Fairfield University, in recognition of AIDS Awareness Week, presents "Rwanda: From Genocide to Hope" | Press Releases

Marco Ambrosio, who has traveled to four countries, including Rwanda, India, Thailand and Nicaragua, to study the history of the AIDS pandemic and the work being done to combat it, will speak on "Rwanda: From Genocide to Hope" in a public lecture and slide presentation to be held Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. in the Multimedia Room of the DiMenna-Nyselius Library. Admission is free and the public is welcome.

This event is being held in recognition of AIDS Awareness Week (Dec. 1-5) and is part of the Black Studies Program Lecture Series, "Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution." It is also being held in conjunction with "AIDS in the U.S.," a class that is taught by Renée T. White, Ph.D., professor of sociology and director of Black Studies at Fairfield. Dr. White is the co-editor of the Journal of HIV/AIDS Prevention in Children & Youth.

A 2007 graduate of Fairfield, Marco Ambrosio and classmate Jennifer Miller co-founded the Fairfield University FACE AIDS chapter just in time for the fall 2006 visit to campus by Dr. Paul Farmer, a physician and AIDS activist. The national student-run FACE AIDS organization raises money for HIV and AIDS programs in Africa through Farmer's organization, Partners in Health. Ambrosio and Miller also co-chaired the national FACE AIDS conference that was held on campus the following February.

In witnessing firsthand the devastating conditions that affect poor regions of the world, particularly those affected with HIV and AIDS, Ambrosio said, "It's much more drastic than people realize." Even before graduating from Fairfield with a premed degree, he had spent the 2005 spring break in Nicaragua researching the causes and effects of the country's high population rate, and returned again in the summer of 2006 to volunteer at a public health non-governmental organization and conduct an independent research project on drug prevention programs for adolescents and a self-help HIV group. He plans to work in public health.

The lecture is being sponsored by the Humanities Institute in the College of Arts & Sciences; co-sponsored by FACE AIDS; The Dolan School of Business; The Center for Faith and Public Life; the departments of Sociology and Anthropology, History, International Studies, Peace and Justice Studies; New Student Programs; and the Dean of Freshmen.

To learn more, visit Ambrosio's blog, http://regionalhiv.blogspot.com