Rebels with a cause - AIDS

By Paul Kerry

To mark World AIDS Day, Little Travellers and Medi peace are holding three simultaneous rock concerts in Seoul tomorrow to spread awareness about the illness.

Last year saw a similar event. More than 1,000 people attended, raising 12 million won ($10,000) for the Little Travellers organization.

The event will be held at Jane's Groove, FF and DGBD, in Hongdae. The EV Boys, Rock Tigers, Gogo Star and Sotto Gamba will be among the dozen or so bands performing. Wristbands are 10,000 won.

The money will go to the Hillcrest Foundation, which helps women affected by AIDS in South Africa

Little Travellers is a Canadian charity that sells dolls made by women in South Africa who are affected by HIV. Forty percent of the proceeds go to the makers of the cute little dolls - one-inch beaded figures that can be used as badges or mobile phone attachments - which sell for 5,000 won. The remainder goes to patients at Hillcrest's respite center, which cares for sufferers in the late stages of AIDS.

"I got involved because I'm interested in helping women from other countries," said Sue Bullas, who is helping to organize the event.

"It's not just women who suffer from the disease directly," said Bullas. "It's also women who, for example, have a family member with the disease and are affected."

The Korean arm of the group said it has raised 28 million won ($25,000) for the Hillcrest Centre Trust, while the Canadian group has raised more than $200,000.

Medi peace are jointly organizing the event. They say that their status - they claim to be the only international medical NGO based in Korea - has helped secure sponsorship. The Korea Center for Disease Control paid for some of the materials used.

Earlier tomorrow, Medi peace will be hosting an interactive workshop at Hansung Education Center in Daehangno. The event will discuss issues of discrimination and aim to spread awareness about the disease.

Ben Wagner, professor of law at Kyung Hee University, will speak after the workshop on HIV and discrimination.

While the event is held on a weekend to ensure good attendance, World AIDS day fell on Dec. 1. Medi peace volunteers held a stall Tuesday in Cheongye Plaza to help spread information about AIDS and promote tomorrow's event.

Ashley Sung, Medi peace program officer said that prejudices and basic misconceptions about AIDS and HIV were still common in Korea.

"There is still a stigma. We are handing out leaflets and tissues, but people don't want to take them. Many Koreans still think that you can catch AIDS by touching," she said.

"I told people 'why not come to Hongdae?' But they thought it was only for people with HIV. They thought that all the people there would have HIV and they were worried that they might touch them."

A pressure group demanding tighter screening of foreign teachers last year said that the majority of visitors to a Seoul clinic asking for HIV tests were foreign nationals, claiming the statistic to be an indication of promiscuity or of being infected with the virus. The comment was repeated in the press and elsewhere - an indication that some in Korea think that simply getting tested is a sign of bad character.

The volunteers, some dressed as condoms, handed out tissues, leaflets and condoms, and had a stand where people could learn the facts about HIV. Little Traveller dolls were also on sale, and there was information about what the charity does and the people it was trying to help.

"AIDS is not only in Africa, but still Africa has the most serious situation, so we are starting with South Africa," said Sung.

Of the world's 36 million people living with HIV and AIDS, 25 million of them live in sub-Saharan Africa. According to Little Travellers, the prevalence of HIV in South Africa is 15-20 percent, and 800 people die every day in South Africa from AIDS related causes.

This is something not helped by lack of awareness in government. The country's former president, Thabo Mbeki, questioned the link between HIV and AIDS and his health minister promoted nutrition above medication. Suppliers of vitamins and nutritional supplements have distributed advertisements saying that antiviral drugs do more harm than good and accusing drug companies of genocide.

In the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa, where the Hillcrest Foundation operates, more than 40 percent of adults are infected.

By contrast, according to the World Health Organization, the number of people with HIV in Korea was estimated at around 13,000, meaning that it is still relatively rare in Korea. Medi peace Cho Min-jung said that the low prevalence of the disease meant that some people did not feel the need to understand it properly.

"The prevalence rate of HIV in Korea is low, so people don't think about it so much. The fact that the prevalence is low is a good thing, but it means that people think it doesn't affect them," she said.

The events tomorrow evening will be based around music with twelve bands set to perform. Bullas said that they were particularly please to get the Rock Tigers to perform, as well as EV Boys, as there were doubts that they would be available.

"We were pretty excited to get the EV Boys because they're a good draw and they help to get Koreans and expats enjoying themselves together. That's really one of the things we're trying to achieve," she said.

Little Travellers dolls will also be on sale, and there will be other activities to highlight the issues surrounding AIDS in Korea and globally.

"We've been told that 99 percent of the HIV transmitted in Korea is transmitted through sex. So we're going to have people dressed up as condoms handing out leaflets and condoms," said Bullas.

"We want people to know that there are people in other countries who are suffering, and that for the cost of a drink we can help make their lives a little bit easier."

A complete lineup and more information about the event can be found at rubberseoul2009.wordpress.com

Information about Little Travellers can be fund at www.littletravellers.net .

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HELP AFRICA

Children take part in a ceremony in Seoul yesterday to launch a one-month fund-raising drive to help African countries suffering from water shortage. The campaign is led by World Vision. [Lee Sang-sup/The Korea herald]

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Visitors wander through the Kobe Luminarie installation in central Kobe

The event, running through Dec 14, has been held annually since 1996 in memory of the victims of the 1995 Great Hanshin Earthquake and for the reconstruction of Kobe and its vicinity.

To relieve stress, schools in tough neighborhoods turn to yoga

By Sharon Noguchi

Luis Gutierrez is sounding like a human kazoo, demonstrating what he calls the "evilbuster breath." As the speaker's hands tent his nose and he exhales in a loud hum, few of the two dozen freshmen at Overfelt High in San Jose are smirking or rolling their eyes.

After the students try this newest yoga technique and report vibrations in their noses, throats and brains, Gutierrez explains the breathing will help calm their nerves. Use this in many situations, he advises, including the times when teachers suddenly call on you in class.

What began as small pilot programs has suddenly spread as more South Bay schools in neighborhoods challenged by poverty, drugs and gang violence turn to the power of yoga as a stress reducer. Classes by Youth Empowerment Seminars, or YES!, teach not only breathing but nutrition, lifestyle and values discussion.

Overfelt Principal Vito Chiala is so impressed with the changes YES! has induced in some of the toughest freshmen that he hopes to offer the six-week program to the whole freshman class in January. Initially a skeptic, Chiala himself took a course and found that practice every morning helps him deal calmly with the demands of leading a 1,730-student school in East San Jose.

At nearby Yerba Buena High, all 540 freshmen are taking YES! after a pilot project last spring proved successful. Principal Juan Cruz reports that his school's football team now uses yoga as a way to focus before games and to decompress afterward.

When his friends found out, hefty linebacker Brian Zarate, 17, said, their reaction was —" 'Ha ha, you're doing yoga!' " he said. But he didn't care, because yoga has improved his sleep and his game.

Hard neighborhoods

At schools hard hit by neighborhood violence, gang pressure, parental job loss and homelessness, the centuries-old Indian discipline of yoga may turn out to be an effective tool in helping young people cope with both crises and day-to-day life.

"We can't change the big system, but we can definitely change the kids' way of dealing with all the stress," said teacher Jenna Granger of the International Association for Human Values, the parent group of YES!

"People who get to experience yoga usually come from a privileged background," said Gutierrez, who is training to be a YES! instructor. In contrast, the foundation brings its stress-reducing program to communities suffering from poverty, crime and disaster, from destitute Haiti to bereft post-Katrina New Orleans.

The six-week class teaches students to avoid conflict, "how to focus on school and how to study better," said Overfelt freshman Rosavelia Valencia, 14.

Classmate Priscilla Orabuena, 15, said the skills are useful. "When you are going to get into a fight" — like when people are talking about you, she said — "you want to do something to them. But you breathe and feel calm and just walk away."

Breathing away stress

The program uses games — last week at Overfelt, students were playing musical yoga mats — to reach students.

But the focus is on breathing techniques to deal with stress. According to surveys, East Side students report the program has improved their sleep, focus, calmness and mood, and general feeling, said Irene Yamane, a program manager.

At first, students are skeptical. "I don't really like doing things in front of people," like stretching, Overfelt freshman Gina De La Rosa said.

"I have school stress. I have drama on the street, I could get jammed," the 14-year-old said. At home, her bedridden mother is seriously ill. "I have a lot of pressure built up inside of me, and when it comes out, I erupt."

But while she downplays the effect of YES!, she's also used its techniques. Recently, in the midst of a classroom confrontation, she suddenly remembered: just breathe.

She did. She calmed down. And she realized, "I don't have to scare teachers."

Her mother, Lucy Ramirez, has noticed a difference, as if Gina has emerged from a dark shadow.

Chiala hopes YES! will give kids tools to help stay clam, better control impulses and take care of themselves.

How to explain the power of the breath over human emotions? "It sounds like Darth Vader," said An Ha, 14, a Yerba Buena freshman. She uses it when her little brother behaves annoyingly.

With yoga breathing, said Alejandro Adame, 14, an Overfelt freshman, "You just take a moment to not get angry."

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'Bohemian Rhapsody,' Muppet-Style

By DAN FLETCHER

While the lovable felt monsters of Sesame Street celebrate their 40th anniversary this year, Jim Henson's other creations, the Muppets, have been largely out of the spotlight. Let's be honest: the last time most people have seen a Muppet was in a TV commercial (and even then, it was Kobe and Lebron, not Kermit and Miss Piggy). That changed this week with an assist from Queen's songbook. The puppet ensemble released a cover of the classic Queen anthem "Bohemian Rhapsody" to commemorate the death of Freddie Mercury 18 years ago. Whether it's Muppet nostalgia or a love of rock ballads, the video clearly struck a chord: it's had some 7 million plays in just a week's time.

It's not the most faithful of renditions: the Muppets do gloss over some of the song's racier lyrics. "Mama, just killed a man/ Put a gun against his head/ Pulled my trigger/ Now he's dead" becomes a monosyllabic riff ("Mama! ... Mama?") by the drummer Animal. But these are kids' show characters, after all, and by the time Miss Piggy finishes the song with an epic solo delivered atop a piano, the few omissions seem like a trifling complaint.

The video, an official production of the Muppets Studio, is the puppet clan's first foray into covering music on the Web (Beaker's solo "Ode to Joy" not withstanding). With all the buzz for its release, it's a safe bet that more videos will follow. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a tough number to top, but who wouldn't want to see Henson's creations stretch a little with, say, a "Thriller" cover? It's a YouTube franchise in the making.

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Artist Khurelbaatar Gets Exhibition

Written by E.Zandarmaa

The artist known as Ch.Khurelbaatar got an independent exhibition of exclusively his own work in the Artist Union of Mongolia on November 26.

Experts considered his compositions to be a valuable contribution to the history of Mongolia’s fine art. This exhibition included pieces from his last 10 years of work, and included over 40 exhibits done in either crayons, or watercolor.

He approaches his compositions with sensitivity as to attract the attention of many learned art enthusiasts . The Ch.Khurelbaatar exhibition will continue through, until December 3rd..

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