By Karl Moats '04

Dr. John Chittick '66, recipient of the 2001 Deerfield Heritage Award, is once again in the midst of planning a new volunteer outreach mission to fight AIDS. After completing his Global Walk (1999-2001), where he traveled through 40 countries to warn of the dangers of AIDS, Dr. Chittick is mapping out another assignment. The project, called TeenAIDSPeerCorps, is devoted to informing youth all over the world about AIDS prevention. To achieve this, Dr. Chittick is recruiting all interested teens to join the fight against the pandemic.

Starting in spring 2002, Dr. Chittick will lead volunteers in a health-education mission all over the world dedicated to slowing the furious spread of AIDS in the world's youth. Dr. Chittick said, "The idea is to bring youth from one foreign culture into another culture to learn, share and teach AIDS prevention." Contrasting with many adult-run AIDS prevention programs, he will rely on teens teaching other teens to disseminate the AIDS awareness message. He said, "If adult society cannot talk the medically-accurate truth necessary for youth to protect their lives, then teens must step up to this challenge themselves." Dr. Chittick is currently planning "walks" in locations all over the world, including Papua New Guinea, Uzbekistan, Jamaica, and Idaho. With safety precautions to avoid any difficulties, he will send volunteers directly into the streets, where many of the susceptible and infected teens can be found. Dr. Chittick said, "We go to the streets for a good reason. It's where you find teens who are most vulnerable, eager to hear the message, and where they feel comfortable congregating with their friends." By having the volunteers work in AIDS orphanages and with youth that is living with syndrome, the teens can see the horrific affects of AIDS firsthand, and thus, become impassioned advocates for AIDS prevention.

Teens can also learn more about foreign cultures and be more conscious of the world, outside of their nation, by volunteering in other lands.

The urgency to respond to the illness increases with each. Due to improved transportation, the AIDS malady is being spread with more speed. As a result, it can escalate into a major problem anywhere in only a matter of weeks.

Based on the success of his recently finished Global Walk, Dr. Chittick knows that this is a plausible task. Fundraising to pay for the project will start in November, 2001. Parents' permission is required for the trip, and teens are responsible for paying for their own travel costs, living expenses and visa or passport costs. Those adolescents who do become members will stay in secure lodgings (homes, student dorms, and hotels). The teens "must be ready to serve as conscientious volunteers who are dedicated to being instruments in helping save the lives of their peers globally," said Dr. Chittick.

Additional information will be posted on the TeenAIDS website in late October at www.teenaids.org.