HIV awareness and education was the theme of today's training. We watched an incredible short video from the site-"La pasion por la vida." The sections that we focused on today were women living with HIV. The women they interviewed varied in their ages, family size, and stories. They all shared the fact that they were living with HIV. They shared their fears. They also relayed what inspired them and enlivened them to be actively involved in their communities and families. One of the women was a woman in transition, the other women were all heterosexual. Some of them had children, even grandchildren. They had all been living with HIV from between 3 to 20 years. The promotores were particularly interested in this series. There were a lot of questions about how HIV was contracted. There was concern as to whether or not it could be passed to children. Stories were shared by the promotores with respect to friends that they personally knew whom were living with HIV or AIDS. Another topic that was talked about was responsibility. Miguel, one of the founders of Colectivo 41 emphasized again and again to the youth that it was their responsibility, my responsibility, his responsibility to protect oneself. He articulated that blaming someone else for contracting a disease of any kind was not the way in which to accept one's situation. To paraphrase his words, "When ever you are in the throes of passion, pull out that condom!! It's not just the male's responsibility, it's not just the females. Always be prepared. Always be responsible." If you do not/if I am not- you are to blame/ I am to blame- you are at risk/ I am at risk. It struck me how difficult it is to be responsible. I know that might sound incredibly naive or just dumb but really, how many times have you or someone you know been in a position where it's REALLY DIFFICULT to put reason and logic before passion and everything that goes under that umbrella (and around..and above!) Still, there are such terrible and dire consequences. Although many of us know that wearing a condom prevents the spread of HIV and other diseases, from the little I have gathered via conversations with counselors and even the promotores, this knowledge is not obvious or known to many, as in thousands. I thought I had an idea about how many people were being diagnosed with HIV but when statistics(and these numbers were in Mexico alone) flashed before us on the screen today, I was genuinely taken aback by just how many people are being diagnosed here in Mexico with HIV... daily. And of course, as Miguel talked about, those are just the people that have access and resources and support to get tested. Miguel had brought up in the interview that we did last week, how some of hundreds of people in the rural communities had to travel for hours just to get to a city that had clinics. "What are these people supposed to do, when it takes 8 hours to get to Mexico city for example, and 8 hours to get back. Then factor in cost, returning for results...what are they supposed to do?" What do we do? I know what I wanted to do.... I wanted to run to the nearest panadería and shove five empañadas and galletes into my mouth. It was either that or start crying (which happened anyway, ha!) right then and there. Emotion is not really my friend right now though...I mean it's there and I respect that but...it will only serve me if it can somehow be generated into a constructive tunnel, turned into benevolent energy and then unleashed... calmly. By all of that, I mean executing an idea into a positive action. Hmmmmmm, let's just keep showing up everyone, yes?