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On a politically active campus in times of daily tragedy, we are consistently asked to buy or wear something to support various causes. After time, we may become somewhat numb and overwhelmed by all the problems--environmental destruction, health crisis, war--and be blind to possible solutions. The truth, however, is that little changes eventually make bigger changes, and that one person doesn't have to solve it all. We each play a role in a larger movement.

University of Oregon Students for Global Health (SGH) is focusing on one cause this December: HIV/AIDS. SGH, a chapter of the national student group FACE AIDS, raises money for HIV/AIDS treatment in Rwanda through the sale of Rwandan-made AIDS awareness pins, sold on 150 US high school and college campuses for $5 each. Realizing the pitfalls soliciting blind support for the cause, they are launching a unique social advertising campaign entitled "How Do You Wear Your Pin?" SGH will be creating a photography series with different campus community members wearing pins, coupled with a short explanation of how each contributes to social justice in his or her own way. Whether it be working at Volunteers in Medicine, reading to middle schoolers or donating money to critical medical research, we all give back, or "wear our pins," in different ways. Participants in the photo project include the Oregon Ducks football team, local jokester "Frog," and various well-known professors and students. The campaign runs from Monday the 22nd to December 5th, culminating in a "Condom Fashion Show," put on by UO's cultural forum, and a benefit concert on the night of the 5th.

Why wear a pin? To students involved in the project, they think it signifies more that a $5 donation, but represents a stance against global health inequity. It serves a reminder that it is our generation tasked with ending HIV/AIDS. Money raised from the campaign is doubled by private donors and its used to fund a rural health program in Kirehe, Rwanda run by Partners in Health, a well-recognized non-profit started by Dr. Paul Farmer. Overall, FACE AIDS has raised over $1.4 million for PIH in the three years it has existed, becoming the largest student-run AIDS fundraising effort ever. SGH hopes to continue this tradition, and excite the university community by seeing some of their favorite community members embracing this important cause. uoglobalhealth@gmail.com