Birmingham - HIV/AIDS

Blog Entry 2
03/28/11
Hello,
The weather around Birmingham, so far, has been spectacular, yet disappointing. The temperature hung around the mid-60's today, but was cloudy throughout the entire day. Compared to Missouri, I would say we are quite fortunate to have such great weather (instead of snow!). Today was our first day at Aids Alabama, which was eye-opening to say the least. We arrived at the main office at 9 a.m. and started our volunteer orientation. Amanda Miller introduced us to the guidelines that we have to follow including, no scented fragrances due to some of the patients' weak immune systems and disclosure of patient information outside of the organization. We were then introduced to Patricia Todd, the first openly gay representative in the Alabama legislature. Once we signed our volunteer disclosure agreements, Arthur Wynn gave us an HIV 101 educational session. He says HIV and Aids are not just problems that correlate with poverty, but anyone! In fact, people with large sums of money tend to attract more people and have more partners, which place them at higher risk for contracting these diseases. After lunch, Amanda took us on a tour of the Agape and JASPER houses. These are transitional lodges for HIV victims with disabilities and previous drug addictions. After our time with Amanda at Aids Alabama and the touring of the housing, she showed us a local fair trade coffee shop called the Red Cat. The inside was decorated with print designs from a local designer, Amos Kennedy, and several flyers from local events, such as concerts. The signature coffee beverages were named after cats! From the Red Cat, we attempted to go to the Birmingham Jazz Hall of Fame, but it was closed. We proceeded to go to a shopping strip known as the Summit. The view was truly breath-taking. We closed the night off with some pasta con broccoli and home-made bread. Looking back on our day, we couldn't have seen more action on the volunteering front. We didn't volunteer as much as we would have liked, but tomorrow will hopefully hold a more productive day for us at Aids Alabama.