March 27, 2012
Birmingham
Today we began our second day with AIDS Alabama. We drove to the Civil Rights Institute and met up with some clients to explore the museum. The program is called the PALs program and involved us interacting some with clients from AIDS Alabama. There were a few women and one very precious and energetic little girl. She danced for us initially and then commented on the crack in the bench. Shea asked her if she would catch her or laugh at her if she fell, to which she responded "I would LAUGH at her!"
The Civil Rights Institute was a great experience. There were some older individuals who went through with us and we thought it was very moving to see their reactions. We assume that some of them had actually lived through that time frame, perhaps in Birmingham itself. Right next door to the Institute was the 16th St Baptist Church, which is infamous for the bombing on it during the 1960s that killed 4 little girls. At the very end, there was also an exhibit that demonstrated current social justice topics and civil rights offenses to remind us that these are current topics. There was a display of a KKK robe with a cross behind it with a description saying that it had been burned in front of an interracial couple's house in 1990. These are very relevant and current topics in our society. In fact, as we left the Civil Rights Institute, there was a demonstration by the NAACP regarding the case of Trayvon Martin. It was a very touching experience and again reminded us that we're still fighting these prejudices even today.
One of the clients kept talking about how moved she was as she reflected back on her family's history. She kept commenting about her ancestors and the struggles she knew they had to have gone through. She is very thankful today that they fought for her so long ago.
Afterward, we traveled to the Railroad Park again for our delicious sack lunches. We unfortunately made it through another scrumptious bag of Sun Chips and Lays. We're eating food like crazy, but that's okay. We'll just call it brain fuel!
Next we headed to the 1917 Clinic next to the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It is world-renowned institute that provides not only medical services of all kinds to HIV+ individuals but also conducts some top-of-the-line research. In fact, they created 7 of the anti-HIV drugs on the market currently. It originally received its name from the address at which the building resided as a way to disguise it and protect it from the stigma associated with HIV. Even as the building moved, they kept the name.
We chatted with Kelly Ross-Davis who was the Education Director for the Clinic, Keiko, who is an intern for the SHAPE (Sexual Health Awareness by Peer Education) program at UAB, and one of the nurse practitioners that doubled as a researcher for the clinic. We learned that their SHAPE program is very similar to ours, except they have much stronger emphasis on HIV/AIDS than our program, though they both attempt to promote safe sexual activities.
We chatted quite a bit about their program. We learned that only 20% of individuals that have started with the clinic are able to comply with the clinic's guidelines and drug regimen in order to have their viral load at an undetectable level. They're currently treating 2000 patients yet receive 5 to 10 new patients every single week. 67% of their clients are at an undetectable level of HIV viral load.
Our service came in when we were able to help them assemble some safer sex packets. These consisted of a regular condom, a flavored condom, the 12 steps to appropriately use a condom, and the information for the clinic. Unfortunately, we couldn't do this too long because they ran out of supplies due to our fast and efficient assembly line!
Afterward, we headed home and tied up the wiffle ball series. We had to make another quick (and hopefully final!) trip to Walmart. We picked up some pizza along the way for a wonderful movie night at home. We watched "An American Tail" and enjoyed our pizza. Father Paul stopped by and said that, "If you're missing some pizza, it's because I stole it and it's in my stomach!" We love having him stop by and chat with us!
We're excited for another day of service tomorrow with Birmingham AIDS Outreach!
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