I just wanted to remind everyone that today is internation AIDS awarness day. I used to be an AIDS case manager and I've been to to many funerals. for everyone out there, get tested, even if you think that you're partner is faithful, most people who are HIV positive don't know it....I worked with 6 girls from the ages of 15 to 18 who only found out that they were HIV positive when they got pregnant and had to have blood work done including an AIDS test. They were stunned...one slept with A LOT of PEOPLE, and one was a virgin when she slept with her Christian School boyfriend....so if you believe, say a prayer for the positive and for a cure to be found. I learned so much from the people that I worked with that had this disease about how to live life and how to die with dignity. thank you to all of you and you know who you are. Oh and by the way, my last client before I had to leave the work....was a young woman from Dafur, she had been raped multiple times....and she was so shamed that she had attemepted suicide so many times. The first day we met she only spoke french or her native dialet and I only spoke english. somehow we worked it out, but before she left my office after more than 2 hours I hugged her and said welcome to our family, and she burst into tears. I asked her uncle what I had done wrong. He looked at me with such suprise and shock. Then he told me that no one would touch her cause she was HIV positive. How sad....I hugged the hell out of that poor girl. and to this day that's what she remembers....oh yea, and she has a great job, learned to drive a car, is going to community college (she wants to be a lawyer) and has a boyfriend (yes, he knows).....what a woman.
Thanks for listening