Hi everyone! I hope things are going good for everyone. I have not been on here in a few months, and I wanted to share with you what I have been doing! I have been blessed to be going to CE (continuing education) seminars. I was a panelists for Pennsylvania/Mid Atlantic AIDS Education and Training Center. I was able to speak to health care professionals about how it feels to have this disease, and what we need from our health care providers. I met alot of very good people. I met someone who works as a counselor for a drug rehab center, and was asked if I was willing to speak to her groups and educate them about the risks of HIV infection. First group I did was the women's group. There was about 30 women. I shared "my story" with them, talked to them about how HIV is transmitted, and all of the myths that are still out there. Some of them knew nothing about HIV/AIDS, others thought that you could get it from hugs, sharing a bathroom, etc..When I finished talking to them, I would say that 20of the women came up and asked me if they could give me a hug, and thanked me for taking the time to care about them. The first 15 minutes I will admit I had a stomach full of butterflies…lol.When I walked out of the rehab center, I felt so happy. I felt like I had taken a bad situation (contracting HIV, and eventually being diagnosed with AIDS) into something good. The following week was the men's group. I was very nervous on the way there. I was thinking- am I going to be able to get these men to listen to me and what I wanted them to learn from this. Well let me tell you- I was nervous for less than 30 seconds…I spoke to about 30 men and they were wonderful. After I was finished talking, I know 24 or 25 men came up to me, and tried to shake my hand. I said I like hugs! They hugged me and thanked me for talking to them. What a blessing I feel like I had. If I helped 1 person out of the 60 I spoke to, then I have done something good. I have now been granted permission from a judge to speak to people who are incarcerated. I know my blog is long, but I wanted to share this with you. I understand that everyone with this disease feels different, and that is okay, I am just the type of person who feels that sharing my HIV infection, and how it feels to live with this may help some people. I thank GOD that I was given this opprotunity.GOD gave me the strength to do this. Just always remember, WE are all in this together. HIV does not discriminate, and know that I care for each and every one of the people on TRIBE 🙂 Best Wishes-

Althea