International AIDS Conference, pt. 1

In August my husband and I had the opportunity to be delegates at the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto. Over 24,000 people attended from over 100 different countries, all coming together to educate and be educated about HIV and AIDS and the worldwide effects. I first learned about the conference while I was on internship. The ELCA campus pastors (and interns) received an email from the ELCA Churchwide Office informing us about the conference and asking us to encourage students to attend. The more I looked into it, the more I felt pulled to be a part of it, too. What an amazing chance to be a part of an interdisciplinary gathering of people all looking to help make a difference in the world's AIDS crisis! It wasn't cheap, the registration fees alone were over $200, but Kevin and I felt it was important to be there. Thankfully, we both received Thrivent Leadership Grants from Luther to help cover our costs.

The first time we entered the Conference Center, we were overwhelmed to say the least. There were people everywhere we looked. The conference took up two buildings which were each several stories high, as well as having satellite sessions all over the city of Toronto. There were plenary sessions, skills building workshops, lectures, poster presentations, film debuts, art galleries, small group discussions, a youth pavillion, etc. There was also an area called The Global Village where organizations from all over the world had booths and information tables to share their work relating to HIV and AIDS.

The conference also organized gathering places for various groups to network: people living with HIV and AIDS, people working in faith-based programs, people doing scientific research. For me the most exciting part was seeing all of the ways that communities all over the world are pulling together to help those suffering from the virus. The air was saturated with support and compassion. Everyone was excited to be together and to learn from each other. It was inspiring and humbling to walk through the aisles and meet people who had dedicated their work and their lives to helping the victims of HIV and AIDS. More to come...