Issue XIII – January 2010

• Introduction
• Announcements
• Voz de la Gente
• Opinion – Reason Not to Forget: Fighting Passive Awareness, by Ashley Villarreal
• In the News
• In Other Words

INTRODUCTION

When we first began work on this edition of the newsletter, we had planned to regale you with all of the exciting developments afoot in the world of Transdiaspora Network, including our new newsletter format. It’s a new year, a new decade, let’s toast our future with a renewed sense of optimism. But the landscape has shifted dramatically and tragically, and so it is with a heavy heart that we must take a moment to pause and reflect in the horror of our present moment. And let us take this moment, this quiet space for reflection, and fill it not only with our sadness at the tremendous loss and suffering of our families and friends in Haiti but also make it our own. Let this be a space for direct action, shared humanity, and the promise of renewal.

For the next two weeks, all donations made on the TDN homepage will directly fund disaster relief efforts in Haiti. In addition, Transdiaspora Network has activated an emergency response in partnership with Dwa Fanm and the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center. We are  conducting a medical supplies drive through this Friday. Donations of medical supplies must be sealed and new, not expired or expiring. Aid workers particularly need wrapped sterile gauze, plastic tape, surgical tape, sealed antiseptic or analgesic medications, medical bottles, syringes, pipettes, and bags or media for dosing and dispensing medications. Please tape an inventory to the outside of the box describing box contents in detail. This inventory is vital as it will aid in items being moved to where they are most needed. Please bring your items to our Brooklyn drop-off point, located at the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center, 256 Kingston Avenue, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Dwa Fanm will be accepting donations at an alternate location in Brooklyn, 74A 4th Avenue at Bergen Street, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Friday.

Thank you for your generosity in this time of crisis.

Susan Wile Schwarz, MPH
Communications & Research Director

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Translators Needed at Haitian Refugee Camp
Proyecto America is looking for Creole-Spanish and Creole-English translators to assist at a Haitian refugee camp at the border with the Dominican Republic. If you are interested in volunteering as a translator at this camp and can travel between January 29 and February 2, email usa@proyectoamerica.net or call (561) 729-2890 for more information.

TDN Photo Workshop Gives Voice to Teens
Beginning in February, Transdiaspora Network will offer a workshop entitled “Social Photography: Building HIV Prevention Through Youth Leadership.” In this workshop, led by new TDN team member Remy Kharbanda, students will learn rudimentary photography skills while gaining a deeper understanding of their surrounding community and HIV-related issues. Over a period of 10 weeks, participants will engage in thoughtful communication that will focus on connecting art and meaning to concrete topics of self-identity and healthcare. The workshop will encourage student self-expression, while also giving them the confidence to take on more powerful roles in transforming the way we think about HIV/AIDS. Students will share image boards they have created and talk to one another about their experiences with the images and participate in creative writing exercises. Prizes, including free metro cards every session and Target gift certificates, will be awarded at the end of the workshop, and students will leave with a better sense of how they can effect change in their own communities. TDN will work with schools to arrange credit for the class as community service hours.

Remy Kharbanda is a South Asian activist researcher and documentary filmmaker based in Brooklyn. Her work focuses on law enforcement interactions with women of color, immigration issues, the war on terror, and displacement in the South Asian Diaspora. She is also one half of RFR, a New York City-based research partnership that works with community-based organizations to facilitate research projects aimed at supporting popular education and organizing efforts.

Newsletter Debuts Local News Section
Transdiaspora Network’s newsletter is changing. While we continue to share our exciting projects and developments, this issue of the newsletter introduces a brand new section: Voz de la Gente. This new section will feature up-to-the-moment, on-the-ground reporting from the community by our newest additions to the TDN team, local health news reporters Shahana Hanif and Ashley Villarreal. A Brooklyn native, Shahana Hanif attends Brooklyn College with the goal of becoming a medical journalist. As a pre-med and journalism student, she hopes to combine the two fields to bring health awareness and knowledge to the general public. Shahana was the president of her high school’s broadcasting studio, WBKS, where she wrote and delivered announcements and current events to students and faculty on a daily basis. Ashley Villarreal comes to us from the University of Arizona where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in print journalism, with minors in both psychology and sociology. During her studies she supported her university’s School of Journalism, as well as the National Association of Hispanic Journalists local chapter. As a reporter, she has focused on youth programs and education.

TDN Partners to Bring Music to the Sick
Last December, thank to the efforts of Transdiaspora Network’s president and founder, Ariel Rojas, Musicians On Call (MOC) was able to grow its Miami/South Florida network of volunteer musicians and deliver the healing power of music to the bedsides of patients. One of the organization’s new acquisitions, Cuban singer Gema Corredera, has already scheduled a performance at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital on February 9, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., in Hollywood, Florida.

Musicians On Call is a non-profit organization that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities. MOC uses music to promote and complement the healing process for patients, families, and caregivers. They have programs in New York, Philadelphia, Nashville, and Miami and have played for over 177,000 individuals.

VOZ DE LA GENTE

Social Research on the Social Network: Youth, HIV/AIDS, and Facebook
By Shahana Hanif

Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Two prolonged epidemics better known as HIV and AIDS. While these two medical terms continue to spread feverishly in our community, very little is actually known and understood about HIV/AIDS among many of our society’s youth. Falling under the youth category myself, this reporter knows HIV/AIDS is a growing problem, but at the same time, I know nothing about the surrounding issues. Before beginning my research for this assignment, my expectations concerning youth knowledge about the disease were extremely low.  And while my suspicions weren’t entirely disproved, my research revealed another alarming trend among today’s young people.

I began my interviews using a broad and general approach through the help of Facebook. I wanted to focus on what teenagers know and their reactions to being asked about HIV/AIDS – to uncover the misconceptions and perceptions. Of the 319 friends I have on Facebook, only seven responded to my status update soliciting responses. Trying to nudge the few who reacted to actually respond took a total of two Facebook status updates. The assignment was a challenging one, especially because I was dealing with “bored” teenagers (ages 16-20) who “didn’t want to think intensely” about such a controversial topic. My first status read: “HIV/AIDS. What’s your take on it?” With 23 disappointing and unrelated comments, it was clear to me that the respondents viewed HIV/AIDS as a mere joke. My second Facebook status provided an incentive to respond: “If anyone wants their name/opinions/thoughts included in an article I’m writing, please message me for details. The topic is HIV/AIDS. I want to hear from you!” With a total of 50 comments from seven people excluding myself, a debate ensued, and I was absolutely shocked and surprised at some of the remarks.

So, what does the youth community know about HIV/AIDS? Better yet, what do they think they know? Sabia Hanif, 18 (and this reporter’s sister), describes HIV/AIDS as “an infection spread among promiscuous people and gay men.” She also adds, “it is a laughing matter to me because if you’re going to sleep around, you’re putting yourself in danger of being infected.” Roumwelle Sta. Ines, 17, views the epidemic as “another threat to humanity,” while pondering, “when you have HIV/AIDS, you don’t really suffer, do you? It isn’t like cancer, right?” Anonymous, 20, believes that “AIDS is cruel and an unusual punishment.”

Whether they view it with uncertainty, as a serious hazard, or in terms of the “gay disease” myth, it is clear that young people do recognize HIV/AIDS as a worldwide crisis, however, they lack substantial information about the disease.

After reading the comments on my status, I realized that there was a hidden reason why most of the students were  vague when discussing the issue. Even though the truths about HIV/AIDS are relatively known, young people are not united or motivated to spend much time thinking about it, let alone to try and understand the illness thoroughly.

But, as Shuaraa Sullivan, 17, points out, “there are so many mediums in the United States that talk about HIV and AIDS awareness.” She adds, “look at all the television shows (True Life, The Real World, and Girlfriends), documentaries, clothing, and the Red campaign.” The information is out there, but as Jordan Sese, 19, states, “if the facts fall upon deaf ears or blind eyes, what’s the point?” Apathetic youth and the “if it doesn’t concern me, why should I care?” attitude are limiting the reach and effect of valuable HIV/AIDS knowledge about precautionary measures, sex education, and support groups and organizations.

How can we bring an end to apathy? Unfortunately, apathy cannot be banished or removed from society. Those of us who acknowledge the facts and are aware of the growing problem, it is time we come together as a community to fight HIV/AIDS. Without leadership, commitment, and a strong voice, the crisis will remain a crisis. Feeling invincible is not the key to survival – awareness, education, and protection are the solutions to survival.

What You Thought You Knew About Sex and HIV
By Ashley Villarreal

Once we arrive at adulthood, we tend to think we know everything about sex. We’ve sat through the long and often boring sex ed classes in school, gained a lot of information from our friends, and maybe even had that sensitive discussion with the parents. But sex education does not stop just because we’ve survived puberty. As birth control becomes more accessible, and STDs and HIV are found to affect even younger populations, it is increasingly important to continue learning. New facts and findings surface all the time, some of them contradicting what we already know, others getting lost in our hurry to grow up. What you didn’t know might surprise you. Below are some commonly held beliefs about sex and infection. Test yourself.

People are now having sex at younger ages.
False. Teens are actually waiting longer these days to have sex. Studies done by the Guttmacher Institute in New York, an organization that works with programs on reproductive health, have shown that the number of teens having sex before age 15 has decreased an average of six percent since 1995. Though many people believe that kids today are having sex around ages 14 and 15, by age 13 only thirteen percent of teens have had sex, and by age 19, only nine out of ten teenagers have had sex.

It is possible to have had unprotected sex with only a couple people that tested negative for sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and eventually find out you have an STD.
True. According to the American Social Health Association, more than half of all people will contract an STD/STI at some point in their lives. However, STDs affect everyone differently. Currently it is estimated that one in five people have genital herpes, with 90 percent of those infected unaware since the disease can live without ever causing any physical symptoms. The Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is also estimated to affect more than 75 percent of people throughout their lifetime. Diseases mature at different stages and will affect people differently depending on their health and genetic make-up. In addition, many STDs have a late onset and may not present symptoms for years after initial contraction. For these reasons, some people may never show signs of infection even when tested. The only way to avoid contracting an STD is to use condoms the right way every time that you have sex.

You can’t get a disease from oral or anal sex without ejaculation.
False. Although the chances are smaller with oral sex than they are for vaginal or anal sex, it can happen. HIV is transferred through blood or semen. If you are performing oral sex and are infected, you may have tiny cuts in your mouth that you aren’t aware of that can transfer a disease to another person. The same way you can get pregnant from pre-ejaculate (the semen that sometimes secretes from the penis before an actual orgasm) you can get HIV through performing oral sex. The tissue of the anus is thin and fluids can pass more easily into the body. Tears in this region can also occur more easily, allowing for HIV and STD transmission. Even if there is no climax there may be semen, which can transfer to an uninfected person during any kind of sex. To be safe you should always use condoms or barrier methods preventing skin-to-skin contact.

Condoms don’t really protect against HIV and STDs, so if you have a disease, your sex life is basically over.
False. This doesn’t mean it isn’t possible, it just means even if you are infected, you can still be sexually active with an uninfected partner. According to data from Avert, an international AIDS charity, if condoms are used correctly and consistently they are “highly effective in providing protection against HIV.” In a European study that surveyed couples with one person HIV-positive and another not, the 123 couples that reported using condoms consistently during sex showed no incidences of infection. On the other hand, another group of 122 couples that reported inconsistent condom use, showed 12 of the couples became infected. Although condoms can break, the majority of instances of infection are due to ineffective use, Avert says.

If you have unprotected sex you will get pregnant, acquire an STD, or get HIV.
False. There are always risks, complications, luck, and circumstances that come into play. Even if a man ejaculates into a woman during sex, it doesn’t mean she will get pregnant. If you have sex with someone who has HIV, there is not 100 percent certainty that your partner will become infected. This might sound like good news and you might be thinking, “okay, so I can go throw my condoms away?” Not true. When you have protected sex the same is true. On the package, birth control pills say they carry a 99% effectiveness rate. That means you can still get pregnant even if you are using the pill. The best way to go is to use condoms at the same time you are using birth control. While some STDs are treatable, others can change your life drastically. Many people can live life with HIV without complications, but others will die of AIDS. While all this protection and prevention might make sex sound like a whole lot more work, you have to be realistic. When nothing in life is 100 percent guaranteed do you really want to leave your life up to luck?

OPINION

Reason Not to Forget: Fighting Passive Awareness
By Ashley Villarreal

According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, one of the leading resources on health care issues, less than a year after the government increased its estimates for HIV infections for the next year, a survey of American opinions showed that concern about HIV “as a personal risk” had “fallen dramatically.” What happened? AIDS has increasingly become only about Africa and the gay community, and many people believe they are not at risk. Yet, Central Brooklyn has about the fifth highest mortality rate from AIDS in all of New York. It’s closer to home than we think, and with rates of disease rising, protecting against infection should be a concern for everyone. Clearly, it’s time to make some changes.

The first opportunity for change is the way the uninfected community thinks about the disease. Some people still believe they can become infected through kissing. There are hundreds of myths that exist that haven’t been falsified in the eyes of the public. And largely missing from this conversation are the voices of people living with AIDS. The only way to de-stigmatize something is to make it familiar. Instead of writing off the infected in the media, we need to give voice to the many people living with HIV/AIDS. The public needs to understand that although the disease is quite dangerous, they don’t have to live in fear. When people are afraid they put the problem out of their mind. We need a solution to the problem, not a reason to forget.

The next thing we need to change is the way we educate those already living with AIDS. One in nine children in America with the disease are living in Brooklyn, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We have to do something more than tell people to wear condoms or get tested. What we often tell children is what the media gives us: passive awareness. There needs to be analysis, improvement plans, and people engaging with each other. Instead of simply telling students to wear condoms or be celibate, we need to talk about why students don’t wear condoms and how you can still be sexually active if you want to. When people think they have no options, they become fatalistic and then they give up. The media needs to personalize these issues and give realistic solutions so people can continue living their lives, while understanding they are part of making those solutions work.

The overall picture for Brooklyn should be the same as in every community, despite higher risk of infection. The two problems I addressed are not the only issues. Language barriers for immigrant communities and financial obstacles still stand in the way of receiving treatment, even if you know the facts. These barriers may be the biggest drawback yet, but I think the solution comes with collaboration. It is easier to change yourself than change the system. If we can start with ourselves the rest with follow.

IN THE NEWS

UN Lauds US and SKorea for Lifting HIV Travel Ban

By The Associated Press

The United Nations praised the United States and South Korea on Monday for lifting travel bans on people with HIV and urged 57 other countries with travel restrictions to end them quickly.

President Barack Obama announced in October that the U.S. would overturn a 22-year-old travel ban against people with HIV, and the new rule eliminating the ban came into force on Monday. South Korea eliminated travel restrictions for people with the HIV virus, which causes AIDS, on Jan. 1.

Michel Sidibe, executive director of UNAIDS, which coordinates the U.N.’s AIDS response, called the policy changes ”a victory for human rights on two sides of the globe.”

Ending the restrictions means travelers who are HIV positive can now enter both countries.

In the United States, the ban has kept out thousands of students, tourists and refugees and has complicated the adoption of children with HIV. No major international AIDS conference has been held in the U.S. since 1993, because HIV-positive activists and researchers could not enter the country.

In 1987, at a time of widespread fear and ignorance about HIV, the Department of Health and Human Services added HIV to the list of communicable diseases that disqualified a person from entering the U.S. The department tried in 1991 to reverse its decision but was opposed by Congress, which went the other way two years later and made HIV infection the only medical condition explicitly listed under immigration law as grounds for inadmissibility to the U.S.

When Obama announced in October that the ban would be overturned, he commended Congress and former President George W. Bush for starting the process to eliminate the ban in 2008 and said his administration was ”finishing the job.”

”It’s a step that will encourage people to get tested and get treatment, it’s a step that will keep families together, and it’s a step that will save lives,” Obama said. ”If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it.”

[Excerpted from The New York Times, January 5, 2010]

IN OTHER WORDS

The fact the world’s poor are calling upon us to help is a marker, in my view, of the limitless potential of human solidarity.
-Paul Farmer

Transdiaspora Network^TM is a New York-based human capacity building non-profit organization conducting HIV prevention awareness and community-based, culturally aware preventive mentoring for a population of youth at high risk. In addition, it facilitates identification of community resources, empowerment based interventions, and educational approaches to increase health literacy. Our Afro-Caribbean Dance Mediation, Storytelling Dynamics and The Carib Youth Society provide solutions that increase self-awareness and assertiveness. For more information about our organization, please visit www.transdiasporanetwork.org.

©Transdiaspora Network, January 2010