ASB DC
Wow. ASB DC. I knew Alternative Spring Break in Washington DC dealing with issues on HIV/AIDS was going to be amazing this year, but I didn't know just how much. incredible. The week beforehand I wasn't sure if I was going to have as of an amazing time as last year, but I was wrong. On so many levels, this trip was amazing. The things we saw and talked about were amazing, thought-provoking. The discussions, life-maps, and conversations were silly during times and INTENSELY profound during others. This trip has touched me on so many levels as a person- my faith, my academics, my future, my relationships with others- wow.
First, I'd like to start off with what we did in DC. Every morning from 9am to 12pm, we worked with Food and Friends, helping to prepare, package, and deliver healthful meals and groceries to 1350+ people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and life-challenging illnesses throughout the Washington DC Metro Area.
On Monday afternoon, we made condom packets at Metro TeenAIDS and was given a brief overview of HIV/AIDS in the DC area. DC's AIDS rate is TEN TIMES that of the Nation's average, and somewhere in the trip, we learned that it was higher than the rate in parts of Africa. We also went to an education session and brief service to SMYAL, Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League. On Tuesday afternoon, we helped the Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care help revamp and clean some of their facilities.
By far, I would say, the most influential afternoon for me was Wednesday, working with PreventionWorks, a harm reduction program that operates primarily via a mobile service unit. Clients are served weekly at a 12 needle exchange sites located near active drug strips. Basically, we went into their office for a brief overview first, and then went to one of their actual needle exchange sites. There, I met Tafari, a transgender worker who led us through the neighborhood where we did some outreach by handing out condoms and promoting the HIV testing and needle exchange that was going on in the needle exchange van. During this excursion in the neighborhood, we saw a drug deal operation, talked to some pedestrian women, and got sexually harassed (sort of). Basically, one of the guys we handed out condoms to grabbed my site leader's hand and was like "If I get tested, can we have safe sex later?" That was scary- no joke. The entire thing was scary, but more to come later in the entry about that.
Thursday afternoon, we helped put stickers on pamphlets for Community Education Group, nonprofit org that focuses on the creation and expansion of programs and projects, which addresses the health, socioeconomic, environmental and systemic challenged facing the African American community. Friday afternoon, we did an info session at OurPlace DC, which supports women who are or have been in the criminal justice system by providing the resources they need to maintain connections with the community, resettle at incarceration, and reconcile with their families.
Friday night was Teen Supreme Night, which was a huge party outreach to a community. At this party, condoms were handed out and HIV/AIDS tests were given. During Teen Supreme Night, a bunch of neighborhood boys challenged four of us to a basketball game and basically kicked us in the butt. It was an definitely interesting experience.
Needless to say, this week has been phenomenal in terms of education, awareness, and everything else. Also, the group did life-maps, which is basically the telling of your life story. For everyone, we basically spent an hour to 1.5 hours listening to their life story and then 30 minutes asking questions. I pretty much feel an intimate connection to everyone in my ASB group now from their life stories and just conversations throughout the week. It's been an amazing - absolutely amazing time.
_____________
THE REFLECTION:
So this week has been amazing! I guess I'll do bullet point of things that touched me/ things I was reminded of/ things that I learned.
1. There are so many gray areas in the world. For instance, does handing out condoms prevent the spread of STDs and HIV/AIDS, or do they encourage the spread of the diseases? When do we draw the line as society in terms of earliest age to give them out... or how available will they be made? What about sex education- should we teach how to properly put on condoms? Part of the problem is that people don't know how to have safe sex... but perhaps by doing this awareness, we encourage people to have sex when they're 11,12,13 years of age - ridiculous, quite.
2. You should meet people where they are- not where you are. A lot of times people ask why don't high schoolers go to the school nurse to get condoms or why don't people in poor areas go somewhere like a health clinic to obtain safe sex materials... the answer is a lot of things: pride, image, and a whole bunch of other factors. A lot of times people do pumping parties because of this too... the big thing this week is outreach. You have to meet people WHERE THEY ARE- NOT WHERE YOU ARE. We are often high and lofty, studying HIV/AIDS from a removed academic perspective. People with STDs may just be a statistic to us. However, doing outreach in the neighborhood with PreventionWorks put my head into reality. We must show how much we care about others by meeting their needs, by showing that we're willing to step into their world and try to understand them. We show our love this way, in hopes of them trusting and opening up to us.
3. Along the same lines, I learned how to be client-based in a non-corporate world entity. For example, a lot of the nonprofit orgs we worked for were client-based and instead of saying "here are our services, use them," they approached the people and said, "what are your needs? let us help you in any way possible."
4. Remember your roots. When I was younger, I was poor. I didn't have money for Christmas presents or brand-new clothes or anything. I wasn't in a good education school district either. It was an experience that shaped my world lens, but since my family had become upper-middle class, I sometimes forgot the hardship experienced. Going to the poor neighborhoods for PreventionWorks and Teen Supreme night really brought me back to my experience back in New Orleans when I was in elementary school. It reminded me of how precious money is and how blessed I really am with money. It reminded me to never take things I have for granted or to feel entitlement for certain things when a great number of the population can't afford even necessities. It reminded me never to forget where I was and to carry it with me into the future, whatever profession I take on- finance, economics, law.
5. First impressions are very important. When I was talking to a few people in the group, I realized how I thought I came off wasn't how I really came off (on a first impression basis). In the future, I will definitely be more mindful of how to present myself.
6. Throughout this whole trip, I've been humbled by the people I've seen and things I've learned. I think sometimes it is easy to make comments like, "they're not rich because they didn't work hard enough." It is easy to become insensitive and see how many people do not have the opportunities you do. I think I will try my best to keep this in mind for the future no matter where I go or whom I meet.
7. People judge you when they see you. A number of things run through their mind. However, you've got to just keep going and do your best to be yourself and prove them wrong. Also, it is important to remember not to judge a book by its cover. During the life-maps, I learned so much about people that helped me understand who they are and where they come from, and it reminded me that people's life experiences have really molded and shaped them, and that we, as fellow human-beings, are in no place to judge others.
On top of everything, the conversations we had and the service we did on this trip brought up a ton of questions and issues that caused me to question my values and beliefs and understand myself more. It reminded me of how much I needed to know my beliefs more and to have a deep understanding of what I believe and why I believe it.
It's made me want to seek after God even more and really understand and get to know Him. There are so many questions in this world that true, wise answers only come from God, and I desire to know His heart and His will. I love Jesus, and I hope that my life will glorify Him, and that His Will will be done.
First, I'd like to start off with what we did in DC. Every morning from 9am to 12pm, we worked with Food and Friends, helping to prepare, package, and deliver healthful meals and groceries to 1350+ people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and life-challenging illnesses throughout the Washington DC Metro Area.
On Monday afternoon, we made condom packets at Metro TeenAIDS and was given a brief overview of HIV/AIDS in the DC area. DC's AIDS rate is TEN TIMES that of the Nation's average, and somewhere in the trip, we learned that it was higher than the rate in parts of Africa. We also went to an education session and brief service to SMYAL, Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League. On Tuesday afternoon, we helped the Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care help revamp and clean some of their facilities.
By far, I would say, the most influential afternoon for me was Wednesday, working with PreventionWorks, a harm reduction program that operates primarily via a mobile service unit. Clients are served weekly at a 12 needle exchange sites located near active drug strips. Basically, we went into their office for a brief overview first, and then went to one of their actual needle exchange sites. There, I met Tafari, a transgender worker who led us through the neighborhood where we did some outreach by handing out condoms and promoting the HIV testing and needle exchange that was going on in the needle exchange van. During this excursion in the neighborhood, we saw a drug deal operation, talked to some pedestrian women, and got sexually harassed (sort of). Basically, one of the guys we handed out condoms to grabbed my site leader's hand and was like "If I get tested, can we have safe sex later?" That was scary- no joke. The entire thing was scary, but more to come later in the entry about that.
Thursday afternoon, we helped put stickers on pamphlets for Community Education Group, nonprofit org that focuses on the creation and expansion of programs and projects, which addresses the health, socioeconomic, environmental and systemic challenged facing the African American community. Friday afternoon, we did an info session at OurPlace DC, which supports women who are or have been in the criminal justice system by providing the resources they need to maintain connections with the community, resettle at incarceration, and reconcile with their families.
Friday night was Teen Supreme Night, which was a huge party outreach to a community. At this party, condoms were handed out and HIV/AIDS tests were given. During Teen Supreme Night, a bunch of neighborhood boys challenged four of us to a basketball game and basically kicked us in the butt. It was an definitely interesting experience.
Needless to say, this week has been phenomenal in terms of education, awareness, and everything else. Also, the group did life-maps, which is basically the telling of your life story. For everyone, we basically spent an hour to 1.5 hours listening to their life story and then 30 minutes asking questions. I pretty much feel an intimate connection to everyone in my ASB group now from their life stories and just conversations throughout the week. It's been an amazing - absolutely amazing time.
_____________
THE REFLECTION:
So this week has been amazing! I guess I'll do bullet point of things that touched me/ things I was reminded of/ things that I learned.
1. There are so many gray areas in the world. For instance, does handing out condoms prevent the spread of STDs and HIV/AIDS, or do they encourage the spread of the diseases? When do we draw the line as society in terms of earliest age to give them out... or how available will they be made? What about sex education- should we teach how to properly put on condoms? Part of the problem is that people don't know how to have safe sex... but perhaps by doing this awareness, we encourage people to have sex when they're 11,12,13 years of age - ridiculous, quite.
2. You should meet people where they are- not where you are. A lot of times people ask why don't high schoolers go to the school nurse to get condoms or why don't people in poor areas go somewhere like a health clinic to obtain safe sex materials... the answer is a lot of things: pride, image, and a whole bunch of other factors. A lot of times people do pumping parties because of this too... the big thing this week is outreach. You have to meet people WHERE THEY ARE- NOT WHERE YOU ARE. We are often high and lofty, studying HIV/AIDS from a removed academic perspective. People with STDs may just be a statistic to us. However, doing outreach in the neighborhood with PreventionWorks put my head into reality. We must show how much we care about others by meeting their needs, by showing that we're willing to step into their world and try to understand them. We show our love this way, in hopes of them trusting and opening up to us.
3. Along the same lines, I learned how to be client-based in a non-corporate world entity. For example, a lot of the nonprofit orgs we worked for were client-based and instead of saying "here are our services, use them," they approached the people and said, "what are your needs? let us help you in any way possible."
4. Remember your roots. When I was younger, I was poor. I didn't have money for Christmas presents or brand-new clothes or anything. I wasn't in a good education school district either. It was an experience that shaped my world lens, but since my family had become upper-middle class, I sometimes forgot the hardship experienced. Going to the poor neighborhoods for PreventionWorks and Teen Supreme night really brought me back to my experience back in New Orleans when I was in elementary school. It reminded me of how precious money is and how blessed I really am with money. It reminded me to never take things I have for granted or to feel entitlement for certain things when a great number of the population can't afford even necessities. It reminded me never to forget where I was and to carry it with me into the future, whatever profession I take on- finance, economics, law.
5. First impressions are very important. When I was talking to a few people in the group, I realized how I thought I came off wasn't how I really came off (on a first impression basis). In the future, I will definitely be more mindful of how to present myself.
6. Throughout this whole trip, I've been humbled by the people I've seen and things I've learned. I think sometimes it is easy to make comments like, "they're not rich because they didn't work hard enough." It is easy to become insensitive and see how many people do not have the opportunities you do. I think I will try my best to keep this in mind for the future no matter where I go or whom I meet.
7. People judge you when they see you. A number of things run through their mind. However, you've got to just keep going and do your best to be yourself and prove them wrong. Also, it is important to remember not to judge a book by its cover. During the life-maps, I learned so much about people that helped me understand who they are and where they come from, and it reminded me that people's life experiences have really molded and shaped them, and that we, as fellow human-beings, are in no place to judge others.
On top of everything, the conversations we had and the service we did on this trip brought up a ton of questions and issues that caused me to question my values and beliefs and understand myself more. It reminded me of how much I needed to know my beliefs more and to have a deep understanding of what I believe and why I believe it.
It's made me want to seek after God even more and really understand and get to know Him. There are so many questions in this world that true, wise answers only come from God, and I desire to know His heart and His will. I love Jesus, and I hope that my life will glorify Him, and that His Will will be done.