Rotary AIDS Project (Los Altos Rotary AIDS Project)
“We’re here to support you.”
www.rotaryaidsproject.org
Los Altos Rotary Club 486 - District 5170 - Zone 24

Behind every successful Rotary Club’s AIDS project, there are people with heart, vision and a story to tell. Certainly that is true of Dude Angius, the driving force behind one of the first significant and sustained Rotary AIDS projects in the world and a current RFFA Board Member. Called simply the Rotary AIDS Project, (RAP), the story begins in the Los Altos, California Rotary Club where Dude, a former math teacher, coach, dean, principal and school superintendent has been a member since 1982. Upon learning the surprising and heart breaking news that his son Steve was dying of AIDS, Dude decided to speak out and do something to counter the loss, stigma and misunderstanding surrounding AIDS.

In l989 public disclosures about AIDS in one’s family required a special kind of courage. Steve, however, was understandably reluctant and worried that disclosure would harm his family’s reputation in the community, It took months of discussion, but Dude finally persuaded him that speaking out about his disease, AIDS, could save the lives of others. On his first day as President of the Los Altos Rotary Club and with an urgency perhaps only the parent of a dying child can fully summon, Dude was convincing when he told his fellow Rotarians, “We must do something to help others who are suffering like Steve. We must do something to prevent others from contracting AIDS.” As the meeting ended ten Rotarians walked up to Dude at the podium and volunteered their support. The Rotary AIDS Project was born.

When asked what quotation inspires his work Dude doesn’t hesitate. “I will never forget the essence of those simple and powerful words said by those ten members the day I told my club about Steve. ‘We’re here to support you, Steve, and the project.’” Fifteen years later, because of Dude and Steve’s courage, those ten dedicated and openhearted Rotarians who volunteered, and the board members that followed, the Rotary AIDS Project is alive and growing.

Los Altos Story, the Cornerstone

The project’s first undertaking was filming The Lost Altos Story, a thirty minute, award winning documentary which portrayed how AIDS had affected the lives of three Rotarians. It was produced and written by highly respected filmmakers brought into the project through a Rotary connection. Filming began the day Steve died. The Los Altos Story has been translated into six languages and distributed worldwide to encourage other Rotary Clubs to initiate AIDS related projects. It was also an inspirational factor in Director Jonathan Demme’s decision to produce Philadelphia, the Tom Hanks Oscar winning film about a young lawyer dying of AIDS and the first big Hollywood film to honestly portray the disease. Because of his leadership, in l992 Dude was asked to address a plenary session at the Rotary International Convention in Orlando. He gets chills remembering the standing ovation he received from the 25,000 Rotarians attending that year. The success of The Lost Altos Story spawned other RAP projects all focused on changing attitudes and beliefs, educating others about HIV/AIDS, supporting those afflicted with the disease and encouraging Rotary involvement.

Project Match and Other RAP Programs

One of those programs is Project Match which links Rotary Clubs and other non-profit organizations that need help with Rotary Clubs throughout the world that want to provide support for HIV/AIDS related projects. The Rotary AIDS Project coordinates Project Match though its website at www.rotaryaidsproject.org.

HIV, Health and Your Community: A Guide for Action is a newer project. This book provides health care workers and clinics with practical HIV/AIDS information and encourages community leaders to become involved in the fight against this disease. It is a comprehensive guide with non-technical language that explains HIV from A to Z and is distributed free through the Rotary International network. By connecting with Rotary Club supported clinics throughout the world, the Rotary AIDS Project places this practical HIV/AIDS manual in the hands of those who need it the most.

The Rotary AIDS Project also offers a blueprint with detailed how to instructions and sample materials to initiate and implement a one-day AIDS Community Symposium. Information can be downloaded from the website. RAP also has a Speaker’s Bureau which helps other Rotary Clubs learn how they can do something to confront AIDS

One of RAP’s most satisfying achievements has been the establishment of an AIDS clinic outside Johannesburg with the Rotary Club of Sandown, South Africa. Infection rates in South Africa are an astounding 50%.

Future

Why has RAP been so successful for so many years? Dude, with typical modesty, attributes the project’s long-term success to those ten “loyal and courageous Rotarians who in the face of controversy had the guts to take a stand and who were determined not to let this project die.” What would he like for the future? “More Rotarians and more Rotary Clubs need to recognize that this disease must be stopped and take action. We need many more Rotarians like those ten who provided the early support that made the Rotary AIDS Project possible. We have so much to do.”