There are 33.2 million people around the world living with HIV/AIDS, according to the World Health Organization’s 2007 AIDS Epidemic Update, which was released last week.

Lis Maurer, coordinator of LGBT Education Outreach Services at Ithaca College, said the issue is more relevant to students than they would assume.

“I cannot stress enough that we do have HIV positive students,” Maurer said.  “We do have students that find out that they are HIV positive, and it is not something they expected.  . . . It’s just something that maybe we need to remember to have a conversation about.”   

As part of World AIDS Day, the college will hold a colloquium today on the reality of AIDS in Namibia. The event, titled “Global Perspectives on HIV/AIDS Prevention: Images and Stories from Namibia,” will take place at 12:10 p.m. in the Cayuga Lake Room. The lecture is part of the Center for Faculty Excellence’s international focus series and comes as one of the events leading up to World AIDS Day on Saturday.

Maurer said HIV/AIDS is a major concern in Namibia.

“Twenty percent of adults in Namibia are HIV positive,” said Maurer. “Over 100,000 children are orphans.”   

As part of the week’s events, the Names Project, a quilt honoring AIDS victims, was shown in Emerson Suites beginning Monday and ending Wednesday. The project started in 1987 and has grown to include more than 44,000 tombstone-sized patches created by family members and friends of the victims.

The Names Project’s visit to campus was sponsored by Action For AIDS, AIDS Aware and the Southern Tier AIDS Program, an off-campus organization.  Action For AIDS has been sponsoring the Names Project’s visit to campus for more than 10 years.

Kimberly Conrad, assistant director of new student programs and co-chair of the organization, said it is important for people to understand the disease in order to combat discrimination.

“It comes down to respect for a fellow human being,” she said. “It can happen in South Africa; it can happen on campus.”

Junior Genevieve Labe, the president of AIDS Aware, an on-campus organization, said people are afraid to confront the reality of AIDS.

“This is something people are scared about because it is like, how dare you talk about people dying?” she said. “Once people see it though, they are really glad they came. It’s really great to see that these people who have died are human.”

Maurer will speak at the colloquium about her experience on a delegation that traveled to Namibia in 2003 to learn about the AIDS prevention programs and educational tactics used there. She said she traveled to parts of the country where AIDS effects 50 percent of the adult population.

“It was very moving to stand in a crowd of hundreds and think one in every two people is HIV positive.”

Maurer said there is a project taking place in Namibia that is similar to the Names Project, but it has a striking difference.

“Each panel was made by friends and family to commemorate someone who has died,” she said. “None of the panels have anyone’s name because the stigma is so strong.”

Maurer said she hopes awareness programs like the ones taking place on the campus can reach out to busy students and give them perspective of the hard life millions live every day.

“HIV and AIDS is still an issue in this country, and it’s easy to not know what is going outside of your very busy schedule,” she said. “Your biggest responsibility is to inform yourself and then decide what it means to you.”