We started off the day with an unexpected surprise: our service activities would not begin until two o'clock pm. Needless to say, we enjoyed our extra hours of zzzz's. We somehow made it out the door with just a few minutes to spare and arrived relatively on time to our destinations. Half of the team went to the March of Dimes office and the other half took the stalker van to HIV and AIDS Council.
Those of us who went to the March of Dimes office helped with a lot of administrative tasks. As we were stamping brochures, making pregnancy test packets, and typing up documents for the organization, we were shocked to learn about the severity of premature births. A ring that could fit around one's thumb was the same size of a ring that could run the length of a premature baby's arm. Premature baby diapers looked the size of Post-It notes. The blood pressure cuffs used on a premature baby are the size of Band-Aids. We also learned about how the size of a brain can differ significantly between a baby born at 35 weeks versus a baby born at 40 weeks.
Even though we only did small administrative tasks, it was meaningful to know that we were helping the March of Dimes inform the public about premature births and prenatal care that can help prevent premature births. We hope the March of Dimes continues to better the lives of mothers and babies.
The other group of us went to the HIV/AIDS Council to help put together a book to remember a rally that occurred March 17, 2010 in front of the State Building in Columbia, SC protesting the federal governments removal of all funding for programs to educate people on HIV/AIDS and to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. However, when we got there we did SO much more than that. The woman who greeted us, Elizabeth, was so kind and gave us a copy of their new "Tie That Binds" Magazine featuring the spread of HIV/AIDS to people in their golden years. We learned so much, including that Washington, DC has the highest amount of HIV/AIDS cases and Maryland ranks #3!! Also, it was sooo heartwarming seeing how Elizabeth knew the names of EVERYONE on staff, and introduced us to an exceptional woman named Shirley.
Shirley, who is a volunteer at the HIV/AIDS Council, accompanied us in our conference with Elizabeth and our tour around the facility. During the conference, Shirley shared with us her personal story and struggle with finding out she was HIV positive and how she has learned to cope. This was a particularly emotional moment because Elizabeth shared that we were only the 2nd group Shirley had opened up to and shared her story with, which was incredibly special. Shirley talked about how she was getting a promotion in the military, and during her physical found she was HIV positive, in which she was immediately laid-off, and her clothes BURNED! It was so shocking how quickly she was let go and that the stigma of having HIV/AIDS made the military go as far as to burn her clothing! After finding this out, Shirley went into a state of denial and great depression. She stopped taking care of herself, became homeless, and even was loosing faith, wondering why God would put her through such a thing. One day, however, Shirley realized that she needed to get up and work on herself, and that God helped her to seek out help to fix her. She began going to support groups and therapy, and once she got her straightened out, she joined the HIV/AIDS Council and began dedicating her life to helping others. She began taking classes on HIV at the health department, which helped her immensely in her coping process. Elizabeth even said that after Shirley's first HIV 101 class she came to volunteer the next day and was just so much happier and filled with joy. This discovery, that educating those WITH HIV, not just those who don't have it as prevention, is an incredible tool in assisting people to learn more about the disease and how to live with it. This has led Elizabeth to seek out free health classes on HIV to all of the volunteer members of her staff.
The HIV/AIDS Council is also such an AMAZING program because they have mentors and psychiatrists on staff at all times. Therefore, everyone who comes in to get tested meats with a counselor/mentor who assesses their state and gets to know them before the test. Then, once the test results come back (usually takes ~10 minutes) the counselor/mentor has the patient come into their office where they tell them the news one-on-one and spend time with them as needed. This was especially remarkable because in many clinics, the patient is given a paper with their test results and sent on their way. At the HIV/AIDS Council, they make sure their patients are in a steady state to go home and deal with their test results. Elizabeth even told us how one time a patient collapsed on the floor crying when he/she found out he/she was HIV positive and lay under the desk of the counselor/mentor for 3 hours, in which the mentor was there the entire time comforting them and not rushing them at all. This really showed how dedicated they are to their patients and how much they truly care.
One thing I (Camille) found most disturbing was a story Elizabeth told us about her church, in which she has been a member for many years. The church was holding a health fair, and failed to tell Elizabeth or ask her if she wanted to participate. She figured maybe her church just forgot to contact her and took the chance to contact them to see if she could have a table set up with information on HIV/AIDS since that is what her work is in. She left a message for the minister, and not until 8 days later did she get a call back (before offi ce hours, she doesn't know if this was intentional or not) saying that they did not believe that would be "appropriate". Then, Elizabeth emailed the minister, asking nicely and trying to better explain why she would like to be present at the fair. She never go a response. This was horrifying to me as a Christian because your church should be the one place that always accepts you and wants to help you, and for HER OWN CHURCH to not even allow her to be present at the health fair with a non-intrusive, passive table on HIV/AIDS that people could ask for information about only if they wanted to. When you are in such a hard place where you feel like you have no one to talk to, you should always have your faith and God and the support of your church. However, this clearly showed how this is not always the case. I do not believe it is others place to judge, and Stephanie brought up an amazing point in reflection, stating that if someone was a cancer patient, we would NEVER treat them in the way that many treat those with HIV/AIDS. This disease has such a strong stigma attached to it, that many do not even GO to get tested, let alone tell anyone if they are HIV positive, leaving them abandoned and alone in a place where even their church may reject them.
It was also very disturbing to learn that 50% of people that KNOW they are HIV positive in South Carolina do NOT get treatment, mainly because of transportation issues. One woman we met had taken a picture on a highway looking down the road and seeing a sign saying "Columbia 31 miles" and it was titled "31 miles to healthcare". This piece was especially moving because it explained the struggle many have to even have access to treatment due to transportation limitations. Many rural areas have no public transportation to even get there somewhere they can get treatment. As a result, the HIV/AIDS council has a man who drives around and picks up patients to take them to treatment, and even finds out where these people hang out so if they ever do not meet him for a doctors appointment he can know where he might find them. He also assists those who cannot read in color coding their medications to know when they are supposed to take them, and he helps people create regiments for taking their pills.
All in all, the HIV/AIDS Council does so much remarkable work, much of which I did not even get to include in this blog. They have definitely inspired me to want to get involved in work such as this in the DC area to help people that really are judged and at times rejected by society.
Elizabeth also gave us a website where women all over the US are able to tell others their stories about living with HIV online. This website is: http://www.livingquilt.org/
I REALLY encourage EVERYONE to read it to learn more about the struggles of these women and to share this with your friends. As Elizabeth put it, HIV/AIDS DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE BASED ON GENDER, RACE, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, INCOME, JOB, ETC... WE ARE ALL SUSCEPTIBLE TO THIS DISEASE AND MANY OF US FAIL TO RECOGNIZE THAT IT CAN EASILY INFECT US TOO!
Sorry this was so long but I hope you found it interesting and you should really look more into this organization because it is truly amazing.
-Camille, Payal, and Emily
P.S. Another shocking thing Elizabeth told us was that at the USC Health Center, a male student had the audacity to say in front of everyone (this was overheard by one of Elizabeth's volunteers who told her) that he did not have to worry about getting HIV/AIDS because he did not sleep with black women. It is this ignorance and self-righteous attitude that keeps us from moving forward in having more success in removing the stigma from HIV/AIDS and making a difference. Like Elizabeth said, HIV/AIDS doesn't discriminate, and 2 of the largest growing populations becoming infected are AFRICAN AMERICAN FEMALES AND OLDER PEOPLE IN THEIR GOLDEN YEARS (over 50!!!). This goes to show how fast and far HIV is spreading (even across generations) and how important safe sex and sex education is!
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