So, as I had hoped would happen at the end of my first "Turtled in New Orleans" experience, I am going back for more. In one month, I will be heading back to the 7th Ward to work with Pastor Bruce and others in the HIV/AIDS testing and outreach center. If you read the blog during my first trip, you will remember that I spent some time getting familiar with the HIV/AIDS program and sat in on a few tests. While this was partially overwhelming and a good learning experience, I left New Orleans feeling as though that was a stone that had only partially been turned over, like I had only seen the tip of the iceberg. With this in mind, I returned home and had a lot of time to think about and talk with my supervisor and our field coordinator at school about going back again this fall to work specifically with the HIV/AIDS program. As I noted in a previous post, the city of New Orleans is ranked among the top 5 highest infected cities in the country for HIV/AIDS. In addition to this, there is still a huge social stigma attached to a virus that people are uneducated about and do not understand. I have spent some time this fall trying to figure out if I can handle another week of being really stretched and have come to the conclusion that, not only can I handle it, but that I really need to go.
Now, it is just time to prepare myself as best as I can for whatever might happen when I get there. I went last week to a training offered by the Southern Tier AIDS Program and it was definitely time well spent. In addition to learning how to conduct the HIV tests and practicing that skill, we also spent time talking about the emotional side of a positive test result and how to be with people as they work through it. While I know that won't be easy, I can't shake the feeling that it's something I have to do.
After the training, I had a good talk with one of the workers there who was really supportive and excited about what I shared with her about the New Orleans program. She gave me piles of training manuals that I have been reading ever since, a load of brochures about all kinds of things, and offered more if I needed them. I explained to her that I was really appreciative of that because my knowledge of HIV/AIDS, drug use, and STD's ends at about a half-day lecture in health class. We got talking about college and when I mentioned to her that part of my unfamiliarity with all of this was due to my Christian college bubble experience, she shared with me that she is also a Jesus lover and said "I think if Jesus were on the earth today, he would be right here." So, if I needed any more of a sense of call to do what I'm about to do in a few weeks, that was it. Now, I am going to spend the next few weeks reading books and watching movies (which, if you have suggestions PLEASE share them) that will help make all of the factual information in the manuals become more personal so that I am better able to serve while I am there.
I hope you will all continue reading in the next few weeks and particularly when I am there (October 9th-16th) so that together we can keep learning about a world very different from our own, but full of people not terribly different from ourselves.
