Prof. to take business students to Africa to help in HIV/AIDS fight
What happened to the HIV/AIDS crisis?
One doesn’t hear much these days about this disease that has killed more than 25 million people across the globe, kills approximately 6,000 people every day and infected more than 400,000 children last year.
In the United States, many see the problem either as solved or manageable, but for Dr. Presha Neidermeyer, who is organizing a student trip this spring to help in AIDS-devastated areas of Africa, it’s a crisis “of critical proportions.”
“Since we have medications that can – for a period of time – effectively manage the disease, HIV/AIDS does not have the deadly connotation it did when it was first reported. I think this makes people a lot less concerned than they should be about the disease, which still has neither cure nor preventative measure, such as a vaccine for those not infected. AIDS is the greatest crisis facing the human race this century,” contends Neidermeyer, who teaches international accounting at the West Virginia University’s College of Business and Economics.
She led several student trips to Africa while a faculty member at Union Graduate College, her former institution. The experience left her with a strong desire to act as a conduit to involve students in this area of philanthropy.
“Without names and faces to go along with them, the statistics on the dead and dying are just numbers; with names and faces, they present a call to action. Africa changes your world view,” she said.
Dr. Neidermeyer’s book defines the disease and explores its history, but its main point is what it will take to defeat it. The authors suggest that the AIDS epidemic will not be quelled by financial aid alone. She and her co-author, Dr. Roger W. Hoerl of GE Global Research and Development in New York, believe the AIDS crisis can be surmounted, and the title of their book Use What You Have points to the solution.
The title is a quote from Jolly Nyeko, founder of Action for Children in Uganda, who was kidnapped at age 15 and held captive for five days before she escaped. She returned home, finished her education, became a social worker and began to see the issues of HIV/AIDS firsthand. With her only resources a phone and a desire to help, she advertised that she might not be able to do anything but listen, but she could do at least that. Out of that one phone has grown a large organization designed to serve children throughout Uganda, offering programs ranging from AIDS education to micro-loans and assistance to 250 former kidnapped child brides and their offspring.
That philosophy – “use what you have” – led to the book and also a spring semester honors course, which will put students’ skills to work in a not-for-profit environment. The class will work with a West Virginia organization and one in South Africa. This will give the students an opportunity to see not only how a not-for-profit works, but it will also allow them to use their skills for the betterment of the agency.
“Business students can be immensely useful to the not-for-profits who are helping vast numbers of people cope with the disease and the familial situations that arise as a result of it,” Neidermeyer said. “When people think of HIV/AIDS it is fairly obvious how medical personnel can help; however, few people consider that running a not-for- profit, whether a clinic or child-care center, requires business skills, too.”
The use of students in not-for-profit agencies is a beneficial situation to all. Student volunteers can use the skills they have obtained while at West Virginia University immediately in a not-for-profit arena, she said, whereas in the usual business environment it might take months or years to achieve a position that would allow such impact. The not-for-profits are helped with expertise that they might not otherwise be able to afford in areas such as accounting, information technology, marketing or management. Most importantly, however this allows for better service for individuals using the not-for profits.
The goal of the book and the spring class, she said, is to show individuals how they can play a part in the resolution to the crisis through working with others in the country who are already engaged in the battle.
Contact:
Dr. Presha Neidermeyer
(304)293.7858
Presha.Neidermeyer @ mail.wvu.edu
