geminigirl | An HIV related emotional roller coaster

A lot of my life focuses on HIV. Some days that's harder than others. Today it's been a roller coaster ride.

Today I've been angry about HIV...

Angry because I should get another HIV test. (And sure, this is preventable, and my risk is pretty minimal, but I'd be lying if I said none.

Angry because I've written two comments today about people getting HIV tests. Which makes me crazy for no known reason...

Angry because people I love and care about are sick. Which just plain sucks.

and because sometimes, my job makes me crazy.

At the same time, sometime I question the legitimacy of my anger. Which is probably silly, but it's hard not to.

And then, I read my friends page and saw

rivka's post...where she pointed out this page which was funny and made me laugh. And brightened my mood considerably.

It's a roller coaster...some days are harder than others. Especially with an emotionally charged issue like the one I work with. It's good to be reminded to laugh.

But somedays, I wish I could be out of a job.

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OK - now you'll have to tell me exactly what you do, and how HIV prevention fits in . Coz I'm very active in the local, provincial and federal AIDS communities too and I do prevention work - of sorts - as a public speaker. So maybe we have more in common than I thought.

PS I'm really glad I put you on my friends list.

She is awesome, isn't she?

You are so totally making me blush.

And it's no fair cause I'm a redhead and it's extra easy.

I'm a youth prevention specialist with Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry which, despite having "ministry" in it's name is not affiliated with any particular faith.

What that means is that I run a program called "Rap It Up"-a six session intensive intervention (psychoeducational group stuff) for high risk youth, dealing with HIV, STDs, Substance Abuse, Decision Making and Negotiation Skills. Or, the quick and dirty? I talk about sex and drugs with teenagers, but not rock and roll because you can't get AIDS from rock and roll.

I also work with a peer education program, to recruit, train and supervise peer educators.

And I do HIV testing and counseling.

Sometime, probably when I'm melancholy, I'll get around to writing a post about how and why I do this work. I'll add it to the memories, too.

OK - I kinda guessed that was your line of work, so thanks for filling in the gaps.

It would be interesting to hear how and why you do this kind of work, coz it sure does take special people to do it. And sounds to me like you're special.

You can blush now!

I wish I knew where you people got these crazy ideas....

http://www.livejournal.com/talkpost.bml?journal=geminigirl&itemid=127158

written especially for you.

An HIV related emotional roller coaster

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