Mercy Austin is on a mission to help us #ChangeTheStory of HIV!
This month in Colorado, a bright young student named Mercy Austin just completed a very special project as a part of the International Baccalaureate program at her school. Mercy chose to help Cherish Uganda change the story of HIV into a story of hope through research, advocacy, story writing, and fundraising. In addition to doing extensive research on HIV for the project, Mercy has written a 75 page story about an American and a Ugandan girl living with HIV. To be more specific - Mercy wrote 25,235 words (62 poems), visited 342 houses, sold 194 items, conducted 3 sales (one garage sale and two at the local library) and raised $1445! Mercy presented her final project at school on February the 12th.
Why did she choose to highlight Cherish?
Mercy Austin has grown up knowing about the work being done at Cherish Uganda, and not through pictures or stories, but through actual experience. Mercy’s family lived in Uganda for several years because her father, Jeff Austin, works as a staff structural engineer with eMi. EMi (Engineering Ministries International) is a partner of Cherish’s that has blessed us beyond measure by designing and constructing many of the buildings on-site. The face of Cherish Uganda looks different because of Jeff and the eMi team. Jeff helped with many projects including designing Cherish Health Center, which now has served over 18,000 patients since it opened in 2015. Cherish Health Center is a certified location for administering HIV treatment called ART (antiretroviral treatment) and there are currently over 175 patients receiving their care and counseling at Cherish Health Center.
Now that Mercy’s family is living back in the US, Mercy is using her voice to help further the legacy and impact that the Austin family has on changing the story of HIV into a story of hope.
“ The whole project has been a neat process for her to reflect more deeply on this and we’re so proud of her efforts.” - Jeff Austin, (Mercy’s Father)
Through this endeavor, she’s been able to raise awareness about HIV and share the work we’re doing at Cherish Uganda with her classmates, strangers, and their families.
On Mercy’s board she writes, “From the beginning, the goal of my project was to identify the main stigmas and misunderstandings about HIV, and to address that through a story and fundraising efforts. I wanted to raise awareness by writing a story featuring two kids living with HIV in two different culture s- a village in rural Uganda, and a high schooler in America. In addition to this, I publicly spread awareness for HIV through handouts and red ribbons which symbolize support and solidarity collecting money for programs as I did so…I have personally experienced the way that people with HIV are stigmatized and pushed into the margins of society…I wanted to address this, to force people to take notice of what was going on and correct some of the misconceptions along the way. This was challenging because not only did I have to identify the biggest barriers in people’s understanding. I also had to figure out how to communicate these ideas in a way that caught people’s interest and made them want to learn as opposed to lecturing at them.”
Mercy has proved herself to be an incredible researcher who is truly passionate about changing the story of HIV into a story of hope. We’re so grateful for what an amazing ambassador she has been Cherish and for HIV.
If you feel touched by Mercy’s efforts please consider contributing to her project. Mercy has a GoFundMe page, or to avoid GoFundMe fees, you can directly donate through the blue donate bottom floating on the right side of your screen and adding Mercy’s name to the note section.