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Judging from the zany costumes and acts that Simon Fraser University researchers and students are wearing and performing this week, they would do anything to raise money to battle the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa.

So far, people in SFU’s Faculty of Health Sciences at the Burnaby campus have raised more than $12,000 by daring to do everything from donning super hero outfits to abstaining from using technology.

Their daring deeds and outfits are in response to the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s first A DARE TO REMEMBER national fundraiser to raise money to help communities hardest hit by HIV/AIDS in 15 African countries.

As of Oct. 20, the SFU team is holding top spot nationally for raising the most funds.

The dares began on Monday, Oct. 19, the first day of A DARE TO REMEMBER week, Oct. 17-25. During this period, the foundation is asking celebrities and citizens nationwide to conjure up a dare, dare someone else and seek sponsorship of their dares. Participants have until World AIDS Day, Dec. 1 to complete their dares.

No sooner did the foundation throw down its gauntlet than SFU health scientist Rochelle Tucker grabbed it and passed it to her colleagues and 400 plus students in her Foundations in Health Sciences course, HSCI130.

The result—Tucker is dancing to a Michael Jackson tune and sporting a different super hero outfit before her class every day this week. Fellow researchers and professors in her faculty are matching her dares. While faculty dean John O’Neil is clowning around in an actual clown outfit at meetings, Tim Takaro, another well-respected researcher, is getting around faculty hallways on a scooter.

As for the students, it doesn’t get much crazier. For example, Jenna McLatchy will play the bagpipes, while wearing her wrestling gear, from Cornerstone to Convocation Mall at noon, Wednesday, Oct. 21. Some of Tucker’s students will be wearing nothing but their underwear in class and around campus on Friday, Oct. 23.

Asked why should we care so much to dare to raise money for battling HIV/AIDS in Africa when the disease is spreading in our own backyard, Tucker responds: “This initiative is not about funding research. It’s about grassroots initiatives that help orphans go to school and help grandmothers to raise the next generation in the absence of parents. In my course students learn that AIDS, though it is a pandemic, is not distributed equally. This knowledge has made them passionate about supporting 10 million children in Sub-Saharan Africa alone who have been orphaned due to AIDS.”

The SFU team hopes to raise $15,000. Anyone is welcome to join the team.

—30— (electronic photo file available on request)

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