# World AIDS Day

December 1, 2008

   ![Jordan Namerow](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_crop_168x168/public/mediaobjects/Jordan%20Namerow_Headshot_0.jpg?itok=9FhdY6xg) 

 

 [ Jordan Namerow ](/blog/author/jordan-namerow)

 

 

 Today is World AIDS Day and, having spent this past summer in Uganda where I volunteered with an indigenous HIV/AIDS advocacy organization, AIDS awareness has particular resonance for me this year. Aside from listening to motivational speakers in the United States, I'd never had close contact with HIV-infected people before, nor had I been in an environment in which HIV/AIDS was mentioned as frequently as the common cold. It was not unusual for a Ugandan to walk into the tiny office where I volunteered and matter-of-factly identify herself as a "PWA" (person with AIDS). Often, she would ask about HIV/AIDS resources to help educate her family, friends, co-workers, or children.

 Not surprisingly, a number of American Jewish women have been deeply involved in HIV/AIDS activism. Mathilde Krim and Abby Shevitz devoted their lives to HIV/AIDS research and have engaged in advocacy efforts for the rights of those affected by the disease. Learn about [Mathilde Krim](/thisweek/jun/24/1983/mathilde-krim) in *This Day in History* and about [Abby Shevitz](/encyclopedia/article/shevitz-abby).

 

 

 

 Topics: [Activism](/topics/activism), [Medicine](/topics/medicine) 

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