havent done one of these in a while
and it isnt because nothing has been going on. in fact, its completely the opposite. ever been in a situation or a number of situations where you feel like you just got caught in one of most dangerous storms that takes you from one end to the other but somehow you came out unscathed...ok...just a little scathed?
for once i know things are going to work out the way they were supposed to almost 2 years ago. i guess. i think i just confused myself here. its got a lot to do with what im planning.
ill stop being mysterious about this....just a little bit. very few people are aware of exactly what i do at both of my jobs. i know they are preparing me very well (i guess its safe to say so) for what lies ahead. im not going to go in to full extent of what's going on now because well, you'll just have to call or email to find all that out.
so, recently i got my certification to do HIV testing and counseling. i want to start my own program that is sorta like that of this program called YWEP (Young Women's Empowerment Project). you can learn more about their program from here: www.youarepriceless.com. let me know if that link doesnt work and ill give you the correct one. mine would be a bit different - it would be geared more towards the immigrant community. im not gonna leave out native born americans in memphis but its just something that needs to be done. in the minority population AIDS is the number one killer and you would be amazed at how many people really dont understand the severity of the disease.
that reminds me, i have a myth to bust for you. remember the hype about "super aids"? doesnt exist folks. what it was is that the guy who had contracted HIV and then it turned into AIDS within a matter of months and then died was also an avid crystal meth user. he also continued to have unprotected sex after the fact that he was diagnosed. he lived a very unhealthy lifestyle (poor diet, continuing bad habits that were detrimental to health).
For the past 5 months, ive been talking with Aden. you can learn more about him here: www.tradio21.org. This is a website dedicated to human trafficking. I have been learning a lot about this - not just through his site but my own experience. Ive had 2 clients who were vics. One thing i dont like about the media portrayal of trafficking is that its just only sex trafficking. It's not. Does anyone remember the taco bell boycott by a group of migrant workers not too terribly long ago? It was find that quite a few of the workers of those fields in florida were trafficked into the US. I know it doesnt happen to just immigrants.
Americans are victims too or at least becoming vics (the girl in Aruba from Desoto Co.). I knew a guy who passed away a year ago (an american btw from TN) who was kidnapped for the sake of forced labor. he didnt escape until a few years before his death. he died a happy man after finding freedom.
there is still so much i have to learn before i go and do crazy stuff. but Aden gave me a wonderful idea. He traveled with a guy in Amsterdam to some nightclubs where immigrant prostitutes frequented to meet johns and he would invite them for coffee and ask if they needed any assistance of any type and pass out condoms.
That's kinda the thing i want to do. It may be about 2 or 3 years before i get this off the ground.
money is the next part. i found a grant that give you 1600 a month for working for yourself and i figured id use that to create myself a job and also make enough revenue to help get it started.
ive been talking to my friend, Kevin, about making tea. I've thought about becoming his apprentice but then i thought, i know how to grow certain plants. I just need to learn about combinations. What's good and what's not good to mix together.
Also, thanks to some conversations ive had with Rachel and Jane - ive gotten back into doing art. I got me a digi camera and an ibook (my dream laptop). Ive been practicing basic drawing because its been officially 3 years since ive done any real art. so i have to keep practicing. Renee has been helpful with teaching me the wonders of digital cameras.
as you can see a lot really has been going on with me and this is just a smidgen. bare with me because im gonna be talking a bit more about a few things that are either bothering me or just got my interest. oh yeah..how hell did i forget about these fuckers -
CONGRATS TO NIGHTS LIKE THESE FOR GETTING SIGNED WITH VICTORY RECORDS!!!! GO SEE THESE BOYS TOMORROW NITE AT THE COMPLEX AND SHOW SOME M-TOWN LOVE!!!
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