This year’s theme is “I care. Do you?”
Zollie Webb, a Health and Human Services staff member, organized the events in Evanston. Webb said he was inspired by AIDS quilts and wanted to do something similar for World AIDS Day. The photographs and paragraphs will help personalize the disease for Evanston residents, Webb said.
“I wanted people to see faces,” he said. “It’s not a disease that’s faceless. It deals with real people.”
Although the original deadline for submissions was Nov. 23, it has been extended to Dec. 1 because of problems with the Evanston post office, Webb said.
The department advertised the memorial in the Evanston Review and Highlights, the city’s quarterly newsletter, but the post office held Highlights for two weeks before finally delivering it Nov. 22. As a result, they only have received a couple of pictures, Webb said.
“We won’t have it ready by World AIDS Day,” Webb said. “(But) we really want to do it.”
The Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation of Evanston planned a panel discussion on the AIDS epidemic in Africa for the day. The panel will be held at 7:30 p.m. at 303 Dodge Ave.
Debbie Wolen, a member of JRC and former nurse practitioner at an HIV clinic, planned the event. Wolen first became interested in AIDS in Africa after co-workers visited South Africa and returned with information on grassroots programs in the country that assisted people with the disease.
“We have so many resources here, and there are so many people (in Africa) who have nothing, but (they) are helping out their neighbors,” Wolen said.
The main goals of the panel are education, raising awareness and fund raising, even though the event is not billed as a fund-raiser, Wolen said.
The keynote speaker will be U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.). Schakowsky will speak about the global AIDS epidemic and a policy urging President Bush to increase contributions to the Global AIDS Fund from $200 million to $1 billion, Wolen said.
Four other speakers will participate in the panel. Malual Awak, case manager for Chicago Connections, will speak about his experience as a political refugee with HIV. David Schein, executive director of the Free Street Theater in Chicago, will talk about his work on AIDS prevention with Ethiopian children who perform street theater in markets.
Tom Buchanan, former Midwest executive director of development for Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere, and John Ames, executive director of Better Existence with HIV, also will speak.
BEHIV, a not-for-profit AIDS service provider in Cook County, will have an art workshop from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at 903 Sherman Ave., said Alix McMurray, BEHIV’s director of HIV services. During the workshop two artists will discuss how AIDS has affected their lives.
