Whilst UNSA may be the "brainchild" of Parizek she attributes it's success to her team, "It certainly would not be a success without an amazing team and friends that keep me from going bonkers! Louise Wolfenden Haythornthwaite is our Member Relations Officer. For the last 9 months she has helped us get to know each other and kept us engaged in our task. Sam Hebal has been helping our members find inspiration and organize their ideas. Patty Stovall, our Press Relations Officer will help establish us as a visible organization all over the World. There are many others and I hope you all know how grateful I am to you”.
When asked why she chose to support the Global Fund specifically, she answers emphatically, "The Global Fund makes sure that fund raising is done appropriately, donations get to where they should, they ensure that the programs receiving the money are held accountable for their success or failure and that new initiatives are supported and implemented”.
What Parizek has managed to achieve in a little over a year is astounding, interviewing her team members, it is clear that she is highly respected and well liked; her team members share her passion and vision and want to see this project a success. They appreciate her kind gestures; such as the time she and her team takes to translate any group updates into several languages so that it can be easily understood by all. The generosity she shows by gifting corporate "sugar art" related donations to the team. The weekly member spotlights which her team painstainkingly organized, personally talking to and interviewing every member and sharing these interviews with the group to promote member engagement and boost moral. The groups' intent and enthusiasm supported by their vast efforts to create hundreds of pieces of unique edible artwork.
Parizek discusses the outcome of the year long project, "UNSA members have created works of art for you, our patrons to enjoy. It is our hope that these showpieces will cause you to pause and take a moment to reflect on your own thoughts regarding those living with HIV/AIDS."
The simple message she wishes you to consider, 'Inspire and Act to Create Change'.
Parizek is more than familiar with the facts and figures surrounding her global cause:
(From the World Health Organization)
At the end of 2013 there were 3.2 million children worldwide living with HIV
● Over 600 children are infected with HIV daily
● 190,000 children died of HIV related complications
● without Antiretroviral therapy ⅓ of children with HIV will die by their 1st birthday and ½
by their 2nd birthday
● It is estimated that in 2015 there are over 25 million children under the age of 18 have
been orphaned by HIV (85% of them are living in Sub Saharan Africa)
● The majority of children are infected via mother to child transmission
● With appropriate intervention the transmission rate is decreased to less than 1%
It is no surprise then that her own contribution to the collection of sugar art embodies the weight of the struggle against this disease. "My contribution to The Gallery signifies the weight of everything facing not only HIV positive women and children but also pregnant women who face the possibility of transmitting HIV to their child. I was inspired by an art piece from an unknown Artist that I found on the internet and it summed up in one glance how I felt about the HIV/AIDS epidemic that still impacts our world. It then became something I had to recreate in sugar.
For more information about:
The Global Fund http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/
The World Health Organization http://www.who.int/en/
UNAIDS http://www.unaids.org/en/aboutunaids
Below: Zawadi's creation for the BeTeamRED collaboration.