Five young Americans spent two months traveling across the United States recently on a two­month bus journey.But this was not a romantic cross­country trip of self­discovery.These five youths were on a mission to raise money to combat AIDS in Africa.The driver of a yellow school bus revs its engine.A black­and­white mural painted on the bus's side shows children's faces, the phrase “Close the Gap”£¬ and a large number “three”£®

According to the UNAIDS organization, nearly three million people were newly infected with HIV in Sub­Saharan Africa last year.Nearly three million people around the world last year died of AIDS.

Five young Americans spent two months of their summer on this renovated school bus.They traveled across the country, with stops in 23 U£®S.states, and speaking engagements at dozens of schools, churches and youth rallies.

The five share one mission—educating young Americans about the AIDS crisis in Africa.

Eighteen­year­old Nathaniel Elliot came up with the idea after he learned a sobering fact.

“Two years ago, I found out that, by the time I graduated from high school, there would be more than 40 million people HIV­positive, and mostly in Africa, and, for some reason, that grabbed me (caught my attention)£¬” said Elliot.So, the teenager decided to see what he could do to help.

“Originally, my friend and I had always planned, just for the fun of it, to drive across the country—no reason, just for fun for our senior year£¬” Elliot explained.“But, when I found out that fact, I realized we could use it for something good, and not just our own pleasure.And, through that, the idea of building schools came around, you know, spreading awareness is a major goal.” Elliot spread the word that he was looking for people to share his mission of educating young Americans, and getting them involved.An anonymous donor gave him the bus.And about 30 people applied for the trip.Elliot helped select four of them, ages 17—23.

During the coast­to­coast trek, the five young men stopped in Washington to speak at a Christian youth rally.They look like average college­aged boys—short hair, shorts or jeans.But they stand apart from the thousands of young people in the crowd.They are each wearing a bright orange­and­black T­shirt emblazoned with a map of Africa and the name of their mission motto: “Living Hope.”