11-4-07

My name is Rondoe - HIV/AIDS Client Advocate/Capacity Building Assistance Facilitator and HIV/AIDS Trainer in Detroit, MI.  I have worked in HIV/AIDS for 16 yrs. now. 

1.  Is oral sex safe?  The doctor on the show said all the right things.  That part of the show was excellent.  The host asked those around her are they likely to use condom when having oral sex?  not likely as a whole people (all people) are not likely to use condoms during oral sex due to the condom itself.  Putting a piece of plastic on the tool and a person putting their mouths on it, isn't appealing.  Not even when you talk about risk of HIV and STD's.  When a condom is manufactured that has some taste appeal to it, then it might be considered, even flavored lube is not appealing to taste.  And considering STD's are treatable and HIV is harder to get through oral sex it doesn't have a high enough risk factor to cause real concerns in people. How many people got HIV from oral sex?  How many people got an STD and its treated and gone...That’s a fact...

2.  In the second segment you had one of Detroit’s own brothers Martinez did a great job in sharing his story with the audience, as well as Ms. Sherry (?).  Mr. Martinez…Rondoe gives you much love and prop’s as you go out and do your thing on a National level.  Save some room for me homey…

3.  The third segment the doctor did a good job of describing the HIV Rapid Test to the audience.  The swab in the mouth and results in 20 mins.  He just didn’t say that the test give you tentative results, to know for sure the individual would still have to do a conventional (regular swab) HIV test to confirm wheatear they have HIV or not.  That’s important.

4.  In the hotel segment the brother was talking about getting his test and it being so hard to wait and worry about what the results are going to be.  Getting Tested is good, knowing you status is better, the counseling that goes into knowing your status is half the battle.  We never want to leave people with the impression that once they’ve received good news in regards to testing its time to go back to what made them test in the first place.  Wrong situations – multi sex partners – unprotected sex – drugs and sex.  Once a persons gets a negative diagnosis they should be discussing with their counselor how to stay negative and start working in the direction of staying that way. 

5. Its important to state lobbing to go back to some of the old methods done to reach communities such as: 

Condom use period.  Abstinence is good but we still find the majority of individuals are engaging in unprotected sex and not being able to talk about and distribute condoms effective is hurting the HIV/AIDS/STD causes not helping them.

Sex education in schools with consent from the parents.  Some parents feel Sex education promotes sex, but it doesn’t if subjects are taught effectively.  It gives young adults an outlet to talk about situations that may come up in their lives that without proper education they wouldn’t know how to handle.  And Curiosity killed the cat, can anybody bring it back….nope…and sometime young adults are curious about sex and will experiment to see what its like...

Addressing stigma in the community in regards to HIV/AIDS and orientations.  Now that more faces are coming out with their status, there needs to be a show to let the world know about how to live with HIV, from those positive voices.  How people living with HIV are treated in the communities and by their families – the positive and the negative responses.  Dating, rejections, loss of family, church, friends, ostracized by society.   How do we over come these feelings and embrace our positive brothers and sisters…etc.

The show was totally good, but if you’re going to take the time to do shows like this, try to take that extra minute or 30 seconds to get everything out.  Leaving important facts out continues to dispel the myths that still have us educators working very hard to get people to understand the true facts vs. what they’ve been use to hearing for a long time.

Is it possible to get a DVD copy of the show – for educational purposes.  We’ve found in Detroit that using videos for education works in our communities because those whom are at greater risk don’t read and don’t utilize convention channels of communication but if they can see a video they identify with the messages conveyed and it’s a good opening to that much needed dialogue.  If so could you e-mail me with any details so that I may get a copy for my agency in Detroit?  And if you're ever in need of someone else to do an HIV/AIDS show, my bags are always on stand by and

Thanks BET for Puttin’ it down – on the real…

Rondoe

CHOW

Rondoe@chowlinks.org