Everything listed under: PHA

By Chat Junkie

Wow, it has been a long time since I wrote a blog for ACG, so I apologize for being gone so long and get busy here.

Again, just one more time, I really have to thank Megan DePutter and the ACG for running the Positive Prevention - Train the Trainer course. I was able to take it the second time it was going and then I volunteered to help with the third installment. When I started the course, I had no real plans of doing anything with it when it was over except to use the tools that I learned to help me take better care of myself and my health.

During my time in the course I spoke many times about being on the internet going into chatrooms and dating sites and shared some of the things I had experienced. I also shared many things you need to be aware of, so Megan suggested that I do some social media stuff and write something for the ACG Current Events blog about those experiences. Thats when things began to change for me. I wrote that article and then another and as of today and this blog, I have written 12 in total. I thought I had something to say, something to share. It was a way to advocate for Positive Prevention, to help stop the stigma and promote safe sex.

Megan showed me a couple internet sites that posted blogs and suggested I read some of it so I could see how it all works. I did follow one in particular, PositiveLite.com. I was very drawn to one writer in particular, his name is Bob Leahy. I sent him an email to tell him I liked his stories and his photos. I was fortunate that he emailed back and we have become friends. I told him about my blog postings on here and he liked what I was doing, so it was great for me to get that feedback.

Then one day, I was at a Hep C workshop in Kitchener and I was impressed to see what was being done in our area to help control the spread this disease. I approached Bob Leahy and asked if he would be interested in writing a story for PositiveLite on the Sanquen Centre, the first Hep C clinic in Canada and how they compliment the services of ACG and ACCKWA in Guelph Cambridge & Kitchener/Waterloo. The reply I got from Mr. Leahy was, "I think you should write it." I was very surprised and not sure if I could do anything on that level. I then asked Megan to do it and she basically said I should do it as well. With some encouragement, I decided, "alright, I'll do it". Knowing it will be read and edited by Bob before going up online made it a little bit easier, just a little bit, I admit, I was very nervous.

Well........that story needed a few very minor edits and it did very well for the blog........so I was told and I do believe them. I have now written another one that did very well, so well that they have asked me to be a regular contributor to their site. This is a good thing for me, I am so thankful to everyone who pushed me, and encouraged me to do this, it has been exactly what I needed. I have something to do again, my self-esteem level is way up, this is a very good year for me.

If anyone is thinking they would like to do something like this but unsure of their talents, don't dwell on it, try it. I didn't think I could do it. Social Media is the biggest communication service out there now, I'm learning how to do it as I go. Like all things in the technical world, it changes daily so you have to keep on top but as you make connections online, it becomes so much easier and friendlier. What you have to say can be read all around the world in seconds.

The last installment of Positive Prevention is starting on May 19, 2011 and I will be volunteering to help in some areas. I encourage you to sign up, if only for the tools to help you live better, healthier and/or getting involved to help others. For more information, contact Megan DePutter and come on out, you don't even have to cook on those nights, dinner is served.

By Chat Junkie

In early January of this year I signed up for a workshop called "Speaker's Bureau". I told myself last year that I would take as many workshops as I could fit into my schedule, I wanted to learn more about HIV and "Living" with it. I never even thought about it, or asked what exactly it was all about. Speakers Bureau is learning how to go out into the community and tell your story to groups of people and try to put a face to HIV, not letting HIV be just a number, just a statistic. People out there need to know who can get HIV.

So, who can get HIV? Using myself as an example, I am someone's son, brother, cousin, I am someone's father, uncle, grandfather, hopefully someone's great grandfather someday. I was someone's co-worker, someone's friend, a classmate in school or someone they sat beside on the bus today. Unless you know that I have HIV you wouldn't guess it by looking at me. HIV positive people don't have a tatoo on their forehead, most of us look just as healthy as anyone else they pass on the street.

Now I have to do five "speaks" to get my certificate which I am really looking forward to. This is something I have thought about doing. Yesterday (Feb. 23) I had an opportunity to talk to some University students at the ACG office. I thought I was prepared but when I entered the room it became a very small room, I got nervous. I told as much of my story as I could and then answered questions, some very good questions. One in particular I wished I could have answered better was, "What message or a couple of messages would I want them to take and pass along in their future work?" I believe that was the way it was worded, or close anyway. I was stumped, I had a list of them here at home on the computer but didn't make a copy to take along with me. Message to self, make a copy of that list, keep with you at all times!

In response to that question now, I would say to them, if you are working with someone who is newly diagnosed, encourage them to find someone they can trust full heartedly and tell that person. Building a solid support team is one of the most important things I needed. Have the person get involved in his/her healthcare, educate themselves on what it will take for them to live long fulfilling lives because you do live with HIV now. Have them enlist the help of their local Aids Committee and attend workshops, especially the Positive Prevention course, the best course ever. Each time it runs there is new information dealing with medication advances, HIV and the law are just some. The Aids Committees can also help them find safe places to go for help where they will be welcome and made to feel comfortable.

After it was over, of course you always think of something else. My thought was, after listening to me, a person over 50, if it was a help to them, being that they were all in their very early 20's. I guess when they start work out in the community they will work with people of all ages so I am thinking it was important to hear it from someone older. ‘Another note to self, ask for some feedback in the future!' Jeeeeze, and they even taught that in the course.

So I need four more speaks to get my certificate and I'm willing to continue as long as there are people to listen. If anyone knows of a group that could benefit from listening to some of us tell our stories, there are a few people who will do this through ACG, just contact B. J. Caldwell and hopefully he can work it out with you.

by B.J. Caldwell, Educator

By Megan DePutter, Positive Prevention Coordinator

The sun is shining, the trees are budding, and spring is finally here. Along with this beautiful weather comes the spring/summer session of Positive Prevention Peer Training!  Mark your calendars, because this exciting opportunity begins in just six weeks!

The winter session of the Positive Prevention Train-the-Trainer course was a huge success. This course is open to anyone who is living with HIV and AIDS.  Participants were able to enjoy 8 weeks of good friends, good food, and great opportunities to learn and build new skills.  We had 10 participants complete the winter session, who were rewarded with a financial honorarium along with other fun prizes, like movie tickets.

The goal of Positive Prevention? To empower individuals, promote healthy relationships with sexual partners and improve conditions, to strengthen the sexual health and well-being of HIV positive individuals and reduce the possibility of new HV infections and other sexually transmitted infections. This course allows you to gain the skills necessary to make a difference in your community and to improve the quality of your own health and relationships as well.

The new spring/summer session boasts some new features, including a workshop on how to exercise personal boundaries with peers as well as how to use social media (such as blogs and twitter) for Positive Prevention efforts.  This "new and improved" series has incorporated valuable feedback from past participants, so it's a perfect time to get involved.

Have questions about what the Positive Prevention Training is all about? Come to our information night on May 5, from 5:30 - 6:30pm in the ACG office.  Or call me at 519-763-2255 ext 161 or send me an email at positiveprevention@aidsguelph.org. You can also learn more about Positive Prevention on our website.

Stay tuned for more information about Positive Prevention and the fun activities I'm lining up!

An excellent posting about the relationship between the blogger and his HIV doctor. He discusses his realization that his doctor is more like his 'wingman' (in the Air Force sense, not in the helping-a-friend-get-lucky meaning!). Definitely worth a read!

Crossposted to Qlinks.ca Blog:

Edge Magazine in Boston was the first to break the story of 60 Canadians living with HIV who were planning to attend the North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit in Washington D.C. who were denied entry into the U.S. The U.S. Congress has repealed the law that bans HIV positive travelers to the U.S. however, the repeal has not been translated into policy implemented by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The article can be found here.

For more information about the travel ban to the U.S. check out this past week's Xtra for an article (that went to print before the 60 people were barred from entry) 

The U.S. remains one of a few countries that still bar any HIV+ people from entering the country. Other countries in line with the U.S. policy include: Armenia, Brunei, China (which has since been removed), Iraq, Quatar, South Korea, Libya, Moldava, Oman, The Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia & Sudan.

Former US President GW Bush passed legislation to change this ban, but the government agency responsible has not yet changed its policies.