World AIDS Day in P.A. aims to silence stigma

“It was quite a shock to me. I didn’t really have any emotion right away,” she said.

Soon, she began doing research on the disease, and realized she had to be positive in order to get through it.

“As time went on, I did my healing. I dealt with the issues I needed to deal with, including addictions and homelessness and being on the streets,” Charles said. “I got past all that, because I made up my mind that I wanted better for my life and my children.

“As much as I may think that I have it bad, there’s always somebody else who has it worse.”

In recent years, her diagnosis has been undetectable because of the healthy lifestyle and medication regime she embarked on.

“The important thing for me is just to look after myself. To be safe and clean and to keep myself in a good, positive place,” said Charles.

Now, she works at Access Place as a peer mentor.

“It’s good to help support people who are in the same situation as I am. It makes me stronger,” she said.

Possibly the worst part of the disease, according to Charles, is getting over the fear—not just of death, but of the stigma and judgement.

“I was strong enough, I wasn’t ashamed,” said Charles. “I came to the point where it didn’t bother me. I wasn’t ashamed to tell my story and let people know.”

Since her diagnosis, Charles gave birth to a now two-and-a-half-year-old son. Doctors assured her it would be fine, and it was. A small percentage of mothers pass on the disease to their children, less than one per cent when they follow medical guidelines.

Charles said new medication, information, studies and testing have all changed the landscape of the disease.

Charles had to wait two weeks for rapid HIV testing, which she says is a huge step forward.

The UN is setting out to eradicate the disease by 2030, and Charles said she hopes they can, although she thinks it’s up to everybody.

“They have to come together and make the right choices and know to be safe and to get tested,” she said.

Tony Depadua has researched the disease heavily as part of his university dissertation, but more than that, he felt pulled to participate to be with those touched by the disease.

“I wanted to show my support for people who have passed away from HIV and are living with HIV,” he said.

Depadua became familiar with the disease at an early age when his childhood best friend lost his brother to it. The family didn’t speak of it much.

“I remember feeling especially bad, thinking this was my best friend who didn’t want to share with his best friend how his brother was doing,” said Depadua. “I knew early on that this was a disease that really silenced people a lot.”

Although he said society has come a long way since then, he hopes that people will open their minds even more.

“People’s attitudes are generally a lot better when it comes to HIV, but there’s still a lot of work that needs to be done in this area and a lot of attitudes still need to change.”

Dec. 1 also kicks off Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week in Canada.

asoloducha@panow.com

On Twitter: @alex_soloducha

by Alex Soloducha

World AIDS Day in P.A. aims to silence stigma

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