1021 10 13630 https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2703/2002_reACT-Believe_vol15no2.pdf 10d0c2c01a9e2ac044ec7dc4be58dc0b PDF Text Text Re-ACT Believe Volume 15 Issue 2 AIDS THUNDER BAY is Part Of The Answer Summer 2002 In late May, 1999, at a Board and Staff retreat, the idea came forward that ACTB needed a fresh look. It was suggested that we consider changing our logo. This simple suggestion launched what became The Image Project. It would last for the next three years and involve us in much more than a simple logo change, though that is one of the outcomes. INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Fundraising News 2 Fundraising continued 3 Education Update 4 Education continued 5 The Extra Mile—News from the Volunteer Department 6 Here and There 7 Parting glance 8 Have You Sent In Your Email Address? Our newsletter is now available on-line. Please send us your email address so we can let you know when the next issue comes out. Unless you notify us that you do not have an email address, the next issue will be your last hard copy of our newsletter. Please call or email us your address, send it to: actb@tbaytel.net The Image Project engaged partners in community research to find out what people in Thunder Bay knew about HIV/AIDS and about us. Those partners were Lakehead University, a research investigator from The CLEAR Unit at McMaster University in Hamilton, and McEachern Marketing. Together with a small army of volunteers, broad surveying was done of people living in Thunder Bay. The results showed us that, in general, people had correct information about the “basics” of HIV/AIDS, how it was transmitted and ways to prevent getting it. However, they were less aware of our agency and what we do. This information was provided in a report to our members at our Annual General Meeting in November, 2001. We then set out to improve on our image. We know we are an important source for HIV/AIDS information and services—and we wanted others to recognize that. We struck a small committee to develop possible names and suggestions for images that would make us easier to identify and remember. Options for names and possible logos were developed by McEachern Marketing and another round of consultations began. This process involved meetings of staff, our board, focus-group sessions with partners and other local health care professionals as well as two meetings “AIDS continues to pose with clients. These results were reported to our complex questions to our board of directors who made the final approval. community. AIDS The results you see on this newsletter. Thunder Bay is part of the answer.” Michael Sobota We wanted a name that was simple, clean easy to Executive Director understand and to find in the phone book. Though HIV is causal to AIDS, we knew that people identify AIDS as the term for what has become a global epidemic. We wanted the red ribbon to be part of our logo. The red ribbon has become the most immediately recognizable symbol in the struggle against AIDS. We chose AIDS Thunder Bay with an active red ribbon as our visual identity to lead us into the future in this work. We thank all of you who helped us during the past three years. We promise you more and better communications in the coming months to further assist you in knowing who we are and what we offer. AIDS continues to present complex questions to our community. AIDS Thunder Bay is part of the answer. �FUN-raising Events Cash Register Receipts We’ve had an incredible response to this new project. With your help we have collected close to $28,000 worth of receipts. Some of our members have placed envelopes at their workstations and are getting their co-workers to collect. This project runs with the calendar year so there is still time to collect more receipts. Just a reminder, the collection box is in our office lobby. Annual Silent Auction August to December Come & Get Lei-d! Just because summer is over doesn’t mean it’s time to stop having fun! Friday the 13th is our night at the Voo-Doo Lounge and the first 50 people in the door get leis! It’s a beach party! Get Wild & Funky… Dress in your summer duds one last time! Now’s your chance to show off that hard-earned tan as part of the Best Tan Contest. The winner will receive a rainbow beach towel! Runner-ups will get rainbow leis. There will also be other fun draws throughout the night. Friday, September 13th, 8:00 p.m.—2:00 p.m. Voodoo Lounge, 24 South Cumberland Street Cover Charge $3.00 At the Annual General Meeting in November it has become a tradition to hold a silent auction raising funds for the Emergency Financial Assistance Program. It has proven to be a great success each year with our attendees purchasing items for holiday gifts. Each year we receive a number of unique and wonderful donations that have included leather stockings, new books, pictures, prints, and movies! If you would like to donate something for the auction, please call Crystal at 345-1516 or drop it off at the office. Bowling Anyone? One strike! Two strikes! Three strikes in a row!! WOW! ...and you get a TURKEY?? That’s right! Now’s the time to begin thinking about our up-coming bowling tournament! We are thinking of planning a tournament in the new year and would love to hear from all of you. So, start practicing your stances and get those bowling balls all shined up, because there’s a turkey waiting for you! If you are interested in taking part in this fun-filled event or receiving information please call Crystal at 345-1516 or drop us a line at actb@tbaytel.net. Remember, the more people that sign up the betterRthe event! E - AC T B E L I E V E Page 2 R E - AC T B E L I E V E �Page 3 VOLUME 15, ISSUE 2 The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay has partnered with the Centre for Addictions & Mental Health and the Canadian Mental Health Association to create the first ever Visions & Light Film Festival. Held over October 4-6, 2002 the festival aims to Educate, Enlighten and Entertain about Mental Health, Addiction and HIV/AIDS, through the shared experience of provocative and celebratory films. For further Information about the Festival please call Margaret Frenette at 345-8110. IRIS (drama, Great Britain). An English philosopher and novelist struggles to cope with a hunger for experience. Embarking on numerous affairs with men and women, young Iris must cope with her elder’s Alzheimer’s Disease. (Kate Winslet, Judi Dench, Jim Broadbent) REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (drama, USA). The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island individuals are shattered when their addictions become stronger. At the centre is “an operatic performance by Ellen Burstyn” (Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail). PERFECT SON (drama, Canada) Two estranged brothers reach a reconciliation. Theo is a recovering drug addict and unpublished writer; his brother Ryan is a successful lawyer who is dying from AIDS. Colm Feore as Ryan is “the real strength of the movie” (Liam Lacey, The Globe and Mail). BEST IN SHOW (comedy, USA). The “tonic” for festivalgoers who may be wanting something light after emerging from troubling themes, this film recounts the story of a few eccentric dog-owners preparing their precious pure-bred pooches for a big show. (Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy) Ticket Prices: Gen. Admission - $7 NOSFA Members - $5 Four Pack - $15 Gold Passes - $30 Gala Reception - $10 (includes admission to IRIS) * Films among the ten to be screened are subject to availability Watch the Chronicle Journal for the festival guide and up-dates about the web site! AIDS Walk Sunday, September 22, 2002 Lakehead University, The Outpost (A reminder to use the Balmoral Street Entrance) Check-In: 12:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m Walk Starts: 2:00 p.m. Open Community Rhythm Circle by Sean Jesseau 12:30 pm - 1:30 p.m. 1st Prize: Trip for two on WestJet Airlines 2nd Prize: Hot tub rental - Hot Tub Express 3rd Prize: Gift package - Wabakimi Wild Waters Top Team: 2 hour Cruise for 12 with Sailing Thunder Bay Register Today! www.aidswalkcanada.org Call 345-1516 Special thanks to local sponsors: Grand Portage Lodge & Casino, Janzen’s Pharmacy, The Royal Bank , & WestJet Airlines. Media sponsors: The Chronicle Journal & Thunder Bay Post �EDUCATION UPDATE David Belrose - Education Coordinator Smart Choices Outreach Project and Evaluation (SCOPE) A new prevention project is underway at AIDS Thunder Bay. SCOPE is a three-year prevention project that will build on our previous outreach projects (Targeted Prevention Initiative and Substance Use Outreach Project). The project will target substance using men and women, primarily heterosexual, with a focus on marginalized populations (persons at risk). Based on our evaluation of the previous work, the project will incorporate peer outreach, a performance art outreach element, and a social marketing campaign. This project is funded by the AIDS Community Action Program, Health Canada for the three year period. We welcome Denise Olson as the SCOPE Outreach Worker who will coordinate the project. Denise has experience with a variety of community projects in Northwestern Ontario, and we look forward to her involvement with this project. What are the activities this project will undertake? A major component of this project will be the use of peers to conduct outreach in the community. By including a strong training element with the help of community partners, and recruiting new peers on an annual basis, we will develop a network of knowledgeable peers in the community. The performance art component is subject to modification annually, and may include production and presentation of a short video, development and presentation of a short theatre piece, or other elements based on consultations with the affected populations. The social marketing component will be developed in concert with our Injection Drug Use Outreach campaigns and may include transit ads, posters, bus shelter ads, radio ads, and other elements as appropriate. SCOPE NEWS From Denise Olson Thank you staff and volunteers for your patience and support during my first weeks as SCOPE coordinator. Indeed I feel very fortunate to work alongside such inspired and inspiring individuals. IRIS the Virus Our peer outreach group will soon be visiting local bars and is presently Condom developing two characters, Iris the HIV Virus & Condom Man, our very Man own super hero. I am thrilled to announce that I will be working with the second year film students at Confederation College on a video for the SCOPE program. Professor Dennis Austin states that this group of students is especially bright and innovative. This will be a wonderful journey with much fun and excitement. The SCOPE project will evolve and take shape and I am sure transform along the way, we may ruffle a few feathers, but then we will know we have caught someone’s attention. 11th Northwestern Ontario Regional HIV/AIDS Counselling Conference October 17th & 18th, 2002, Victoria Inn, Thunder Bay. Registration: $40.00 Fees waived for people living with HIV/AIDS. Registration Deadline: September 20th, 2002. For more information, please contact Daina Maslach, Counselling Conference Co-ordinator, at 345-1516. Funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, AIDS Bureau. Page 4 R E - AC T B E L I E V E �Page 5 VOLUME 15, ISSUE 2 CCORA Re-energized, Ready for Fall Advocacy Steering Committee Plans Upcoming Activities The Canadian Coalition of Organizations Responding to AIDS (CCORA) has re-launched its advocacy campaign to urge the government to substantially increase funding for the Canadian Strategy on HIV/AIDS (CSHA). This will remain the singular goal of CCORA’s efforts, until the federal government responds in an appropriate way to Canadians living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. CCORA’s new Steering Committee met in Toronto on Friday, August 9th to plan advocacy activities for the upcoming months. The outcome of the meeting was a five-month time line of activities that marks major events such as AIDS Walk Canada and AIDS Awareness Week, but also incorporates possible scenarios, such as a Fall mini-budget from the federal government. Advocacy around the Romanow Commission Final Report, the results of two upcoming studies and a meeting between the Health Minister and representatives from the Canadian AIDS Society (CAS), is also planned. Drawing from the strong mandate provided by its members at the Annual General Meeting held in Ottawa in late June, CAS has moved forward as the Secretariat for CCORA by initiating and hosting the first meeting of the volunteer Steering Committee. This committee was developed after a call for volunteers was extended to all CCORA members. It will be responsible for planning advocacy activities and holding monthly teleconferences to evaluate the progress made. CAS will work closely with the Steering Committee and all other interested CCORA members to ensure that the government is hearing the message that current funding for HIV/AIDS is both inadequate and inappropriate. CCORA’s plan of action combines activities lead by CAS staff with ones that must be undertaken by the entire membership to have maximum impact. For example, the CSHA will be the primary focus of CAS’ message to Minister of Health, Anne McLellan when Board and staff representatives meet with her in September. However, the efforts of all CCORA members are needed to collect signatures on the Petition to Double the Strategy and meet with Members of Parliament. CCORA continues to be a collaborative effort on the part of a diverse number of HIV/AIDS stakeholders across the country. While different organizations can participate in a variety of ways, relative to their own time and resources, it is important the CCORA is as broad a coalition as possible, so that the government can see what a powerful constituency is represented. Please consider adding your organization’s name to the more than fifty groups demanding a better response from the government in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Contact Liz Scanlon, at lizs@cdnaids.ca for more information. A few parting words: Well, I just can’t leave the AIDS Committee, now AIDS Thunder Bay, without saying a few things. Foremost, I thank all of you who have been in my sphere for the last 12 plus years, for each of you has been important and meaningful. You have taught me so much that I’m ready to take on a bigger chunk of life. I take each of you in my heart with an enriched wisdom about life and relationships. The pictures and mementos that I have collected over the years will be carefully preserved in my photo album and shoe box so I can browse through them in those dreamy moments when I need a heart fix. When I began with ACT-B, I had no idea of the depth of learning and richness that was to come. Personally and professionally there have been many changes working within the HIV/AIDS community, locally and in a broader context. I am hoping for more positive changes in care and treatment of people who are living with this disease. As a society, there is still a long way to go to get rid of the stigmas and prejudice still prevalent two decades after AIDS emerged in North America. Life is precious, relationships are precious. Make each moment, each day count. I believe we are measured by our own actions. So, live life to the fullest with integrity and respect for yourselves and others. Thank you for the “opportunity”. I come from the city with a giant heart—I take that with me everywhere I journey. Be well —– Sheila �The Extra Mile News from the Volunteer Department Selly Pajamaki, Volunteer Coordinator Here’s what’s happening in the coming months: *AIDS Walk—Sept 22 *Opening Doors Conference—Oct 1718 *Visions & Lights Film Festival—Oct 4-6 *Tag Day—Nov 16 *AIDS Awareness Week—Nov 24-30 *World AIDS Day/ Seattle Coffee Day— Dec 1 If you would like to volunteer for any of these events, please call Selly at 345-1516. Thank you to all our volunteers! Page 6 Volunteer Activities It’s been a very busy summer with 2 Yard Sales, a Tag Day, a display at Summer in the Parks, a Car Wash, preparation for the upcoming AIDS Walk, the Bingo Volunteers Appreciation Event, Volunteer Orientation & AIDS 101, a drivers’ meeting, and all the regular volunteer happenings at AIDS Thunder Bay. This busyness will continue on into the fall with the AIDS Walk, the Visions & Lights Film Festival, the Opening Doors Counselling Conference, another Tag Day, the Annual General Meeting, AIDS Awareness Week and World AIDS Day. There will be volunteering opportunities as part of all of these events. If you’re interested in any, or all, of them, call Selly at 345-1516. Our second Yard Sale of the summer was another great success in spite of (or perhaps partly because of) the rain and windy conditions that day. Thank you to all our volunteers for helping to make this event fun and successful, we really appreciate your participation. We have openings for volunteers to staff our reception desk. This position is very important! Our receptionists are the first person seen when a visitor comes through our doors. We want you to be that smiling face. If you can’t take a permanent shift, don’t worry. How about training for this position and filling in where you can? Build your skills while spending time with us. No experience is necessary, we will train you. Regular shifts are 4 hours, morning or afternoon. If you would like to join the reception team, give Selly a call at 345-1516. We also have openings for volunteers at bingo, some shifts are only 2 1/2 hours. Bingos are held on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month beginning at 5 p.m. You can sign up for a regular shift or only work an occasional bingo. If you’d like to join a fun-loving group of people, give Selly a call . R E - AC T B E L I E V E �VOLUME 15, ISSUE 2 Page 7 Here and There... It’s Membership Time Again reACT-Believe Newsletter Is your membership up-to-date? This year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place in November. In order for you to vote at the meeting, your membership must be in good standing. Your application for membership has to be approved by the Board of Directors 30 days prior to the Annual Meeting. Therefore, you must become a member by the end of September to be eligible to vote. If you would like to become a member or renew your membership, please fill out the attached form and mail or fax it back to: AIDS Thunder Bay P.O. Box 24025 Thunder Bay, ON P7A 8A9 Phone #: 345-1516 Fax #: 345-2505 In order to cut production and mailing costs, we are now posting our newsletter online. It is in Adobe PDF format so it can be read online or printed out in hard copy. If you are now receiving our newsletter by snail mail and you have an email address, PLEASE send us your email address so we can add you to the email newsletter list. This will help reduce costs and allow us to keep producing the newsletter. Send it to actb@tbaytel.net Or, bring your completed form into the office at 217 S. Algoma St., Thunder Bay, Ontario About Anonymous HIV Testing in Thunder Bay Call 625-5981 or 624-2000 Name: ____________________________________ About Regular HIV Testing Call the Sexual Health Clinics 625-5976 or 624-2000 Address: __________________________________ __________________________________ Postal Code: _______________________________ Phone #: (Work)____________(Home)___________ When calling, would you prefer us to use discretion? Yes _____ No _____ Would you like to receive information by email? Yes _____ No _____ Basic membership $10.00 Supporting membership $25.00 I would also like to donate $_____ The opinions and medical information offered by “reACT-Believe” are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the staff and Board of Directors of AIDS Thunder Bay. Medical information offered should be used at your own discretion. Please consult your doctor. Please address any comments or concerns to: reACT-Believe P.O. Box 24025 RPO Downtown North Thunder Bay, ON P7A 8A9 Or, e-mail us at: actb@tbaytel.net For Information About AIDS or HIV Infection: Call the AIDS Hotline at 1-800-668-2437 About Superior Points: Call 624-2005, 625-8830 or 625-8831 About Counselling or Referrals Call AIDS Thunder Bay 345-1516 About HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Call Catie (Community AIDS Treatment Information Exchange) 1-800-263-1638 Service bilingue disponible ALL CALLS CONFIDENTIAL Monday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Tuesday to Thursday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Eastern Time) Friday & Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) The Network 1-800-263-1638 HIV/AIDS Treatment Information email: info@catie.ca catie internet: www.catie.ca Community AIDS Treatment Information Exchange Attention all clients, volunteers and visitors to the AIDS Thunder Bay office. We are a ‘scentfree’ building. Please do not wear colognes, perfumes, aftershave, or scented makeup or hairspray when visiting our premises. They have been known to cause allergic reactions for staff, clients and volunteers. �Parting Glance AIDS Thunder Bay would like to acknowledge the United Way of Thunder Bay for supporting our Emergency Financial Assistance Program. ATB applied for and received funding for this unique program through the United Way’s Community Response Grants. This is a wonderful community partnership that in turn will directly help people with HIV/AIDS and their families. Frequently Asked Questions About HIV/AIDS Question #2 Who can get HIV or AIDS? Anyone who has unprotected sex or shares needles could become infected with HIV. If you think that HIV/AIDS only affects gay men or injection drug users, you’re wrong. You are not protected from HIV because you are straight, or young, or a woman, or living in a rural area. You don’t get HIV or AIDS because of who you are, or where you live. It is what you do. The three main ways you can contract HIV and AIDS are: 1. Having unprotected sex (especially having vaginal or anal intercourse without a condom). 2. Sharing needles or other drug equipment. 3. Receiving the virus as a baby. If a pregnant woman has HIV, her baby can get the virus during pregnancy, delivery, or breast feeding. In 1997, heterosexual sexual activity accounted for more than 20% of reported HIV-positive tests in Canada. Globally, heterosexual activity accounts for 75% of HIV infections. In Canada, 23% of all new HIV infections in 1996 were among women. Worldwide, 41% of all new HIV infections were among women. Young people in Canada are also increasingly being infected by HIV/AIDS. And HIV and AIDS are not just big-city problems. Many Canadians move back and forth between the city and the country to get jobs or go to school. Today, AIDS and HIV infection are found in every part of Canada. Anyone, anywhere who has unprotected sex or shares needles can become infected with HIV and develop AIDS. ——————————————————————————This is one of a series of fact sheets developed to answer frequently asked questions from clients of the Canadian HIV/ AIDS Clearinghouse in 1999. This material was originally produced for the Canadian Health Network AIDS Thunder Bay Advisory Council Richard Atkinson Fred Ball Gail Linklater Dr. Gordon Milne Karen O’Gorman Pat Piaskowski Diana Smith Richard Thompson Nicky Tittley Carl Triskle Rev. Don Uhryniw Kinna-Aweya Legal Clinic Director, Regional Public Health Laboratory Family Physician HIV Program Consultant ARF Infection Control, TB Regional Hospital Public Health Nurse, Thunder Bay District Health Unit Superior Points Harm Reduction Coordinator Infection Control/ Safety, St. Joseph’s Care Group ATB Board of Directors ATB Board of Directors AIDS Thunder Bay Board of Directors Sherry Britton Pam Delgaty Heather Graham Sarah Perreault Carl Triskle Carri-Anne Whidden Michael Croft Dennis Eeles Rob MacKay, President Ruth Racic Don Uhryniw Don Young AIDS Thunder Bay Staff Christa Alsch David Belrose Sheila Berry Stuart Boland Joanne Books Charlene Burford Lawrence Korhonen Daina Maslach Denise Olson Selly Pajamaki Crystal Porteous Michael Sobota Secretary Education Coordinator Support Services Coordinator IDU Outreach Worker Counselling Conference Coordinator Support Worker/Health Promoter Administration Coordinator Counselling Conference Coordinator SCOPE Coordinator Volunteer Coordinator Fundraising Coordinator Executive Director re-ACT-Believe Contributors Selly Pajamaki ATB staff & volunteers Editor AIDS Thunder Bay acknowledges and thanks our various funders: ¾ Ontario Ministry of Health - AIDS Bureau ¾ Health Promotion and Programs Branch, Ontario Region, Health Canada (ACAP) ¾ Ontario Trillium Foundation And all of the people involved in general fundraising and the support of many local businesses and individuals Page 8 R E - AC T B E L I E V E �A Word or Two … from the Health Promoter The Community Garden produce will continue to be distributed to clients. Unfortunately we planted just before the great rains of June and have now come to the conclusion that perhaps many of our seeds were washed away with the downpour. Lettuce and a few beets have been distributed to clients as of this writing. I would love to take credit for the garden's success; however, I've been very busy with office work and found very little time to play in the dirt. Dedicated volunteers, Heather Graham and her daughter, are the only reason we were able to provide fresh vegetables to people. Thank you beyond words. Mother's Cupboard Committee did not meet during the summer months. We will resume our one-hour bi-monthly meeting in September (10th at 12:00). Our shelves are rather bare currently. We need to find more effective ways of generating non-perishable food donations. Mother's Cupboard relies heavily on the generosity of the Thunder Bay community. At this point, there are three local churches that donate on a regular basis; without them, we would not have food to offer our clients and their families. I would like to acknowledge and send a huge thank you to Current River United, St. John's Anglican and First Presbyterian churches. Lakeview Presbyterian, Wesley United and First Church United have also given food from the heart. Various groups, organizations and individuals have supported Mother's Cupboard throughout the year; all is appreciated. If you would like to donate a can or box of something but not sure what we may need, give me a call or stop in at the office where you can pick-up a list of suggestions at the reception desk. If you have a spare lunch-hour and are interested in helping oversee the emergency food bank (Mother's Cupboard), contact Charlene. • • Things that make me go hmmmm… • Does your favourite colour really say something about your personality and outlook on life? • Why do we humans have such a hard time applying the advice / wisdom we give others to ourselves (re: healthy mind, body, spirit)? • (Borrowed from a co-worker) Is it the mind or body that dictates complacency? Same question applied to fatigue. Is it possible to be enchanted many times throughout an ordinary day? When's the last time you looked at a moment from the perspective? Why don't more people call others on their negativity and prejudices? Charlene Burford reACT-Believe Insert 1 �Two Strong Women — Transitions Sheila Berry came to our agency in the summer of 1990. She left a successful career in the business world to become our third Volunteer Coordinator. When Sheila came to us, she brought a vast network of connections into the community — and she used those connections over the next few years to expand and strengthen our volunteer base. After preparing herself through advanced education and on-the-job experience, in 1994 Sheila became our Support Services Coordinator. It was a position that had high turnover. Sheila brought stability and maturity to the department. She built internal procedures, assisted in hiring qualified and diverse Support staff and expanded services. Over her 8-year leadership, she built the department into one of the strongest of any AIDS service organization in the province. During Sheila’s 12-year history with us, she also helped develop and build the agency. She made significant and generous contributions to our annual fundraising efforts — purchasing art at our early Art Auctions, fielding a team (the Hungry Coyotes) for our annual AIDS Walk, performing in our Healthy Sex Cabarets. Throughout her time with us, she remained focused on service to our clients. She readily embraced the shifting demographics of the epidemic, as HIV shifted largely into being a heterosexual, drug-influenced disease in our region. She grew, expanded and blossomed as a person, entering new relationships and expanding and deepening her circle of friendships. For all of this and more, we salute Sheila and wish her the very best as she moves into new areas of adventure and excitement in her life. Gail Linklater becomes our new Support Services Coordinator on September 3, 2002. While new in the position, Gail is not new to our agency. Gail came to us as a volunteer when Sheila was our Volunteer Coordinator. Gail made significant contributions in committee work, including help in shaping our Emergency Financial Assistance program. She was elected to our Board of Directors where she served for six years — two of those as Board President. Her decision to return to school and new professional work took Gail away from our Board, but she shifted her skills to our Advisory Council where she has remained to the present time. In addition to her involvement with HIV/AIDS, Gail brings to our agency her accumulated skills as a teacher, leadership at Bereaved Families of Ontario, and her most recent experience as Program Coordinator/Program Manager at Crossroad’s Women’s Residence. Fare thee well — and welcome. HEPATITIS C — IT’S SERIOUS. YOU CAN HAVE IT AND NOT KNOW IT. Get the facts. For more information, visit www.healthcanada.ca/hepc reACT-Believe Insert 2 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource David Belrose fonds Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource reACT-Believe Vol 15 Issue 2 - Summer 2002 Subject The topic of the resource Organizations Health and Medicine Description An account of the resource Newsletter of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2704/2002_reACT-Believe_vol15no3.pdf 7b8731555c3e7e0d62f73c5e9779be37 PDF Text Text Volume 15 Issue 3 Fall 2002 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Fundraising News 2 Canadian HIV/AIDS Awareness Week - November 24 to December 1, 2002 Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Day and World AIDS Day - December 1, 2002 Fundraising continued 3 Education Update 4 News from Support Services 5 The Extra Mile— News from the Volunteer Dept. 6 Here and There 7 Parting glance 8 Have You Sent In Your Email Address? Our newsletter is now available on-line. Please send us your email address so we can let you know when the next issue comes out. Unless you notify us that you do not have an email address, this HIV/AIDS is still a crisis Stigma and discrimination are greatest barriers to preventing more infections If you think that recent medical advances have made HIV/AIDS a chronic disease – think again. HIV/AIDS remains a crisis in Canada and around the world, according to public health officials. Recent statistics from Health Canada tell the story: • More Canadians are living with the disease. At the close of 1999, an estimated 49,800 Canadians were living with HIV/AIDS, a 24% increase from 1996. • New infections are not declining. An estimated 4,200 Canadians became infected in 1999 – the same number as in 1996. • Most alarming, an estimated 15,000 Canadians don’t even know they have HIV. So what is fueling this continuing health crisis? AIDS activists and public health professionals explain that health and well-being are nearly impossible when other fundamental rights are violated. People’s attitudes – fear of disease, stigmatizing and blaming others for the epidemic, discriminating against those they know or suspect to have HIV – make fertile ground for new cases of HIV. Stigmatization leads to discrimination. In the early days of the epidemic, acts of discrimination were obvious: children living with HIV/AIDS were refused entry to schools, adults living with HIV/AIDS were denied service in restaurants. Today, discrimination is more subtle. Where at one time an individual was fired for an HIV-positive status, now he/she may be laid off or pressured to the point of quitting. or email us your address, send it to: Acts of discrimination are violations of human rights. The people and communities most affected by HIV/AIDS are those with limited access to fundamental social and economic rights. Denying the rights of people with HIV/AIDS limits their ability to care for themselves and their families. Denying the rights of healthy individuals makes them more vulnerable to infection. Stigma and discrimination can stop people from seeking information about HIV or requesting an HIV test. actb@tbaytel.net Continued on page 4... issue will be your last hard copy of our newsletter. Please call �FUN-raising Events November to May AIDS Thunder Bay is “striking” a bowling tournament, the first ever annual event of its kind for us. This thundering event is coming late February at Mario’s Bowl on Memorial Avenue. Details of the Event 5 & 10 pin bowling Date and Time T.B.A. Three easy ways of signing up: Phone the office: 345-1516 Email us: actb@tbaytel.net Visit the office: 217 South Algoma Form a team! Limited lanes available, reserve one now. Contact Lawrence at 345-1516 extension 17. CAUTION: It is possible that moments at this event may make you laugh uncontrollably, especially if members of your team bowl using the “granny shot!” Rocky Horror Show Benefit A Great Success! In February, AIDS Thunder Bay was very fortunate to work with Rob MacLeod, owner of Northern Knights Feast/Capitol Theatre. He was producing the play The Rocky Horror Show and was open to having a benefit performance for the agency. Attendance was high, and so was the mood. The show was remounted in October. Once again AIDS Thunder Bay was fortunate to partner with Rob for a second benefit performance. The Capitol Theatre has been operating for almost two years under Rob MacLeod. We encourage everyone to take the opportunity to see one of the productions, if you have not done so already. Among the next shows are Nunsense II and Shirley Valentine. In the midst of developing his business and productions, Rob has given generously to AIDS Thunder Bay. We are very grateful to have worked with Rob and his cast and would welcome the opportunity for future partnerships. Page 2 FRONT LINE �Page 3 VOLUME 15, ISSUE 3 Get linked to ATB What do the receipts actually mean? As mentioned in the previous newsletter, ATB is collecting A&P cash register receipts. We are enrolled in the A&P Receipt Program that runs with the calendar year. For every $450.00 in receipts collected, ATB will receive $1.00. To date well over $30,000.00 in receipts has been collected and will be submitted by December. In the new year, we will enroll in the program again and the process starts all over. Just a reminder, the collection box is in our office lobby. AIDS Walk Thank you to the many individuals, teams, and dogs that spent numerous hours collecting pledges. Your dedication is greatly appreciated. Special thanks to the many community partners that sponsored the Walk and to those who donated prizes: Julie Buckingham The Outpost Staff Get first hand information about special events through AIDS Thunder Bay’s email tree. The newsletter is produced only three times a year and often when special events “pop-up” we would like to share the information as quickly as possible. Emailing is one of the quickest and best ways of keeping in touch with our members and friends. How can you join? Simply send an email to the agency, actb@tbaytel.net listing your name and email address. We would like to keep in touch with as many people as possible, so pass the word along to family and friends. We raised over $16,000.00 Top Walkers Selly Pajamaki Carl Triskle Dennis Eeles Top Pledge Collecting Team First Church United Bill Malcolm Sean Jesseau Janzen's Pharmacy The Royal Bank Grand Portage Lodge & Casino The Chronicle Journal Thunder Bay Post Hot 105 Radio WestJet Airlines Sailing Thunder Bay Hot Tub Express and the numerous local business who donated gift certificates and other prizes The Walk...Caught in Action! �Education Update AIDS Awareness Week continued... So what can be done? Ensuring legal and policy protection for people infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS is essential if AIDS is to be stopped. But often, before legal and policy reforms can be achieved, efforts must be made to increase public education, and support for the issues behind the law. The Canadian HIV/AIDS Clearinghouse is supplying resources to support community-based activities from coast to coast For more information, check out the campaign web site at www.clearinghouse.cpha.ca. Consider what you and your family, friends and co-workers can do to be part of the solution Contact AIDS Thunder Bay for further information, for workshops, or for support. Thunder Bay Events (as of November 4) Ongoing - Transit Shelter and Bathroom Ads - campaign from mid-November Saturday, November 23 - AIDS Thunder Bay Volunteer Orientation Wednesday, November 27 - AIDS Thunder Bay Annual General Meeting - Speaker Laurie Edmiston, Executive Director , Toronto PWA Foundation -plus silent auction Thursday, November 28 - SCOPE Safer Sex Play, The Outpost, Lakehead University Speeding up and slowing down at AIDS Thunder Bay Michael Sobota, Executive Director AIDS Thunder Bay has moved through substantial activity - and change - during past months. Fall always quickens the pace in our work, with our annual AIDS Walk, our annual Counselling Conference and this year, our new partnership in the film festival Visions & Light. As I write this, we are rapidly approaching our 17th Annual General Meeting, AIDS Awareness Week, World AIDS Day, new Board orientation and those holidays that coincide with the end of the calendar year. I am pleased that AIDS Thunder Bay moves through these events and activities with professionalism and high standards largest agency of its kind in the country. Bringing Laurie to our AGM is a rare opportunity to hear her stories from that agency, and look through a window into the challenges facing ASO's in the near future. Another attraction at our AGM is the growing popularity of our "silent auction". The breadth and diversity of items for sale are extraordinary. We have heard some members say our AGM is a great place to start your holiday shopping (or complete it if you are one of those overly organized types). Please come to the AGM. And as we approach the year end, let us be kind to one another. Pause in your usual pace and observe. Rest and restore energy. Be well. I want to urge you to attend this year's Annual General Meeting on Wednesday, November 27. Our guest speaker is Laurie Edmiston, the Executive Director of Toronto PWA Foundation. The Foundation, serving some 4,000 clients, is the Page 4 FRONT LINE �Page 5 VOLUM E 15, ISSUE 3 Support Services Gail Linklater, Support Services Coordinator Changing counsellors is a difficult thing. It can involve loss and grief because a good relationship has come to an end. It can involve anxiety and fear: Who is this new person? Will I like her? Will she like me? It can involve a sense of betrayal and fear of trusting again. It can involve risking and taking chances. Changing counsellors is also an opportunity. It gives the chance to review and rethink personal history, which can provide clarification and insight. There is the opportunity for fresh listening and a new response. When we give ourselves time to feel the feelings and think the thoughts we are honouring ourselves. Believe it or not, it makes the transition simpler; not easier, but simpler. My name is Gail and I’m the new Support Services Coordinator at AIDS Thunder Bay. The first two months have been full of learning and meeting people. I will be working with the individuals and families that had been working with Sheila (big shoes to fill.) Some people have been in to meet me. For those of you who used to work with Sheila and haven’t heard from me yet I will be trying to contact you over the next couple weeks. Feel free to call me. I’m glad to be here. I look forward to being with you. SECRET SANTA IS COMING TO TOWN Christmas is fast approaching and we are once again in search of “Secret Santa.” Providing something special for Christmas has become an ongoing tradition. We invite you to participate. So, here’s how it works. When you don the role of a Secret Santa you will provide either a large stocking for an individual, or a basket for a family. We will provide as much specific information about the recipient as possible, e.g., gender, age, and interests, to make each basket/stocking meaningful. Should your schedule not permit actual shopping, we will gladly accept a donation and complete your “Santa” commitment. As well, smaller donations may be made to buy the many extras, e.g., turkeys, hams, fruit. If you are making a monetary donation for this project, please specify that the donation is designated for “Secret Santa.” Baskets and stockings are needed by December 17th for Christmas delivery. For more information about becoming a “Secret Santa,” please contact Marge at 622–0462 or Gail at 345-1516. Thank you for your generous participation. Yours truly, Santa’s elves �The Extra Mile - News from the Volunteer Department Selly Pajamaki, Volunteer Coordinator Volunteer Activities for all the hours you have given us this past year-we truly appreciate your gift Here’s what’s happening in the coming months: *Volunteer Orientation Nov. 23 *Annual General Meeting Nov. 27 *AIDS Awareness Week—Nov 24-30 *World AIDS Day Dec 1 *Bowling Tournament in late February Fall has been very busy with the annual AIDS Walk, the Visions and Light Film Festival, the Opening Doors Counselling Conference, and Tag Day. Volunteers contributed to the success of all of these events. Now we have a brief break in the ‘busy-ness’, a time to catch our breath and rebuild our energies for the winter and spring activities. We will wind up the fall with AIDS Awareness Week, our Annual General Meeting and World AIDS Day. Start your Christmas shopping at our AGM, the variety of items available is amazing! And, keep in mind the bowling tournament coming up in February. Form a team now and start practicing! The holiday season is nearly here and at this time we would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation to all the volunteers who have been involved with AIDS Thunder Bay over the past year. You are a vital part of our agency, we could not do what we do without your help. Have a safe and joyful holiday season! WE WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY, RESTFUL HOLIDAY Page 6 FRONT LINE �Page 7 VOLUME 15, ISSUE 3 Here and There... Guest Speaker for AIDS Thunder Bay 2002 Annual General Meeting AIDS THUNDER BAY’S 17th Annual General Meeting Laurie Edmiston is the Executive Director of The Toronto People With AIDS Foundation. The TPWA Foundation has been helping men, women and children living with HIV/AIDS since 1987. As a community-based, non-profit, charitable organization in the central core of Toronto, it serves over 4,000 clients, making it Canada’s largest direct support service organization of its kind. Wednesday, November 27, 2002 Port Arthur Ukrainian Prosvita Cultural Centre A fully accessible public facility 540 South High Street (off Memorial Ave at Third Ave.) Ms. Edmiston will speak on the challenges of leading such a large organization dedicated to supporting people living with HIV/AIDS. During Ms. Edmiston’s tenure as Executive Director, she participated in the Foundation’s pioneering work on the issue of the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, it’s launch of the Friends For Life Bike Rally—the only one of its kind in Canada—and the Foundation’s successful ability to increase its Financial Assistance Program by 120% over three years. Ms. Edmiston welcomes questions following her talk. HEPATITIS C — IT’S SERIOUS. YOU CAN HAVE IT AND NOT KNOW IT. Get the facts. For more information, visit www.healthcanada.ca/hepc The opinions and medical information offered by “Front Line” are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the staff and Board of Directors of AIDS Thunder Bay. Medical information offered should be used at your own discretion. Please consult your doctor. Please address any comments or concerns to: Front Line P.O. Box 24025 Thunder Bay, ON P7A 8A9 Or, e-mail us at: actb@tbaytel.net Visit us on the internet at: www.aidsthunderbay.org DOORS OPEN AT 6:30 P.M. MEETING STARTS AT 7:00 P.M. To conduct the annual business of the agency and to elect the 2002/2003 Board of Directors Silent Auction—Cash, cheques, credit cards accepted For Information About AIDS or HIV Infection: Call the AIDS Hotline at 1-800-668-2437 About Superior Points: Call 624-2005, 625-8830 or 625-8831 About Anonymous HIV Testing in Thunder Bay Call 625-5981 or 624-2000 About Regular HIV Testing Call the Sexual Health Clinics 625-5976 or 624-2000 About Counselling or Referrals Call AIDS Thunder Bay 345-1516 About HIV/AIDS Treatment Information Call Catie (Community AIDS Treatment Information Exchange) 1-800-263-1638 Service bilingue disponible ALL CALLS CONFIDENTIAL Monday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Tuesday to Thursday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Eastern Time) Friday & Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) The Network 1-800-263-1638 HIV/AIDS Treatment Information email: info@catie.ca catie internet: www.catie.ca Community AIDS Treatment Information Exchange �Parting Glance AIDS Thunder Bay would like to acknowledge the United Way of Thunder Bay for supporting our Emergency Financial Assistance Program. ATB applied for and received funding for this unique program through the United Way’s Community Response Grants. This is a wonderful community partnership that in turn will directly help people with HIV/AIDS and their families. Frequently Asked Questions About HIV/AIDS Question #3 How do you get HIV? (or not get HIV?) HIV infection is passed only through semen, vaginal fluids, breast milk and blood. The main risks are having unprotected sex and sharing needles or equipment for injecting drugs. You CAN get infected if you: • have vaginal or anal intercourse without a condom (this is very high risk) • have oral sex without protection during which semen or vaginal fluid or menstrual blood enters open cuts or sores in your mouth (lower risk). You CAN also get infected if you share: • needles or any equipment for injecting drugs such as cocaine, heroin or steroids (invisible amounts of blood are transmitted through sharing needles, syringes, water for diluting, cotton filters, and straws or pipes) • unsterilized needles for tattooing, skin piercing or acupuncture • sex toys, razors or toothbrushes. Other ways you can get infected are: • during pregnancy, at birth or through breast feeding—if the mother is HIV positive the virus may be passed to the baby • if you received a blood transfusion or blood product in Canada before 1986 (since then, blood screening has made the risk of infection very low). You CANNOT get infected by: • casual, everyday contact • shaking hands, hugging, kissing • coughs, sneezes • giving blood • swimming pools, toilet seats • sharing eating utensils, water fountains • mosquitoes, other insects, animals You also cannot get infected if you and your partner do not have HIV, and you only have unprotected sex with each other. You both have to get tested to know for sure that you do not have HIV. ———————————————————————————— This is one of a series of fact sheets developed to answer frequently asked questions from clients of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Clearinghouse in 1999. This material was originally produced for the Canadian Health Network Page 8 AIDS Thunder Bay Advisory Council Richard Atkinson Fred Ball Gail Linklater Dr. Gordon Milne Karen O’Gorman Pat Piaskowski Diana Smith Richard Thompson Nicky Tittley Carl Triskle Rev. Don Uhryniw Kinna-Aweya Legal Clinic Director, Regional Public Health Laboratory Family Physician HIV Program Consultant ARF Infection Control, TB Regional Hospital Public Health Nurse, Thunder Bay District Health Unit Superior Points Harm Reduction Coordinator Infection Control/ Safety, St. Joseph’s Care Group ATB Board of Directors ATB Board of Directors AIDS Thunder Bay Board of Directors Sherry Britton Pam Delgaty Heather Graham Sarah Perreault Carl Triskle Carri-Anne Whidden Michael Croft Dennis Eeles Rob MacKay, President Ruth Racic Don Uhryniw Don Young AIDS Thunder Bay Staff Christa Alsch David Belrose Stuart Boland Charlene Burford Lawrence Korhonen Gail Linklater Daina Maslach Denise Olson Selly Pajamaki Crystal Porteous Michael Sobota Secretary Education Coordinator IDU Outreach Worker Support Worker/Health Promoter Administration Coordinator Support Services Coordinator Counselling Conference Coordinator SCOPE Coordinator Volunteer Coordinator Fundraising Coordinator Executive Director re-ACT-Believe Contributors Selly Pajamaki ATB staff & volunteers Editor AIDS Thunder Bay acknowledges and thanks our various funders: ¾ Ontario Ministry of Health - AIDS Bureau ¾ Health Promotion and Programs Branch, Ontario Region, Health Canada (ACAP) ¾ Ontario Trillium Foundation And all of the people involved in general fundraising and the support of many local businesses and individuals FRONT LINE �A Word or Two … from the Health Promoter Community Garden: Fall is here, snow has flown and only a weeny bit in our garden grown. I'm referring to this year's Community Garden Project. Second year running proved more difficult than the first; the location seems to be an obstacle to volunteers. We did manage to distribute a bit of romaine lettuce, some carrots and a few squash. Mother's Cupboard: We are always accepting donations of non-perishable items. Canned and dried goods are placed on the shelves and distributed to clients to help sustain them (and their families) until they are able to buy groceries. The Cupboard is an "emergency food bank" opposed to a stock of items to supplement regular grocery days (i.e. we do not continually supply people with their canned goods while they buy other items). I was hoping to clear up any misconceptions that I have occasionally heard over the past year-and-a-half. Bottom line, male and female, adult, youth and children benefit from being able to access the Mother's Cupboard. This emergency food bank is restricted to our HIV positive clients and their immediate family members living with them. Self-Esteem and Empowerment (SEE) Project: This is our newest health promotion project made possible through a grant from "GlaxoSmithKline--Shire BioChem HIV/AIDS Community Innovation Program". This project is for our female positive clients. Without getting too boring with all the details, basically, two days of workshops will take place in January teaching skills that will help women increase their ability to access treatment information. Computer training, provincial networking and self-care are some of the topics to be covered. We are in the planning stages and hope to have a great turnout with women walking away feeling taller and warmer. Things that make me go hmmm….. • Kids runners with little blinking lights: do they make them in adult sizes with the option of different coloured lights? • Why is it that a cat has the intelligence to recognize the sound of a can opener, but fails to refrain from hovering on top of the fridge only to surprise the humans on the way past? • Frozen puddles: how many adults would love to stomp around breaking the thin layer of ice, but refuse to "just in case someone is looking"? Live a little! It's really great if you put a little rhythm into your stomp and laugh out loud while doing it! Charlene Burford Insert 1 �This information is presented as a point of interest, it does not necessarily reflect the opinions of AIDS Thunder Bay. Thought you might find this interesting, especially if you don't have the Internet at home. I do plan on continuing this list in the upcoming "re-ACT Believe" issues. Nutritional and Herbal Remedies (reproduced from www.all-natural.com/herbnutr.html) Acidophilus Lactobacillus acidophilus is a 'friendly' organism which helps the body fight disease and restore health. Modern research has discovered that acidophilus kills the harmful bacteria strain of E. coli in the intestinal tract. Acidophilus breaks milk sugar down into lactic acid. Bacteria which produce putrefaction and gas in the intestines cannot live in lactic acid. Acidophilus also has the unique ability to help the body synthesize, or manufacture all of the 'B' vitamins in the system. This makes it especially valuable since there is literally a host of agents which destroy B vitamins. A few are antibiotics, birth control pills, eating sugar and refined foods and drinking coffee. A diet high in red meat will destroy the beneficial bacteria, due to the concentration of antibiotics and steroids given to the animals before they are slaughtered. Alfalfa Alfalfa is a well-known herb to health-conscious consumers. It is high in nutrients, which are drawn into the plant from deep in the soil. The richest land source of trace minerals, the roots of Alfalfa plants have been known to reach as much as thirty feet deep! The leaves of the alfalfa plant are rich in minerals and nutrients, including calcium, magnesium, potassium, and carotene. They are also a source of protein, vitamin E and vitamin K. Alfalfa has been used by the Chinese since the sixth century to treat kidney stones, and to relieve fluid retention and swelling. Alfalfa nourishes the digestive, skeletal, glandular, and urinary systems. Alfalfa contains chlorophyll, which is renowned for its cleansing qualities. Aloe Vera Aloe vera has historically been known for assisting the functions of the gastrointestinal tract, and for its properties of soothing, cleansing and helping the body to maintain healthy tissues. This plant has a reputation of facilitating digestion, aiding blood and lymphatic circulation, as well as kidney, liver and gall bladder functions. Aloe contains at least three anti-inflammatory fatty acids that are helpful for the stomach, small intestine and colon. It naturally alkalizes digestive juices to prevent overacidity - a common cause of digestive complaints. A newly discovered compound in aloe, acemannan, is currently being studied for its ability to strengthen the immune system. Studies have shown acemannan to boost Tlymphocyte cells that aid natural resistance. Apple Cider Vinegar Apple cider vinegar helps the body get rid of toxins and nourishes the digestive processes. B Complex B-complex vitamins play many roles in the human body, but primarily they nourish the brain and nervous system. A diet high in refined foods or a life full of stress puts a greater demand on the body for these important nutrients. B1 - skin, eyes, hair; B2 - nourishes the tissues of the body; B6 - mild diuretic, PMS; B12 - anxiety and depression; Folic Acid - works synergistically with B12, cell division and replication; Biotin - metabolism of protein, fats and carbohydrates, cholesterol; B3 (Niacin) - energy production; Pantothenic acid - nourishes the adrenal glands which help the body to withstand stress; PABA - works synergistically with folic acid; Choline bitartrate - helps make acetylcholine, an important neurotransmitter in the brain; Inositol - metabolism of fat and cholesterol; absorption and utilization of fat. Bee Pollen Bee pollen is a rich source of many nutrients, including amino acids. It bursts with easily assimilated protein and lecithin, which nourish the brain and nervous system. Bee Pollen nutritionally supports the body in many ways, including assisting with vitality and a feeling of well-being. It has been used by athletes, along with Ginseng, to maintain energy and stamina. Insert 2 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource David Belrose fonds Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource reACT-Believe Vol 15 Issue 3 (FrontLine) - Fall 2002 Subject The topic of the resource Organizations Health and Medicine Description An account of the resource Newsletter of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2002 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/2716/Vol2Issue2Cover.png 092b73259209f34e627fc1fe3b64ad96 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource reACT-Believe Vol 2 Issue 2 - Cover Only Description An account of the resource Image of the cover only of reACT-Believe Vol 2 Issue 2 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989 https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2659/1989_reACT-Believe_vol2no1.pdf ba88dd41493ec94b63028068083f8734 PDF Text Text ���������������� https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2659/1989_reACT-Believe_vol2no1_2.pdf 015cded92b29195c84ec8dcc37d126ca PDF Text Text vfeACT-B elie ve Summer 1989 SUNTOON SS S'ON, I THINK VOUlRI: OLD ENOUGH To HEAR FACTS OF LIFE" The A IDS C ommittee of T hunder B ay NEWSLETTER VolIUssuel �I PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Welcome, at last, to a new issue of support and in education outreach the ACT-B newsletter As a result of this new funding, happened around A lot has here in the the work being done by months since the last issue. A lot SergeTittley,our former Education of into Officer / Volunteer Coordinator, providing direct support for people will now be done by two people affected bu Linda our energy gone has gone AIDS, and we have through some massive Gambee, our Volunteer Coordinator/ Fundraiser, will be changes in the organization itself joined in September by After a period of planning and Education Coordinator. Thanks to reorganization, the agency is now the Trillium Foundation, we have poised also acquired a Plymouth Grand visible to become and much active more in the Voyager SE van been community. further a new The agency has bolstered by the addition of three contract staff people under a CEIC Section 25 CHANGES AT ACT-B grant. The appearance of this newsletter is a sign of the new vitality at I want to pay tribute as well to the ACT-B, and there are many other two factors involved as well Recently, Michael we have received confirmation of Korhonen After a year and half of funding sources, trying conditions, salaries have including the Ontario Ministry of been upgraded to reasonable levels Health and the Trillium Foundation and Lawrence has gone from part This funding has given us a solid to full time. I want to thank both of base to work on for the coming them for hanging in through the year, and will allow us to greatly lean times. expand thanks from our several services, both in original staff Sobota must and members, Lawrence One final note of go out to our �volunteers (and I include our board services we can provide, from of directors), are the support agency, and assistance, to help with dealing without whom our work would not with the maze of healthcare and be possible governmental agencies. backbone of who this I hope that you will groups, to direct stay with us as we move into a new season, as your help is now The second essential component of more necessary than ever. Thank our you all. prevention work is and We must focus efforts in areas THE FUTURE education our such as the gay community, native communities, youth, and IV drug users This is All of the changes i have outlined work we must do if we are to be above mean nothing if they do not true relate to the work that this agency community agency. to our mandate as a is here for As we move into this new phase of our existence, we This is an exciting and challenging have time for the AIDS Committee of new challenges and opportunities ahead of us. The need Thunder for persons vitality, and a great deal of work AIDS, their lovers, to do Let us join together now in a direct living with service to families, and friends, can only spirit Bay. of We have a dedication new and grow. We need to improve our cooperation, and do everything we outreach in this area, and make can in this struggle. everyone aware of the confidential HELP WANTED We need a few individuals on the Board of Directors. This would involve a commitment of several hours a month for meetings, a willingness to assist in fundraising and a desire to help ACT-B fulfill its mandate as a service organization. If you are interested, please contact David Belrose at 345-1516 ■ �5K Fun Run Saturday, October 21 at 10 am at Boulevard Lake With each $10 registration, each runner receives an AIDS Awareness Week T-shirt and a button. Call 345-1516 to register or pick up a form at your local sports shop. To all kids & teens from grades 5 to 13! You have an opportunity to participate in the annual AAW Poster Production Ask your teacher or principal for the contest rules in mid-September - Chosen posters will be on display during the AAW display at Intercity Mall. - Two of the best posters will be displayed at Mini Queens Park in Toronto as a part of World Aids Day, December 1, 1989. I’m a poet and I didn’t even know it! Would you like to draw a comic, a picture, cut out a cartoon, write a poem, tidbit or an article? Please feel free to contact the Editor at 345-1516. All ideas and submissions will be considered CALL NOW! Copy Deadline for the fall issue of ReACT-Believe is September 11, 1989 �TIDBITS... Its time to clean out all that old'stuff We’re looking for donations for our fall yard sale If you have articles to do nate pi ease cal 1 Li nda at 3 45 -1516 Just a reminder - Our office will be closed Monday, September 4. ACT-B now has an agency vehicle, through the generous assistance of the Trillium Foundation The van will be used for client transport assistance as well as travelling into the district for the Educational Outreach Program Did You know7 A marketer of condoms in Philadelphia got himself into trouble with the law. He started selling a line of condoms under the name Sergio Prevente The lawyers for the makers of Sergio Yalente clothes were not amused They protested and a US federal judge agreed with them. The ACT-B Staff Vicki Birch.................. Linda Gambee ........... Administrative Assistant Volunteer /Fundraising Coordinator Lawrence Korhonen ...... Office Manager Darcia Kohuska.............. Education Coordinator Donna Manson................ Project Coordinator Eileen Parker.................. Communications Coordinator Michael Sobota Executive Director ............ The ACT-B Board of Directors. David Belrose........... President Deb White..................... Vice-President Michael Chan.............. Treasurer Dr. Frederick R. Ball... Secretary Carl Gray.................. Director Betty Kruzick............... Director Karen Maki............... Director Chris Morden................. Director Marie J.K Portier ... Director Barbara Reid.................. Director �THE PLANS ARE UNDERWA Y> AIDS AWARENESS WEEK will be October 16-22, 1989 AIDS: OUR CHALLENGE is this year's theme for AAV. We'll be looking forward to some informative, touching and downright hilarious events. Here are some highlights. AAW Displays - Come and see 5K Fun Run ACT-B at Intercity Mall - To be held on Saturday, October 21 With registration, each runner receives an AAV T-shirt, a button and loads of fun1 Tree Planting Ceremony - A tree will be planted in memory of those who have died from AIDS and those who are living with AIDS Local dignitaries and community groups will be present. Dr. John Fernandes - He will be giving a noon-hour talk on Women & AIDS at the P.A G H. All hospital staff are welcome to attend Poster Production - All students, grades 5 to 13 are invited to participate in the AAV Poster Production Details are available through teachers and principals or by calling 345-1516 AAW Keynote Event - Noted AIDS speakers will be on hand at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. While you're there, see the AIDS Visual Display Candlelight Vigil - A silent walk will be taken Thursday, October 19 in memory of those who have died of AIDS. Healthy Sex Cabaret - Friday, October 20 - an evening of skits and entertainment. Refreshments and "condomints" will be served For more info call 345-1516 WARNING: Coarse language. Adult humour Veil keep you posted on AAW in our Fall issue of ReACT-Believe �FUNDRAISING -for Fundraising is an important event Orientation Week. at - for our newsletter ACT-B. events Funds raised are programs community what to the from Con College and L.U. enhances our - for the speakers bureau clients and - for our committees, Fundraising, It also bolsters our Education, AIDSupport plus many, many more on-going support fund for clients activities Ve are always looking for those who wish to give any amount of Friends and family members are time towards fundraising or sitting more than welcome to participate on the fundraising committee, (this Some of the above events do not committee is not only a working require you to have gone through committee but we have a lot of fun the Volunteer Training Program. as well). For all who have given your time Over the next few years we will to us at ACT-B - Thank You! be facing a major challenge to fulfill our fundraising commitment Hope you have had an enjoyable I know that we will be able to summer up to now and continue to achieve it with the help of our do so. excellent "appreci-mc" m this newsletter volunteers Your suggestions for fundraising ideas Look for details of our and hope to see you there andevents are greatly appreciated If you have an idea, please jot it VOLUNTEER TRAINING 89 down and mail it in, or pick up the Interested in phone and give me a call. ACT-B7 Friends members are Every idea is valuable! participate. VOL UNTEERS - HEL P WANTED is being volunteering and for family welcome to A volunteer program scheduled for early Due to an increase in Education and October Fundraising projects starting in volunteers and for those wanting a September, we require many more refresher. Please call 345-1516. for prospective volunteers: - for bingos - for AIDS Awareness Week Linda Gambee Volunteer/Fundraising Coordinator �YOUARENOT Earlier this year the Canadian AIDS Society issued the first national standardized SAFER SEX GUIDELINES The guidelines have thrown 3 fresh spotlight on the whole matter of sex in our time Our agency supports the basic stance of the Guidelines: affirming sexuality and health. These twin affirmations are vital to how we respond to AIDS in our personal lives. As the understanding about AIDS in Thunder Bay increases, more individuals - particularly some gay men - are reacting with fear, numbness and even depression I've heard this response lrom 3 number of men who have said they are too afraid now to have 3ex Thi3 is an echo of Penelope Gilliat's line about relationships in Sunday Bloody Sunday that "there are times when nothing is better than something". Certainly, this is not 3ne3sy time for us to affirm sexuality 3nd health Given thi3 apprehensive atmosphere, embracing celibacy is a signal of a lack of will, of trying to find the short term, easy way out of responsible change Many of us have taken a long time to develop our sexuality 3nd become comfortable expressing it Gay men who 3re comfortable with themselves achieved this in an atmosphere of little support and no public dialogue Now our sexuality is being discussed practically everywhere And in that new. harsh spotlight, some men �ALONE are chosing to abandon their sexuality to the "safety" of celibacy That is a choice lraught with dangers to one de&ree or another Most adults 3re actively sexual Dampening the sexual drive by "shutting off the tap" may simply build up a backlog of pressure And when the pressure must naturally be released, it is likely to burst out in "out of practice" and unsafe ways The Canadian AIDS Society Safer Sex Guidelines 3re written to help us with these difficult choices If we choose to affirm our sexuality and our health we are bound to get involved in some areas of ri3k The Guidelines are an effective tool to guide us through the decisions about risk They are strongly framed in a context of positive sexuality They are 3imed 3t helping us regain a sense of power over this vital element in our lives, rather than being defeated by the notion of sex connected to disease connected to death ACT-B has begun professional inservice sessions to help others understand the Guidelines and give the information they contain as wide a distribution 33 possible. You are not alone. They 3nd we are here to help �ACT-B CALENDAR August IS Support Circle meeting, a peer support group for families, friends, lovers and others 7 30 pm August 26 Education Meeting & Barbeque 6:00 pm at Marilyn Salmi’s, 140 Glengarry Drive All interested persons are welcome August29 BINGO' 5 30 - 10 00, Diamond Bingo Hall August30 Support Circle meeting - 7 30 p m September 3 ACT-B Picnic All ACT-B Volunteers, Board members, members, staff, families and friends are invited to Evergreen Park at Boulevard Lake There will be lots of food, races, prizes and fun' Please R S V P Linda A.S.A.P September 5 Come and visit the ACT-B Info booth at L.U. Orientation Week and at Confederation College Orientation Week. See you there! September 13 Support Circle meeting - 7.30 p.m. September 26 BINGO1 5:30 - 10:00, Diamond Bingo Hall September 27 Support Circle meeting - 7 30 p m. October / / Board Meeting �VARDSALE1 Our annual ACT-B Yard Sale is coming soon. Check the Chronicle and your local cable channel for details in September. KESKUS BA2MR Look for the ACT-B table with bake sale items, bedroses and information TREATMENT UPDATE The latest treatment information is available at the ACT-B Resource Centre LI brary Here are a few highlights: Healing AIDS Naturally A very objective review of the alternative treatments for Al DS Treatment Update A monthly report published by AIDS ACTION NOW Psgchoimmunity and the Healing Process A Holistic Approach to Immunity & AIDS AIDS Treatment News The fact filled bi-weekly newsletter from John James, San Francisco, CA AIDS Update A regular column in XTRA* �BACKGROUND The seeds of growth for the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay were planted by a few local individuals who were concerned with thespred of the AIDS virus and the issues surround!nq this new and deadly health threat. 1986 The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay was born. In July, a representative attended the first meeting of what later became the Ontario AIDS Network. In November, the first public forum on AIDS was held at the Waverley Resource Library Also that year, two delegates from ACT-B attended the Second National Conference on AIDS in Toronto 1987 ACT-B was incorporated in October of 1987 and became a registered non-profit organization (Chanty # 0779330-11) The city’s first AIDS Awareness Week was launched in October of 1987, coordinated by ACT-B. In December, after application to the Ontario Ministry of Health, funding was received to hire staff, establish an office and phonelines Present Day ACT-B is now a growing organization consisting of a Board of Directors, Volunteers, members and seven staff members �The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay now provides a wide range of services■ speakers for educational presentations ■ a Resource Library ■ confidential one-on-one counselling ■ in-service sessions for professional groups ■ support groups for person with AIDS, friends, family, lovers and others ACT-B is a member of the Ontario AIDS Network and the Canadian AIDS Society/La Societe Canadienne du 51 DA STAFF PROFILE We have been successful in acquiring three new staff through a C E.l C. Job Creation program, Section 25 They will be working on the following projects ■ AIDS Awareness Week ■ An expanded newsletter ■ Inventory and promotion of the Resource Library ■ New publications promoting Healthy Sex and AIDS Awareness I would like to introduce to you .. Vicki Birch, our Administrative Assistant, Donna Manson, the Project Coordinator, and Eileen Parker, the Communications Coordinator. Drop by the office some time and meet them �FIFTY WA YS TO USE A RUBBER The problem's all inside your head, I say to you, The answer's easy if you know just what to do. Just watch me once now then, and you can do it too There must be fifty ways to use a rubber, But there's onl y ONE way to put it on your lover Just push back the rim, Jim, Don't use your teeth, Keith, When you open the pack, Jack, Set the rubber free First you put in the gel, Mel, Not Vaseline, Gene, It'll eat right through, Lou, That just won't do. Put it on the head, Fred, Then you pinch the end, Friend, Roll it down slow, Joe, Now give it to me. Just after you've come, Chum, while it's still hard, Gerrard, Hold the rubber at the base, Ace Pull it out of me From an unknown source Thank You Slip it off your dick, Rick, And throw it away, Jay, Don't use it again, Ben, Now get close to me. So was that good for you7 That sure was good for me See I told you so, It came quite naturally. Kiss me once again, I'm sure you will agree, The night's still young, There's more to come, My safe sex lover But well have to use a brand new rubber Just push back the rim, Jim, Don't use your teeth, Keith, When you open the pack, Jack, Set the rubber free. First you put in the gel, Mel, Not Vaseline, Gene, It'll eat right through, Lou, That just won't do. Put it on the head, Fred, Then you pinch the end, Friend, Roll it down slow, Joe, Now give it to me Now give it to me �DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT AIDS? Call the AIDS INFORMATION PHONELINE at 345-SAFE. You don't have to give your name Confidentiality is guaranteed. Don't take a chancel Play it safe, call 345-7233. B o —*■ V—' o □ § [3] V *t5 ■r " For Your Information The ACT-B Resource Centre Library invites you to get the latest facts and erase myths about AIDS Through understanding we take a positive approach and realize that sexuality and health are possible and comptible Reading can heighten your awareness of this quickly spreading virus. Our reading material is up-dated weekly and you are welcome to help yourself Here are a few interesting titles The Quilt an ongoing project of sewn panels, each representing the life of some one who has died of AIDS And The Band Played On This book provides the foundation for one of the most important national debates of our time Borrowed Time A personal documentary that is a cry from the heart against this contemporary plague and against the intolerance that surrounds it Symptomology Profile A brochure from the Toronto PWA Foundation. Most people with HIV infection differ in signs and symptoms as they do lifestyles Each opportunistic infection, diagnosis and treatment is as individual as the person it is affecting. Books may bo borrowed for three weeks and videos are available for screening. Please call Vicki at the Resource Centre Library at 345-1516 �AIDS COMMITTEE OF THUNDER BAY � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource David Belrose fonds Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource reACT-Believe Vol 2 No 1 - Summer 1989 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989 Subject The topic of the resource Organizations Health and Medicine Description An account of the resource Newsletter of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2660/1989_reACT-Believe_vol2no2.pdf 89ecfe859e4ada41fa4d0edf86961286 PDF Text Text ��������������������� https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2660/1989_reACT-Believe_vol2no2_2.pdf ac3cbd446fd952e32492e8e6263eb38e PDF Text Text i’eACT-B elie ve Fall 1989 The A IDS C ommittee of T hunder B ay NEWSLETTER Vol II, Issue II �DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT AIDS ? call the AIDS INFORMATION PHONELINE 345-SAFE CONFIDENTIALITY ■IS GUARANTEED YOU DON'T HAVE TO -GIVE YOUR NAME DON'T TAKE A CHANCE. PLAY IT SAFE. CALL 345-7233 TODAY WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE ON OUR MAILING LIST? CALL 3^5-1516 OR MAIL TO AIDS COMMITTEE OF THUNDER BAY P 0 BOX 3586 THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO P7B 6E2 �A w h Our AIDS----------AWARENESS WEEK---------- r e II u c & W C C k C' h ■ I I « n f c is a province-wide event coordinated by the Ontario AIDS Network and endorsed by the Ontario Ministry of Health ACT-B, along with other local health and education agencies, is sponsoring AIDS Awareness Week in Thunder Bay ----------- Keep reading for highlights of----------------------- AIDS Awareness Week events------------ ACT-B is in the midst of designing a new logo do the A professional artist will artwork, but WE NEED SOME IDEAS! Please call' 345-1516 0 �AIDS----------AWARENESS WEEK---------is a province-wide event coordinated by the Ontario AIDS Network and endorsed by the Ontario Ministry of Health ACT-B, along with other local health and education agencies, is sponsoring AIDS Awareness Week in Thunder Bay Keep reading for highlights of AIDS Awareness Week events ACT -B is in the midst of designing a new logo do the A professional artist will artwork, but WE NEED SOME IDEAS! Please call' 345-1516 0 �YOUARENOT ALONE by Michael Sobota Two events during AIDS Awareness Week serve as central pillars to what our work is all about, the Candlelight Vigil taking place on Thursday, October 19 and the Healthy Sex r^teretheld the following Saturday. October 21. CANDLELIGHT VIGIL This is the third candlelight vigil organized by ACT-B Each event has been a quiet, moving tribute to those who have left us because of AIDS. Each event has also been a quiet appreciation for the courage of those who continue to live and work with the disease. HEALTHY SEX CABARET Our Healthy Sex Cabaret pushes courage and humour onto the stage. This event is bawdy, coarse, sensitive and healthy It is AIDS Education that is celebratory - life beyond leaflets Expect the unexpected and be warned that there will be strong language and adult situations. CELEBRATION OF LIFE Each of these two events have a couple of things in common. Both will use music to help set and enrich the atmosphere Both are motivated by a sense of celebration for life. Both, if successful, are vehicles for emotional release: tears and laughter. We invite you to join in with us this year. Exercise your courage and humour. There is a whole crowd of people who welcome you to share your grief and your laughter You are not alone. �Tidbits... Do you own the pair of beige winter boots left in the ACT-S office’ Call 345-1516. ACT-B is expecting1 Communications Eileen, our waddling Coordinator is due November 20! Volunteer Opportunities are available at ACT-B Contact Linda Gambee, Volunteer Coordinator at 345-1516 We have a new core staff member Come in and meet Darcia Kohuska, our new Education Coordinator The 80 s Joke - A person loudly asks the store clerk, "Can 1 have a box of condoms the red ones - no, the red RIBBED ones", and then Whispers," and a pack of cigarettes Just a reminder - the ACT-B office will be closed Monday, October 9, Thanksgiving Day �THE CASE FOR EARLY INTERVENTION PART 1: REVISED ACT GUIDELINES The Federal Government has revised guidelines for the use of AZT [brand name Retrovir ] The essential elements of the revised guidelines are the following: ■ AZT can now be given to persons with early ARC [A IDS Related Complex land T4 cell counts of less than 500. and persons who are asymptomatic but with T4 cell counts of less than 500 ■ Eor persons with early ARC. the recommended daily dose is 1200 mg. For asyptomatic individuals, the recommended daily dose is 500 mg ■ All doses are subject to the judgement of the treating physician Many ill persons cannot tolerate the full 1200 mg daily dose. ■ AZT is availabale now through their physician to anyone who meet these criteria WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN? In simple language, it means that AZT. even at low doses, can slow the progression of HIV infection in people with moderately low helper cells who have few or no symptoms It can also be less toxic the earlier it is initiated �This approach to treatment with AZT is one element in a broader picture that suggests that people infected with AIDS virus can benefit from early treatment is THIS NEW? Some media reported on the AZT revised guidelines as though the revolution had happened AZT was even referred to as a "new AIDS drug" The fact is. AZT has been available for treatment in Canady under certain restrictions, since 1986 Eurther, the idea of early intervention in HIV infection is. as Denny Smith writes in Issue Number 86 of AIDS Treatment News." nearly as old as the epidemic, championed by many long term survivors with HIV. by many progressive physicians, and by persistant activism of Project Inform and ACT UP" [US. AIDS activist organizations] He goes on to write "The medical establishment has historically promoted early detection and treatment in other diseases, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, hypertension But for years preceding these recent announcements people with HIV were dismissed with false pessimism in the media and inappropriate Eederal regulations, and told to wait" That history in the United States is a mirror of the Canadian response to early intervention MORE TO COME ... In an upcoming article, we will report other reasons for early intervention - including promising new treatment possibilities �How to Love Yourself Stop all criticism thing Criticism never changes a Refuse to criticize yourself exactly as you are Accept yourself Everybody changes. When you approve of yourself, your changes are positive Don't scare yourself with your thoughts Stop terrorizing yourself It's a dreadful way to live Find a mental image that gives you pleasure (mine is yellow roses), and immediately switch your scared thought to a pleasurable thought. Be gentle,; kind and patient yourself. Be kind to yourself Be gentle with Be patient with yourself as you learn the new ways of thinking. Treat yourself as you would someone you really love Be kind to your mind hating your own thoughts Self -hatred is only Don't hate yourself for having the thoughts Gently change your thoughts. Praise yourself inner spirit. Criticism breaks down the Praise builds it up much as you can Praise yourself as Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing Support yourself Find ways to support yourself Reach out to friends & allow them to help you. It is being strong to ask for help when you need it �Be loving to your negati ves Acknowledge that you created them to fulfill a need Now, you are finding new, positive ways to fulfill those needs So, lovingly release the old negative patterns Take care of your body Learn about nutrition What kind of fuel does your body need to have maximum energy and vitality’ Learn about exercise What kind of exercise can you enjoy’ Cherish and revere the temple in which you live Do mirror work Look into your eyes often Express this growing sense of love you have for yourself Forgive yourself Talk to your parents looking into the mirror Forgive them too At least once a day say, " I love you, I really love you!" Love yourself Do It Now Don't wait until you are pretty enough, strong enough, lose some weight, get a new wardrobe, or whatever Begin now, and do the best you can1 by Louise L Hay ��ness Week �A CT-B Calendar October 0 Volunteer Training October 3 Volunteer Training October 11 Support Circle Meeting October 18 Board Meeting Octobers BINGO! 6 30 - 10 00, Diamond Bingo Hall October & Support Circle Meeting October 87 ACT-B Executive Committee Meeting November 8 Support Circle Meeting November 13 Education Committee Meeting Novembers Annual General Meeting All are welcome Location is to be announced Phone 345-1516 for an update November 81 Fundraising Committee Meeting November 88 Support Circle Meeting November 88 BINGO* 6:30 - 10 00, Diamond Bingo Hall �December 6 Support Circle Meeting December 11 Education Committee Meeting December 19 Eundraising Committee Meeting Decembers Board Meeting December 26 BINGO! 6 30 - 10:00. Diamond Bingo Hall How Can I Participate? Hom I b^ficibafe^ If you would like to join a committee or sit in on a meeting to learn about ACT-B, please do! just give us a call at 345-151 6 and we'll tell you when and where. I Want To Help! I io HGlbj Respond to the challenge of AIDS by becoming a member of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay VOLUNTEERS $5.00 For those who wish to volunteer time and effort. BASIC MEMBERSHIP $10 00 SUPPORTING MEMBERSHIP: $25 00 For more information call 34 5“ 1516 �AIDS Awareness Week Keynote Event Tuesday, October 17, 8 00 pm at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery Entertainment provided bv the L.U. Music Dept. Refreshments will be served See the AIDS Visual Displav Limited Seating Coffee & Talk with Ann Medina & Ronald Rogers Wednesday, October 16, 9:30 a m at the Lakehead University Agora Featured Speakers. Ronald Rogers Thunder Bay Person Living With AIDS (PLWA) "Living With AIDS" Ann Medina Broadcaster /journalist "AIDS & the Media" �TheACT-BStaff Vicki Birch______ _ Linda G&mbee____ Darcia Kohuska___ Lawrence Korhonen Donna Manson____ Eileen Parker_____ Michael Sobota___ ________ Administrative Assistant Volunteer/Fundraising Coordinator ___________ Education Coordinator _______________Office Manager _____________ Project Coordinator ____ Communications Coordinator _____________ Executive Director The ACT-B Board ofDirectors David Belrose - President Michael Chan _ Treasurer Carl Gray______Director Karen Mato____ Director Mane J K Portier_Director Barbara Reid___ Director Deb White____ _ Vice-President Dr Frederick R Ball-Secretary Betty Kruzick________ Director Chris Morden________ Director Norma Proctor_______ Director Kelly Sherlock_______ Director StaffProfile Darcia Kohuska is our new Education Coordinator As head of ACT-B's Speaker's Bureau, she will coordinate educational presentations at many venues in the community She will also develop a regional outreach program bringing AIDS education to small communities m Northwestern Ontario monitoring and updating the AIDS Darcia will be Information Phonelme and Resource Centre Library, as well as developing educational materials for the community �t V You Volunteers! —— \ APPRECIATION ACT-B is proud of all the support given to one of our clients, by assisting his carepartner and family in making life easier for him This was a first for ACT-Bs volunteers for providing home care and hospital visitation so extensively. On behalf of ACT-B - a very warm ’Thank-You!' to all the volunteers who so graciously and selflessly spent time with him Volunteer/Fundraising Coordinator �FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE \ MEETINdf St W Every 3rd Tuesday of the month, 7 30 p m at the ACT-B office. Everyone is welcome NEW VOLUNTEERS f\ O^ntation is October 3 & 51 Applications are being accepted and interviews are being scheduled Volunteers are needed in several areas, especially the following: ■ Community events/ benefits ■ Newsletter ■ Computer ■ ■ Bookkeeping Office Work ■ Committees �5s. •s HEALTHY CABARET Saturday, October 21 8 00 p m Alfie's in the Ramada Inn $5 00 at the door Advance tickets available by calling 345-1516 or 625-5900 WARNING: Coarse Language Adult Humour A. �o PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE AIDS Awareness Week is the time when we refocus the community's attention on AIDS As AIDS has become more a part of our lives, there has been a natural tendency for people to try and ignore it. However, people are still at risk of infection and death. It is more important than ever to educate those who are at risk, and to prevent the spread of the disease We are gradually seeing more and more people who have been infected, becoming sick and in need of support. A DEAR FRIEND As I write this, a dear friend lies in hospital, close to death from complications due to AIDS. Helping someone move through the final debilitating stages of the disease brings home in sharp detail, the personal and human tragedy of AIDS All who are involved get caught up in the process, with immense emotional and physical demands placed on everyone. REMEMBER AIDS Awareness Week is a time for us to remember and honour those who have succumbed to the disease - to ensure that their suffering and deaths will not have been in vain The lessons we learn from those living with AIDS can give us the courage and compassion to live our lives fully, here and �THANK YOU THE AIDS COMMITTEE OF THUNDER BAY would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who sponsored our picnic to ensure its success. Also we would like to extend our thanks to the many volunteers who helped before, dur­ ing and after. A&A RECORDS & TAPES NORTHERN BREWERIES LTD. ASP NORTHWOOD ESSO OFFICE PRO A&W ' AL'S WONDERLAND OLD DUTCH FOODS LTD. BOSTON PIZZA PAINTED TURTLE BUNSMASTER PALM DAIRIES CANADA GAMES COMPLEX PARAMOUNT THEATRES LTD. GRAND & TOY LTD. PEGGY SUES FLOWER SHOP PETRIE'S CYCLE & SPORTS HELIUM HIGHS PIZZA DELIGHT HOBBY CRAFT CORNER KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN KRAZYKRAZY AUDIO VIDEO LAKEHEAD WHOLESALERS LTD. LIL'S HOBBY LOBBYLTD. PRIMARY COLOR LAB LTD. R.C. DISTRIBUTORS RED OAK INN ROCK-IT AIR WEAR MARIO'S BOWL SOOTER S PHOTO MARY BROWN S FRIED CHICKEN McCartney's PLAYTIME LANES jewellers ltd. MCDONALD’S RESTAURANTS MOLSON ONTARIO BREWERIES LTD. THUNDER BAY COMMUNITY AUDITORIUM THUNDER BAY PARKS & RECREATION WESTERN GROCERS AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay P 0 Box 3586 Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 6E2 345-1516 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource David Belrose fonds Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource reACT-Believe Vol 2 No 2 - Fall 1989 Subject The topic of the resource Organizations Health and Medicine Description An account of the resource Newsletter of the Aids Committee of Thunder Bay. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Aids Committee of Thunder Bay Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2664/1990_reACT-Believe_vol3no4.pdf f0bbd84d7a773275252d435674aa2b53 PDF Text Text ������������ https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2664/1990_reACT-Believe_vol3no4_2.pdf 9b535fcd1cda4ab2240ab07e3c1aee1d PDF Text Text OUTLIVING OUT LOVING A WA R Coming Home: Prodigal Son Revisited ReACT-Believ* The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay newsletter Fail 1990 Volume III Issue IVl �Table of Contents The Corporation Of The City Of Thunder Bay OFFICE OF THE MAYOR JACK MASTERS 500 DONALD STREET EAST, THUNDER SAY, ONTARIO. PJC 5V3 ;a07| 625 3911 October 1990 A Condom by any other name . .. Pg 5 Sunshine - by Jim - a Person Living With AIDS in Thunder Bay Pg 5 MESSAGE FROM MAYOR JACK MASTERS Soldiers • by Ron - a Person Living With AIDS in Thunder Bay Pg5 AIDS, has reached epidemic proportion world wide. It is most important that all citizens be made aware of this disease, and for the need to increase our research efforts immensely. Crossword - R U in the know? Pg6 Thank You! Pg 8 Native Outreach Pg 8 AZT - Then & Now Pg9 Desperately Seeking Susan Pg 11 Women Living With AIDS & HIV Pg H ACT-B Services Pg 3 Glenna Pg 7 I take this opportunity to indicate the importance of AIDS AWARENESS WEEK. Tt is a time to intensify the educational efforts so that we are all aware of the facts concerning ATDS-What can be done to avoid contracting AIDS?-How we can help those who have AIDS?-How we can assist in encouraging more active research? Please find time to be aware, and to take advantage of the information being offered. Yours^sincerely, fcJ Jack Masters /ayor JM/ch If you think education is expensive - try ignorance. - Derek Bok Outrunning for AIDS SK Run/Walk 1990 October 14 10 cum. at Boulevard Lake With uour $12 registration receive a long-sleeved quality designer T-shirt! sulra ifVAJl/VA Pick up registration forms at the Complex, the College, at your local sports store or by calling 345-1516. RtACT-Bclievc �Coming Slome: Prodigal Son Revisited Musical Accompaniment by members of the ‘Thunder (Bay Symphony Orchestra iMonday, October IS, 1990 8:00 p.m. THl'NDFR B.V> oncHrvrnA at the Thunder Bay Art Qattery symthom ‘Refreshments mill be served Admission is free Sponsored by the Interagency AIDS Awareness ‘Week, Steering Committee for more information call 345-1$16 Are you HIV+? Is someone you love HIV+? The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay offers a support group for those living with AIDS and HIV infection. Contact Glenna at 345-1516 for more information. Confidentiality is assured. ACT-B Dictionary ACT-B The AIDS CommiLtee of Thunder Bay. A community-based AIDS Service Organization dedicated to confronting AIDS through education, advocacy and support. HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus - the virus believed to cause AIDS. AIDS Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome - the immune system is disrupted by the HIV virus, leaving the body defenceless against opportunistic infections. PLWA Person Living With AIDS HIV+ Having tested positive for HIV antibodies. RcACT-Belim Ken Ward A Cree Native Person Living With AIDS will give a talk on ’’AIDS in the Aboriginal Community" Wednesday, October 17, 7:00 p.m. Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Centre Admission is free! For more information call 345-1516. Page 2 �Education ACT-B Services The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay (ACT-B) is a non-profit, charitable organization that provides services for those who are affected by AIDS/HIV. We also provide ongoing education for our community to prevent the spread of HIV infection. We are a member of the Ontario AIDS Network and the Canadian AIDS Society. Support Services The Support Services arc geared toward helping people with AIDS, those who have tested HIV+ and their families, friends and carepartners. We provide assistance in coping with the difficulties which may arise as a result of their health status. We offer two support groups. One for those who have AIDS and those who are HTV+. Another is for family, friends and carepartners. Counselling and emotional support is also provided for individuals and families. Referrals are made to other agencies for specific needs. We advocate on our consumer’s behalf if they arc dealing with harassment or are not receiving fair treatment from agencies, institutions, or employers. Daily tasks such as housekeeping, transportation, cooking and shopping can become difficult when living with AIDS/HIV. Our volunteers can provide practical support when necessary. ACT-B can offer short term assistance for those with emergency financial needs. A request for emergency assistance can be made by anyone affected by AIDS/HIV. Page 3 AIDS Awareness Week 1990 Our Education department acts as a consultation and education resource. We give information on a number of issues, such as workplace policies and the psychosocial issues surrounding AIDS/HI V. We provide free educational presentations, literature and posters for any interested groups in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario. We visit schools, hospitals, agencies and community groups. The ACT-B Resource Library slocks the largest selection of current, factual educational resources on AIDS/HIV in Northwestern Ontario. Books and videos are available on loan. The pamphlets, brochures and posters arc also free. We also stock condoms, lubricant and latex gloves. Our AIDS Infoline, 345-SAFE (3457233) operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Talk to staff or volunteers Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., or afterhours, listen to an informative, up-todate taped message about AIDS/HIV. The education committee is a volunteer committee that brainstorms and then develops educational campaigns, special events and educational projects relevant to Northwestern Ontario. For more information about programs call (807) 345-1516. AIDS Awareness Week is a province­ wide event coordinated by the Ontario AIDS Network and endorsed by the Ontario Ministry of Health. The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay, Confederation College, Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital, Lakehead University, McKellar Hospital, Port Arthur General Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Thunder Bay District Health Unit are sponsoring AIDS Awareness Week in Thunder Bay. AIDS/HIV is a growing concern in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario. The disease affects everyone. People living with AIDS and HIV infection are our neighbours, co-workers, classmates and friends. They are people living normal lives with AIDS and HIV. AIDS Awareness Week is about understanding AIDS/HIV, not fearing iL It’s about sharing and what it’s like to cope with the virus. It’s about caring. This year’s theme for AIDS Awareness Week is "OUTLIVING, OUT LOVING, OUTLASTING AIDS". This means AIDS is about living, about caring and that for the AIDS/HIV person; healthy survival is of prime importance. our Volunteer Training A Volunteer Training was held Saturday, September 22 at the Thunder Bay Yacht Club. Training is provided for all new volunteers on AIDS and HIV infection and what it is like to live with AIDS. For information on the next session contact Sheila at 345-1516. Enrolment is limited so please apply early. HUG TICKET & THIS TICKET IS o GOOD FOR ON E b REE HUG FROM ANY PARTICIPATING PERSON UPON PRESENTATION f\CT-6 HUG 0_U6 California reasoning Carolyn Mahboubi, 25-)ear-o1d man­ ager of a Beverly Hills clothing shop, explains why she takes time to work for several local charities: “Being involved with reality and improving it is impor­ tant to me ” Source: Los Angeles Times magazine. RcACT-Believc �AIDS Awareness Week October 14 - 20 Sunday, October 14 5k Fun Run/Walk 10 a.m. Boulevard Lake Monday, October 15 Opening Ceremonies 11 a.m. Marina Park Keynote Event 8 p.m. Thunder Bay Art Gallel Playreading: Coming Home; Prodigal Son Revisited & members of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra Tuesday, October 16 Presentation - Ken Ward 6:30 p.m. Kashadaying Reside Wednesday, October 17 Premiere of Kee-Way-Win "Journey" 7:30 p.m. MacLean Hunter Cable TV Channel 7 Michael McCrimmon "HIV & Chemical Dependency" 1 p.m. Thunder Bay District Unit Ken Ward "A Cree Native Person Living With AIDSFree Presentation on "AIDS in the Aboriginal Community" 7:00 p.m. Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Centre f'Drug Dependency & AIDS" 8:30 p.m. MacLean Hunter Cable TV Channel 7 Thursday, October 18 Friday, October 19 Candlelight Vigil 7:30 p.m. Meet at 285 Bay Sl for a short, silent^ walk to the Unitarian Hah Healthy Sex Cabaret 8:00 p.m. at The Boda 'nservices Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital Kee-Way-Win "Journey" McKellar General Hospital "Psychological Aspects of AIDS" 9 p.m. MacLean Hunter Cable TV Channel 7 Saturday, October 20 Displays Intercity Mall Display All day Port Arthur General Hospital Videos and Inservice St. Joseph's General Hospital Confederation College For more information about events, phone RcACT-Belirve 345-1516. Sunday, October 21 Kee-Way-Win "Journey" 2 p.m. MacLean Hunter Cable TV Channel 7 Page 4 �Too much of a good thing is wonderful. - Mae West A People Living With AIDS (PLWA) group outing. I mother, Dorothy were lifeguards. Sheila worked on her tan. The frisbee was tossed around, our appetites were whetted. Max joined later in the day but not late for the food; food there was in abundance. Hamburgers came courtesy of Dorothy and Tom. "Smokies", were donated by Ed, who incidentally did a magnificent job as chef. All too soon it was lime to go home. My most memorable moment of an almost flawless day occurred on a short hike. We stopped up the river a way and took in more sun. I reflected on how the day had unfolded. At first, I was apprehensive; I would be with people I didn’t know and who didn’t know me. Now at the end of the day, my favourite element rushed and roared by. The sun in it’s brilliance continued to shine on. Underlying everything was the reality that I have AIDS and that all of us were affected directly or indirectly with this reality. For the moment all was well. Life was as it should be. The river gave me conviction that life goes on. I wasn’t alone and God....but, it’s great to be alive! What a great way to start Friday, July 20th! Summer clouds lazily drifted across a blue clean sky. The temperature rose steadily as did anticipation to get on the road for a picnic at Kakabeka Falls. Nine of us were to spend the day together. I can’t forget "Gus." He belongs to Russ and Max, or is it the other way around? Anyway Gus is a dog. He came to represent the variety of feelings and emotions that coursed throughout our group. "Gus," stood for unity; spreading himself around to be patted, to be fed, to be Jim.... comforted, to give comfort and to be loved. Person Living With AIDS in Thunder Bay We loaded up Sheila’s truck and ACT B’s van, with lawn chairs, sunscreen, picnic coolers and joviality. Ron drove, informing those of us who smoked, that we weren’t to light up. Of course we promptly obeyed the policy. Along the way, we began talking. "Did you eat breakfast? How are you feeling today? Who remembered their pills?" After unloading, setting up the bar-b-que and remodelling the picnic area, we began to relax. Time didn’t seem important. Sheila ran around with her 35mm snapping everything and everyone. I tried holding my stomach in; that was fruitless and soon gave into the day. Kids were laughing, playing, building sand-castles and splashing in the cool water. They were peaceful sounds, innocent actions. We got involved right along with them. Competition became fierce in a game of horseshoes between: Norman, Russ, Ed and Wha hat happens to the soldiers that didn’t Ron. I have no idea who won, indeed if anyone did. Who cared? We were together, die during the battle? Are they expected to sharing a moment of our lives in happiness just carry on while the imprint of death is and carefree abandonment. It was then time stamped in their memories? Friends and to hit the cool, fresh water. Ed, Norm and companions lost forever, never to be myself actually swam, while Ron waded recaptured in the physical essence of life. around evading splashes. Tom and his Never to be forgotten by those who carry on. Page 5 A Condom by any other name . . . From the authors of The Great Cover-Up: A Condom Compendium (Civan, Inc.), Susan Zimet and Victor Goodman here are a few names for condoms you may not have heard! French Letter, Raincoat, Rubber, Baby Balloon, Balloon, Cabinet of Love, Diving Suit, English Hat, Envelope, Fearnought, Fish-skin, Frog, Grecian cap, Johnnie, Male Safe, Night Cap, Potent Ally, Rubber Duckie, Showercap, Safety Cap, Sweater, Shoe, Thimble, Thing, Very Tight Trousers. ujociety! Have we become so callous? Have we lost the sense of humanity that binds us together in this fight? What happens to the soldiers? Will they be forgotten or perhaps remembered for the strength with which they fought? Mankind will perhaps strive to reach a new plateau in his evolution, simply by understanding the full impact that AIDS has on society. Ronald H. Rogers Person Living With AIDS in Thunder Bay ReACT-Believe �Across Just a word in Spanish . 3. 4. 6. 8. 9. 11. 12. Unprotected sex and sharing needles are activities that involve_____ A term for describing needles and syringes for IV drug use. HIV is a_____ super___, bat___, spider___ HIV has to get into your_____to cause infection an object that doesn't transmit HTV When you're having sex,_____is the most effective barrier to prevent HIV transmission 13. an activity that could transmit HIV 14. a body fluid that carries HIV . . The AIDS Hotline offers services in French, Greek, Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, and yes, in Spanish. The AIDS Hotline is a service of the Ontario Ministry of Health and is toll-free. Down call: 1-800-668-2437 1. 2. 3. 5. 7. 10. Monday - Saturday - 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. Sunday - 12 p.m. - 7 p.m. French: 1-800-267-7432 TDD: 1-800-267-7712 the virus believed to cause AIDS street term for seminal emission slang for condom a kind of sex considered low risk for HTV transmission an effective means of greatly reducing HIV transmission a latex barrier for women to use for oral sex Greek - Tuesday 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. Spanish, Portuguese & Italian Thursday 5 p.m. - 10 p.m. Chinese - Friday 4 p.m. - 10 p.m. Behold the turtle. He makes progress when he sticks his neck out. - James Bryant Conant ReACT-Believe In Thunder Bay you can call the AIDS Infoline at the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay at 345-SAFE, that’s 345-7233. / -- Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. talk to our staff and volunteers. Afterhours and weekends listen to an informative taped message. You do not have to give your name. Page 6 �ACT-B Advisory Council Frod Ball Doug Broman Nicky Clark Joy Fedorick Mickey Hennessey John McDonald Mary McKenzie Mane Portier Eleanor Richardson Sieve Roede Director, Public Health Laboratory Producer, Thunder Gay Magazine Supervisor, PAG.H., Infection Control Educator & Native Advocate City Councillor Lawyer Coordinator, Palliative Care. McKellar Hospital Residential Care Worker Educator & TVO Regional Liaison Family Physician ACT-B Board of Directors David Belrose Deb While Norma Proctor Terry Bryant George Arnold Rick Atkinson Carl Gray Betty Kruzick John McDonald Jeanette Munshaw Barbara Reid President Vice-President Treasurer Secretary Director Director Director Director Director Director Director VIGIL to remember and support THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18,1990 7:30 P.M. ACT-E1 Staff Sheila Berry Ma-Nee Davis Darcia Kohuska Lawrence Korhonen Karen Maki Glenna McLeod Eileen Parker Michael Sobota candlelight Volunteer Coordinator Native AIDS Project Coordinator Education Coordinator Office Manager Fundraising Coordinator Suppon Services Coordinator Communications/Outreach Coordinator Executive Director ASSEMBLE AT 285 BAY ST FOR A SHORT, SILENT W TO THE UNITARIAN HALL Gallols' Revelation "If you put tomfoolery into a computer, nothing comes out but tomfoolery. But this tomfoolery, having passed through a veiy expensive machine is somehow enobled and no one dares to criticize it" Please give us your feedback! Comments, concerns, compliments and criticisms about the newsletter, our publications, or about any aspect of the agency. You can phone or mail. You can remain anonymous if you wish. We’d like to know your comments in order to improve on weak points, and continue to deliver our strong points. Thank you to the agencies and individuals who have given us their comments. They are greatly appreciated. Goodbye Michael Chan Welcome Glenna! Michael Chan, a Board Member of ACT-B has left our agency to move to the salty air of Fredricton, New Brunswick. Michael is a founding member of ACT-B. He has been a Board member and has chaired our Personnel Committee and was Treasurer of the Executive Committee, and he’s even done BINGO! We will all miss him. Hi! Let me introduce myself. My name is Glenna McLeod and I am the new Support Services Coordinator. After only two weeks here at the committee, 1 feel like part of the family. Thank you to everyone for making me feel so welcome. To those of you I haven’t met, please come in and introduce yourself. I look forward to meeting and working with all of you. Write to: AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay P.O. Box 3586 Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B6E2 (807)345-1516 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Eileen Parker, Editor, ReACT-Believe The opinions and medical information offered by ReACT-Believe are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the staff or Board of Directors cf the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. ^edicak ^formation offered by ReACT-Believe fshould be used with your own discretion. Pleasej&nsult.your doctor. y~ Page-7--;.- [This book] is a wonderful, entertaining approach to a serious subject. In this day and age of terrible epidemics, we have to find innovative ways to restore respect for the use of condoms. Perhaps the only way that hasn't been tried is by way of amusement. - Dr. Sol Gordon A limited number of copies of this funny little book are available. You can get one for only $6.00. Drop by our office at 285 Bay Street ReACT-Believe �Thank You! As a non-profit agency there are many individuals, groups and businesses that lend us a helping hand. We can’t name them all, but here’s a few who have done some things that are extra special in the last few months. We would like to extend them a big Thank You! * Thank you to all who volunteered their time and support for our successful Yard Sale. * Thank you for your donations. * Thank you, Japan Camera for the help with our photography needs. * Thanks to the Thunder Bay media, who help to get our message out to you. * Thank you to all those who helped for our Benefit Performance of Longtime Companion: Three’s Company Silk Flowers, Sweet Thursday Bookstore, Alliance Distributors, Cineplex/Odeon Theatres, Sean Mundy for the lovely music and to all the volunteers that provided us with a simply decadent Dessert Buffet! Native Outreach Outreach ’90 The first Northwestern Ontario Native Outreach Program will be taking place November 5-12. Free educational presentations on AIDS will be given in Kenora, Red Lake, Pickle Lake, Sioux Lookout and Geraldton. These presentations are given in English and Ojibway. For more information about what day the program will be in your area contact Ma-Nee Davis at (807) 345-1516. The Eastern Tour of our 1990 Outreach Program took place September 17 - 30. Darcia Kohuska, our Education Coordinator delivered over 30 presentations. She visited Longlac, Geraldton, Nipigon, Terrace Bay, Marathon, Heron Bay, Mobert and Beardmore. She gave presentations to high schools, elementary schools, hospitals, agencies and Native groups. ACT-B has secured funding from the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Trillium Foundation to implement the Outreach Program. The program responds to concerns voiced about the growing need for information about AIDS, from the smaller and more isolated communities in Northwestern Ontario. The Outreach Program establishes a liaison between ACT-B and the outlying communities to foster an exchange of information. These presentations are delivered free along with literature, videos and posters to all interested groups. For more information about upcoming Outreach Programs contact Eileen Parker, Outreach Coordinator at (807) 345-1516. * Thank you to Northern Crystal for providing the water cooler for our meeting of the Ontario AIDS Network. * Thank you to the students at P.A.C.I. for raising money for our AIDSupport Fund. * Thank you to Abitibi Provincial Mill for the donation of paper. * Thank you to Thunder Bay Restaurant and the Second Cup for using their locations for filming scenes for our video projects. * Thank you to MacLean Hunter Cable TV for the generous donations of their time, equipment, studios, knowledge and advice. See it on Channel 7... Kee-Way-Wln "Journey" A show on Native People & AIDS Tuesday, October 16, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, October 18,9 p.m. Sunday, October 21,2 p.m. aitarai Drug Dependency & AIDS * And last, but surely not least, a special thank you to all our volunteers who keep this agency going strong. PxACT-Believe Wednesday, October 18,8:30 p.m. Sunday, October21,11 a.m. Wednesday, October 31,8:30 p.m. Page 8 �TREATMENT This material is publishedfor the sole purpose of acquainting readers with the lastest developments in AIDS therapeutics. The opinions and medical information offered by ReACT• Believe are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the staff or Board of Directors of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. Medical information should be used with your own discretion. Please consult your doctor. AZT THEN AND NOW "HAVING HOPE WON'T GUARANTEE THAT YOU'LL SURVIVE AIDS, BUT NOT HAVING HOPE SEEMS TO GUARANTEE THAT YOU'LL SUCCUMB QUICKLY." - MICHAEL CALLEN The purpose of this article is to fuel that hope which Michael Callen speaks of. His physician, Dr. Joseph Sonnubend has suggested that earlier cases of AIDS were somehow sicker than those being diagnosed today. The following is an attempt to share with you current and past knowledge of one therapy....the therapy of AZ1DOTHYMIDINE ur AZT. These facts are in no way an attempt to sway die reader to prescribe for, or against AZT but to impart up to date study, observations and learning. Azidothymydine (AZT) is an anti viral drug which has been proven active against die Human Immunodefiency Virus (HIV). Retrovir (AZT), the proprietary trade name of the generic term Zinovudine (AZT) was invented and developed over 25 years ago as a cancer chemodierapy, by Jerome Horwilz. It was shelved as being totally ineffective against cancer. AIDS is considered a condition of immune suppression caused by die HIV virus, replicating and eating its way into T-4 cells which are essential to the immune system. HIV is a retrovirus which contains an enzyme called reverse transcriptase which converts viral RNA to DNA. RNA & DNA are located within the T4 cells. The HIV virus takes over the T4 cells, causing replication to cease. In the early 1980’s when the AIDS epidemic began, drug companies around die world began studying hundreds of compounds looking for a cure or at least a treatment for AIDS. Burroughs Wellcome, a subsidiary of the British drug Page 9 company Wellcome, by chance sent die failed cancer drug, then known as Compound S to the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Sam Broder, head of the NCI, found that it inhibited HIV viral replication in vitro, (laboratory) A panel of 11 top AIDS doctors chaired by Dr. Itzhak Brook knew that die Burroughs Wellcome study was flawed and that long range effects of AZT were completely unknown. The panel were conferring in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) building in consideration of giving lightning quick approval of the drug. It was known that AZT did not stop deadi and that some who were switched in the study to AZT did die. The severity of the side effects was known. AZT is considered chemodierapy and patients receiving it needed blood transfusions. Around 4 pm. on a cold January day the panel recommended approval. AZT - one of the most toxic, expensive and controversial drugs in the history of medicine became the only FDA approved anti viral therapy. The data the company had produced proved it was prolonging life concluding dial the benefits clearly outweighed the risks. The most toxic effect of AZT is bone marrow suppression resulting in anemia. Burroughs Wellcome identified other side effects: loss of mental acuity, muscle spasms, rectal bleeding, tremors, headaches, pains in the neck and nausea. Anemia is the most common side effect, which is actually the depletion of red blood cells. According to Dr. Peter Duesberg; "Red blood cells are the one thing you cannot do without. Without red cells you cannot pick up oxygen." Several studies have concluded that AZT by itself has no effect on the two most common opportunistic AIDS infections - Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia (PCP) and Kaposi's Sarcoma (KS). Azidothymidine should be administered with caution if there is evidence AZT - one of the most toxic, expensive and controversial drugs in the history of medicine of Ever or kidney dysfunction. Despite the presence of AZT - HIV continues to replicate but at a reduced rate. According to the May 1989 issue of Treatment Update, an American physician reported the effects of AZT (200mg. every four hours) in six PLWA’s over a period of 15 months. Initially the patients responded well and were disease free for 9-15 months. After an interval they began to report increasing fatigue, loss of appetite and energy, sometimes low grade fever accompanied by night sweats. Upon examination, patients were found to be suffering from weight reduedon, muscle loss and fungal infections of the mouth. This evidence enforces the suspicion that the virus eventually becomes resistant to AZT. Die July/90 ATDS Treatment News #107 reported that HTV has been proven to mutate frequently. Some strains of mutation are resistant to AZT and can be found in patients who have never taken it. Resistance appears to increase with the amount of time one has taken the drug. Dosage has always been a chief concern and topic of contention between doctors, researchers, sciendsts and patients alike. There minimum effective dose has not yet been firmly established. What is known is that it was wrong from day one. In a 1989 Canadian ACT treatment study sponsored by Burroughs Wellcome, the recommended dosage was 1200 mg. daily consisting of two 100 mg. capsules every four hours day and night. Issue #4 (May 23/1986) of the "Treatment Update" publicadon, suggested that side effects could be dose rclaied. During the March, 1990 "State of die Art Conference on AZT Therapy for Early HIV Infection"; initiation of AZT was recommended for bodi Symptomatic and Asymptomatic HTV + individuals whose T4 cell counts were below 500. The daily recommended therapy was 500 mg. ACTG.019, a major American trial published its resultsin the New England Journal of Medicine, concluding dial 500 mg. was not only lower in toxicity but possibly more effective dian the 1500 mg.dosage. In April, the FDA changed the official "labelling" to include an optional dose reduction to 600 mg. per day after one month of a 1200 mg. daily dose. At the "VI International Conference", Dr. Marcus Conant, a practitioner who has treated AIDS and HIV since it was discovered said that Doctors were not seeing liver toxicity ReA CT-Believe �TREATMENT on the lower dose of 500-600 mg. daily and that about 1 % of patients with over 250 T-helper cells needed to stop AZT because of toxicity. A small study has shown effect at 300 mg. per day. This study is far from conclusive but it does suggest that people who have to lower their dosage because of side effects or use of other drugs which depress blood cell counts may still benefit. European data showed that it need not be administered every four hours. Currently, some physicians are prescribing 200 mg. every eight hours/600 mg. daily. Burroughs Welleome in its bid to have AZT, FDA approved, assured the medical panel that the drug was intended as a slop-gap measure for very sick patients. August 17 1989, the U.S. government announced that 1.4 million healthy HIV + Americans could benefit from the treatment, even though they show no symptoms of the disease. Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Health after a two year trial declared, it was clearly shown that early intervention will keep AIDS at bay. In February 1990 AIDS Treatment News #96 reported; the FDA recommended early use of AZT, stating that the side effects are less of a problem if patients are healthier when they begin treatment particularly at the lower doses. There seemed to be less concern about viral resistance with early use and more positive thinking that the drug might be more effective at slowing the development of the disease if prescribed earlier. MUCH IS STILL UNKNOWN ABOUT THE LONG TERM EFFECTS OF AZT. The drug continues to be controversial 3 1/2 years later. It has been studied throughout the world. By August of 1989, the use of the drug had spread to over sixty countries with an estimated 20,000 recipients. A great deal is known yet there remain unanswered questions. What are the long term effects of AZT? Arc there additional side effects not yet disclosed regarding toxicity and toleration? It is a fact that not all HIV infected people can take the drug, therefore who can or better yet, who cannot? Can AZT be discontinued without consequences? If so, under what circumstances and when? Azidothymidine is a chemotherapeutic drug. It does kill dividing blood cells and other cells, thus it is directly immunosuppressive. Only very few cells, about 1 in 10,000 are actively making the virus containing DNA, therefore, it must kill incredibly large numbers of cells to inhibit the virus. What arc the long term effects of that statement? How much damage is there in the bone-marrow? Is it repairable? Finally, what about resistance? On the other hand, AZT is prolonging life RcACT-Believe and buying time. It provides hope. Treatment for AIDS is possible. Scientifically, it does appear to help. People using AZT have lower incidences of opportunistic infections and with early therapy, blood transfusions are rare. Improvements in T4 cell counts are evident. Viral replication is impeded. CRYPTOSPOREDIOSIS (diarrhea) is clearing up. AZT is an antibiotic and an anti viral; therefore scientists are suggesting it may suppress certain bacterial infections for those taking the drug. There are improvements in neurologic functions; that is in memory, visual attention and motor functions, therefore, the quality of life is improved. A Dutch study has concluded AZT prevents the development of dementia with early intervention. There is no Canadian nor American confirmation on this report. This article has not covered AZT combinations. Doctors and researchers suggest this may be the wave of the future. Ask your doctor, educate yourself to the possible combinations. Use resource and educational facilities such as: ACT-B in Thunder Bay and ACT in Toronto. Possible combinations including a brief description are: I) ERYTHROPOIT1N (EPO + AZT) - used for AZT related anemia and bone marrow toxicity. This combination suggests the possibility that blood transfusions will no longer be required. It's usage is experimental at this stage, ii) Acyclovir (ACV + AZT) - There is nothing concrete that ACV is an anti viral but what is known are the positive results with the herpes virus. Ill) Probenecid (AZT + Probenecid) - This combination may result in higher blood levels which could produce stronger HIV supressing action, suggesting possible dose reductions. Iv) Vitamin E (AZT + Vitamin E) - appears to protect bone marrow from toxicity. Higher blood levels arc a possibility, v) Alpha Interferon (AZT + Alpha Interferon) - is currently approved for Kaposi’s Sarcoma (KS). The side effects arc numerous. Data is incomplete and the combination may not be entirely useful. NOBEL PRIZE winner Walter Gilbert, states: There have always been drugs that we use without knowing exactly how they work. The really important thing to look at is the clinical effect. Is the drug helping or isn't it? POINTS TO PONDER: * If you have symptoms of AIDS or want to know if you carry the HIV virus, the most effective advice is perhaps the most difficult. GET TESTED 11 Find out your status and if you are positive, treatment of any kind including AZT can begin immediately. * People with below 500 T - Helper cells do better being treated with AZT than without it. *The minimum effective dose of AZT has not been firmly established. * Regular dosing at the prescribed intervals is essential. If you miss one, do NOT double up. * Doctors suggest AZT therapy be not stopped whenever possible as stopping can lead to increased HIV replication. * Your body is your temple. Watch what you put into it and be cautious of high fat meals. * Avoid swallowing AZT without something to wash it down. It is caustic enough to create esophagus ulcerations. * A largely dismissed but not conclusive fear is dial ASA (ACETOMINOPHEN) may alter the metabolism of AZT. OF INTEREST TO WOMENAND CHILDREN: * Women account for 6.9% of all reported AIDS cases. * Long term use and effect of AZT in pregnant women and nursing mothers is currently under study, therefore has not yet been determined. * It is not known if AZT is excreted in human milk. * Women, minorities, and IV drug users have been modestly represented in major AZT studies. * As of 1990, it has been determined thai AZT works the same in children as in adults, the same in women as in men. * In 1989 AZT became available in syrup form making it easier to administer to children. It became free of charge to those children who met certain medical requirements. REFERENCES: Surviving and Thriving with AIDS - Michael Calico VI IntnT Conference Overview from Marcus Conanl MD Treatment Update.... Various issues AIDS Treatment Newt...Variety of publications including issues 1 through 75 by John James An International Perspective on Treatments Medical News and Perspectives Spin Maqazinc - AIDS Words from the Pront • Celia Father Health Protection Branch - ISSUES BETA - Bulletin of Experimental Treatments For AIDS Burroughs Welleome Inc. - Canadian RETROVIR Treatment Study Page 10 �A LITTLE KNOWN VOLUNTEER Speak Up Little did I know, when I attended the OAN in Thunder Bay in July, that I would meet one of ACT-B’s "little known volunteers." I was billeted with the Ivan/s. Peter, Susan and their two sons collectively provided me with a comfortable, hospitable, and friendly visit. My fondest memory, however, relates to their son, Derek, the Tvany’s host-aunaturel. In the wee hours (i.e. 6:45 a.m.) of the Sunday morning of the conference, I tiptoed upstairs at the Ivan/s to iron a dress. Peter and Susan weren’t up to greet me (Odd isn’t it? Ironing is quickly becoming a dying art!), but Derek was. He greeted me in a somewhat shy manner and noted that I didn’t seem to have a beverage. He pulled his treasured Carnation Instant Breakfast out from the cupboard and asked whether I’d like one, naming the three available flavours. I told him I had never tried Instant Breakfast. He replied that they’re tasty as well as good for you. We decided that I should try chocolate (my all time favourite flavour). Derek's next action won my heart. You’ve heard the old adage, "the early bird gets its own breakfast?" Not this time! That’s right -- Derek himself made me breakfast! That’s a treat I have rarely experienced, mostly because no one ever gets up as early as I do, especially on Sunday mornings! Derek watched for my response. It WAS delicious, but I’m not sure whether the apparently sweet glow of satisfaction on my face had more to do with the smooth taste of the Instant Breakfast or the delight of being served up by this absolutely charming volunteer host. Future projections? Women Living With AIDS & HIV CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS Through a Canada Arts Council grant, Darien Taylor and Beverly Rudd arc compiling an international anthology documenting the voices and visions of women living with AIDS and HIV. Submissions could include but arc not limited to: pages from diaries autobiographical material dreams fiction poetry letters to partners, parents, children etc... photographs drawings paintings cartoons essays tape recordings and anything else you could think of. Material submitted in languages other than English is welcome. Please send submission along with a brief biography and contact address by APRIL 1, 1990 to: 1. At any such time that I again dine on a Carnation Instant Breakfast, a sweet memory will surface. P.O. Box 471, Stn "C" Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6J3P5 2. ACT-B belter not let ibis. volunteer get away! .* range. Coil Dennis t" . sand eshod. ■64,500 96 repilty Ltd uy you 9 year ike, 20 , hos 2 mbino ..d r? ' _ i .- . 6> ~ __ WANTED SHOP building for lease 5000-10 000 sqfi 2 3 acres. Coll 155 Realtor Canada Reolty 75 WANTED ^ IARGF ' OP' Cheryl Opolko Chair, ACCKWA day Sept 4th 86 PERSONAL c. G., Limit "Thu Polar its ri« of de odjki Gene V eem k 4th er, 1 eziec ..tyw . im 10l »-0 T741 sr use ne on drive iams, xim -t s. !& •• city. I SINGLE X-V& for 2 be ferablywi. essential. ^ October/Nov THUNDFR BA rcP% on smoking w 'r&om aportmt ■hate occupo. -.er•Vilf « • iele <5 A Page U Please send copies to avoid possible damage. ASTROLOGY AND CARD READING. For individual ap­ pointments or house party. Call Frances at u. . \ rAnrs "r'‘D|NGS by A, -*■ parties in ' " for opAM- Iheryi ? Don't call ne irchos- fax: (416) 340-6521 call: (416) 594-1445 JiiG l?owo°M5l a telev Ov V J camert chine o, 9 •Mitre, .JO p.m. w- .ow available tor polm readina. ChanJ j upon request Appoir ..nts necessary______ * MONEY PROBLEMS? H by creditors? Thre<wage gamishme' credit relief. r tion. > j.. boar mo nan (jj er - * CJ AJUJ", IONJ / PROTECT- printed on 10Q% recycled paper RtACT-Bclieve � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource David Belrose fonds Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource reACT-Believe Vol 3 Issue 4 - Fall 1990 Subject The topic of the resource Organizations Health and Medicine Description An account of the resource Newsletter of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1990 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2661/1990_reACT-Believe_vol3no1_[1989_v3n1].pdf e480fbc528d0bdf8d320e4d16f6a0bc5 PDF Text Text ������������� https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2661/1990_reACT-Believe_vol3no1_[1989_v3n1]_2.pdf d1bcad91a61edf90d7a92f9f5171df83 PDF Text Text Ur\ Ok I m r\ I —K /IC^ nVil U eheve The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Newsletter January /February 1959 Volume III, Issue I Educators! Posters for kids! See inside Condoms & Cars Staff & Board.................. "Hands On" AIDS Therapy The Case For Early Intervention . Questions from the Phoneline Tidbits Pg. Pg ?g Pg 1 2 3 4 Dry 4 -Dao Ss CAN Comes to T. Bay!... . Volunteer! Volunteer' ACT-B Calendar. Shared Life President's Message Pg 7 Pg 7 Pg 8 Pg 9 Pg 10 �1. Condoms and Cars Reprinted with permission from the AIDS Committee of Windsor It's become the leading cause of death in young people. It can be avoided completely only by abstaining. Yet few are willing to make that sacrifice and choose rather to live with the risk. Most efforts to contain this epidemic focus on reducing the danger to an acceptable level. Those words refer to traffic accidents. They are also familiar terms for describing the AIDS epidemic. There are those who argue that the only way to stop AIDS is to promote abstinence. No level of risk is acceptable. Ifthey were consistent in their logic they wouldalso be campaigning to ban the automobile Even with all the emphasis on seat belts, air bags, speed limits and drunk driving laws, the highways are hardly a risk free environment. The usual criticism of condoms is that their record as a birth control device is less than reassuring. An often quoted statistic is that over the course of a year about 10% of the heterosexual couples using condoms will v.oj'w. IVilVV ^ 1 V^J***M*V f Condoms are neither failsafe nor foolproof For the most part they don't work because people forget to use them or damage them through improper use And sometimes condoms are poorly manufactured. Why then do public health officials, health care workers and community AIDS organizations rely so heavily on condom promotion? The answer lies in the distinction between conception and infection One sperm cell, and only, one. is needed to fertilize an ovum. The reproductive process is designed to facilitate fertilization, with millions of sperm cells contained in every ejaculation of semen. On the other hand AIDSis a difficult disease to contract sexually. Viral infections must occur in sufficient number and frequency to overwhelm the immune response That threshold varies with the source of the infection and the health of the people involved. The levels of HIV in semen and vaginal fluids are lew and often can not be detected in r\orer»«"io Vv> nrrr** tn Ko * r, f - Over several years the risk is compounded. If the chances of geting AIDS are the same as having a baby abstaining starts to look very good indeed. j'W UWiiU lUlW VW l/V tiilVVtVM. Studies have shown that the sexual partners of people with HIV often remain uninfected over long periods of time despite repeated exposures through unprotected intercourse. In comparison the exchange of blood through sharing needles provides a far more efficient means of infection In order to break the epidemic ofsexually transmitted AIDS, condoms dent need to be 100% effective In fact even a leaking condom may sometimes be sufficient in keeping the amount of exposure below the threshold of infection. Realistically however, the goal is to make HIV infection an isolated event, not to eliminate all risk. So far this strategy appears to be working in the one segment of society that is taking safer sex seriously the gay community Rates of sexually transmitted disease and the incidence of HIV transmission have been reduced far beyond what was believed possible. And this has happened despite the large numbers already infected Abstention will always be an option. We can choose not to have sex or not to travel the highways. But most of us will continue to take chances •n ikit wUl vAl tvsi. iXioUvlAig, reasonable concessions to safety Jim Monk �r Christine Mather (just call me Chris) I am the new Support Services Coordinator at ACT-3 > my name is 2. ren Maki and Eileen Parker are now with us as Fundraising Coordinator and Communications/Outreach Coor­ dinator respectively Karen was a member of the ACT-B Board That's a Support Services Coordinator?" That's a good question, one for which we don't yet have a full answer Basically. I see my job of Directors She will coordinate and help plan as providing "psycho-social" support (O K I'll and implement the private fundraising of try and make that the last jargon I use) to ACT-B in conjunction with the Eundraising P V A s. their families, friends and other care This will include organizing Committee givers figuring out just what services should bingos, special events and making foundation be developed to deliver that support is the first and corporate approaches. task the Support Services Committee Eileen has been with us previously, and I face. Of course, we 11 be reviewing what since July, on a CEIC Section 25 job creation has been done in other communities, but we'd program. She will be continuing her work in like to begin by hosting an organizational/ commumcations;producmg posters, pamphlets, brainstormiong meeting for anyone our newsletter and working with the media concerned about AIDS We can anticipate that and will also be coordinating our Northwestern from this meeting will come ideas, direction Ontario Outreach Program and guidance - so start thinking Ve il be advertising and explaining this meeting more thouroughly closer to the event e miss Donna and Vicki That's a description of my position now for I am an some information about me already! immigrant from England and have been in Donna was our Project Coordinator and Vicki Thunder Bay for 13 years Eor the last eight was our Administrative Assistant on a CEIC years I have been a Social Worker and have Section 25 job creation program. worked in several local agencies. I very much Each with her own special brand of humour enjoy living in Canada and especially like and unique insight, they brightened up the getting out into the bush. If there's any kind of assistance I can offer i office and our lives Donna has moved on to another job and Vicki is enjoying the Florida you or those you care about, from counselling to negotiating with government agencies, feel winter. We miss them! free to give me a call or drop in at the office In our next newsletter will be a column ACT-B Board of Directors from me about stress and stress management techniques. David Belrose President Deb White Vice-President Chris Mather H.B.S.W Norma Proctor Treasurer ACT-B Staff Terry Bryant..................... Secretary George Arnold Director Linda Gambee VolunteerCoordinator Rick Atkinson......................................... Director Darcia Kohuska EducationCoordinator Michael Chan Director Lawrence Korhonen Office Manager Carl Gray..................................................Director Karen Maki FundraisingCoordinator Betty Kruzick Director Chris Mather Support Services Coordinator John McDonald ....................................Director Eileen Parker Communications Coordinator Jeanette Munshaw..................................Director Michael Sobota.....................Executive Director Barbara Reid........................................... Director �r Christine Mather, i (just cal! me Chris) I am the new Support | Services Coordinator at ACT-B > my name is 2. ren Maki and Eileen Parker are now with us as Fundraising Coordinator and Communications/Outreach Coor­ dinator respectively Karen was a member of the ACT-B Board 'What's a Support Services Coordinator?" That's a good question one for which we don't yet have a full answer Basically. I see my job of Directors She will coordinate and help plan as providing "psycho-social” support (O K I'll and implement the private fundraising of try and make that the last jargon I use) to ACT-B in conjunction with the Eundraising P W A s. their families, friends and other care This will include organizing Committee givers figuring out just what services should bingos, special events and making foundation be developed to deliver that support is the first and corporate approaches. task the Support Services Committee Eileen has been with us previously, and I face. Of course, we 11 be reviewing what since July, on a CEIC Section 25 job creation has been done in other communities, but we'd program. She will be continuing her work in like to begin by hosting an organizational/ communications;producing posters, pamphlets, brainstormiong meeting for anyone our newsletter and working with the media concerned about AIDS. We can anticipate that and will also be coordinating our Northwestern from this meeting will come ideas, direction Ontario Outreach Program and guidance - so start thinking We ll be advertising and explaining this meeting more thouroughly closer to the event e miss Donna and Vicki That's a description of my position now for I am an some information about me already! immigrant from England and have been in Donna was our Project Coordinator and Vicki Thunder Bay for 13 years Eor the last eight was our Administrative Assistant on a CEIC years I have been a Social Worker and have Section 25 job creation program. worked in several local agencies. I very much Each with her own special brand of humour enjoy living in Canada and especially like and unique insight, they brightened up the getting out into the bush. If there's any kind of assistance I can offer i office and our lives Donna has moved on to another job and Vicki is enjoying the Florida you or those you care about, from counselling to negotiating with government agencies, feel winter. We miss them! free to give me a call or drop in at the office In our next newsletter will be a column ACT-B Board of Directors from me about stress and stress management techniques. David Belrose........................................ President Deb White Vice-President Chris Mather H.B.S.W Norma Proctor Treasurer ACT-B Staff Terry Bryant........................................ Secretary George Arnold......................................... Director Linda Gambee VolunteerCoordinator Rick Atkinson ....................................... Director Darcia Kohuska EducationCoordinator Michael Chan Director Lawrence Korhonen Office Manager Carl Gray ............................................ Director Karen Maki FundraisingCoordinator Betty Kruzick Director Chris Mather Support Services Coordinator John McDonald........................................Director Eileen Parker Communications Coordinator Jeanette Munshaw..................................Director Michael Sobota . Executive Director Barbara Reid........................................... Director �3. Massage & the Acquired Immune Deficiency by William ¥. Roberts It was not easy to begin massage work with PW A.s. I found no resistance in myself, especially after checking nth others who were already working in this area. However some friends were not happy nth the idea This led to some heated discussions (!) and a procedure that seemed to satisfy everyone involved Everyone is involved. Let me put out some of my experience and I hope, some useful ideas I'll make two things clear at the beginning. Massage is a laying on of hands, a caring person taking care of another. This, in itself, is a healing process at least as old as the Bible and certainly something that everyone can do. The second point is that there is no need to adjust the approach of massage for a person with AIDS or other related dis-eases There are special situations to be aware of, however you must be aware of any one’s special circumstances before and as you work on them And you must decide to work. It also seems important for any massaging person to not take on the dis-ease of a person they are working on To do so. I find, drains energy, gives headaches and ends further sessions. I prefer to iook at the massage person as a conduit or channel for anv healing process that is at work, and an unplugged drain for tensions to pass off and thru. Leaving no residual This means I must clear my head. I found that washing before a session, burning cedar with a window cracked to clear the working space, shaking the hands off when they feel heavy, taking breaks when needed (by both people!), a glass of good water and a light heart worked quite well for myself At times I use music, however 111 mention that later Relax! EorthePV A there are some other aspects I feel are important Nervousness1 Yours at least, and this may be the first time this person receives a massage. Check this out with any person you work on. and give some careful thought to the fear that may be in someone who is quite possibly facing their death. In the case of Karposis Sarcoma, there may be darkened areas of skin (like bruises) or open lesions I exercise the same caution as I would around bruises and wounds Very gently over the bruise and leave the wound alone The hands can be passed over the areas, without touching, with probably the same effect The care is more important than the actual contact. Joints may be quite stiff Gentle manipulation using the comfortable range of motion. I let the person tell me if something hurts My aim is relaxation and normalization of body functions. Many, if not most relaxation tapes are just plain dumb and a waste of money! Listen before you buy. The most useful ones I’ve found are simply sounds oceans/crickets/frogs/birds and music that is not climactic Stuff that moves easily (and maybe exoticallyor eccentrically) as you would like the body to move There is a lot to talk about here and maybe I can go into another article I don t want to leave without mentioning two possibly important items Tickling Not a lot! and not at the end! (Check out the situation with the person first) And iust holding the head with both hands and allowing the complete relaxation.* Sometimes a deep sigh will indicate the release, and other times a snoring sound* That’s all for now. please feel free to contact me. * Emotional Stress Release points on the head, check out a Touch for Health book or a Naturopath. William Roberts is a long standing volunteer vith ACT-B. He is a trained Touch For Health practitioner, a masseur, a teacher of T'ai-Chi and plants trees. For more information an the healing properties of massage, stop by the ACT-B Resource Centre Library at 285 Bay St. �The Case For Early Intervention PART l TYPES OF INTERVENTION Sc ATTITUDE TtV>o UiW A 4 A W N rsqft nf flntc % VA \AAiO series, we reported the Federal Government's revised guidelines for the use of AZT As mere has become known about this drug and how to appropriately administer it. AZT has shown itself to be an effective way to slow the replication of HIV in many infected individuals Eor others. aZT may not be effective or appropriate. 5hould you use AZT if you are HIV +’ That is a decision that should wholely rest in your own hands. The decision is best made by knowing and understanding what your current health status is. in consultation with a good. AIDS aware physician. It could also be beneficial to talk with a counselor at your local AIDS committee. The first step in making any decision about treatment concerns, is knowing what your status is This is the primary reason for individuals to consider taking the HIV antibody test. In a future article we will present the case for being tested. TYPES OF INTERVENTION Five general categories of intervention are currently available. 1. general health maintenance. 2. holistic or complementary therapies. 3 antiviral medicine. 4 immuneododulating medicines and 5 preventive medicine against opportunistic infections. Martin Delaney, coauthor of Strategies for Survival: The Gay Men's Health Manual for the Age of AIDS, wrote in a Eebruary, 1989 article "The biggest mistake we can make in exploring these approaches is to assume that we must choose one. as if it were an election campaign No singular method of intervention is sufficient on its own." A traditional, simplistic approach to health usually went something like this: if I get sick, go to a doctor and s/he will fix it. It is a common altitudinal approach that gives power over to trained professionals, eases us of the burdens of responsibility, and - for the most part - is usually effective. Modern medicine has developed allot of "fixes". AIDS knocks out the support for this attitude completely. There is no "fix", no magic bullet that provides a single treatment or cure At the same time, understanding that there are five useful ways to begin early intervention points toward a new attitudinal model, one of taking personal responsibility for decision making about our health, in partnership with skilled resources In future articles of this series, we will discuss the case for HIV antibody testing, new treatments, and cautions to bear in mind about interventions. 4. ????’’? Questions From the Phoneline Q: If someone I work with has AIDS, can I catch it from them’ A: Unless you had unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse, or shared intravenous needles with them, there is no way you could be exposed to the *HIV You can not get AIDS or HIV infection from casual contact. virus You can't get it from sneezing, touching, kissing, brushing by. sharing a phone etc. In fact, you are of more risk to the person with AIDS Vhen one has AIDS, their immune system is suppressed, so they become more susceptible to illnesses such as colds and flus This isn't good for the person with AIDS, as these simple illnesses become hard to fight off. If you work with someone who has AIDS, the best thing you can do is learn something about A IDS so that you can better support your colleague Don't be afraid of that person -don't be afraid to touch A hug can do wonders Q Can I get AIDS from having Oral Sex’ A There is a low risk of HIV transmission from oral sex as the HIV virus is found in Continued on Page 10 �Tidbits. te p wm lit ml M/M Is mi To all AIDS Committees. We have found bubble gum flavoured dental dams. To order write to Ash Temple 615 Erin Street Winnipeg. MB. R3G 2W1 1-800-665-8985 We have multicoloured condoms in bright green ', cherry red. canary yellow and electric blue We ordered them from: Safetex Corporation 1100 Valley Brook Avenue Lyndhurst, New Jersey 07071 As I write this Tidbitl am feeding my little baby Sarah. Yes. I’m at work and so is my 2 month old baby! This would have been unheard of 20 years ago. but the times are changing It's been a positive experience for everyone. I have been able to return to work when Sarah is still very young I haven t had to face early separation from my baby or my other baby, my work. She makes us giggle when she makes funny noises during staff meetings; and. when things get crazy around the office. Sarah gives us a big smile and makes everything all right! They offer a wide variety of paper and envelopes I find the paper is of good quality. Domtar in Winnipeg also has recycled paper available Call (204)949-0210. Also some printers in Thunder Bay will have recycled paper available in the near future. They're Here! Posters For Kids________________ HEY* YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU CANT GET AIDS ER0M is produced by the Minnesota AIDS Project and is widely distributed in the United States Thunder Bay is the first city in Canada to receive this award-winning poster Whimsical cartoon characters come to life on a giant 17 x22" full colour poster that is sure to delight children of all ages The A IDS Committee of Thunder Bay is offering this poster for children, free to all local schools, along with an informative Teaching Guide. Contact Darcia Kchuska, Education Coordinator for more information at 345-1516 AIDS COMMITTEES: This poster is available at the discounted price of $2 00 per poster. Open House_____________________ An Open House will be held at ACT-B all day. Eriday, Eebruary 9 Come in and meet all the staff and have some great coffee and conversation While you're here, see our display and our "goodies" table. Sneak out a bit early Eriday afternoon and come on down Everyone is welcome! Environment__________________ ATTENTION ALL TEACHERS_______ This newsletter has been printed on recycled paper We ordered the paper from The Paper Source Fallbrook. Ontario K0G1A0 (613)267-7191 The ACT-B Resource Centre Library has three videos available geared specifically to teens A Letter From Brian---------------------------------This video tells the story of a teenage girl who �6. you know what? you CAN'T GET ALPS FROM: mm AIM IS Hot 5PACAO BY "TAltioS VC ToOCJf / had an intimate experience with a teenage boy named Brian He writes her a letter and tells her he has AIDS. She is scared. A Letter Erom Brian" tells how she deals with her situation. The Subject is AIDS----------This film features frank discussions with and among teenagers about the causes, concerns and preventive practices related to AIDS. STD Street Smarts—^— This video is produced by. for and with "street youth". With frank language and explicit imagery, this video addresses difficult issues such as sex and injection drug use in the age of A IDS. It is non-judgementai in its portrayal of young people acquiring, using, and sharing knowledge about safe sex and needle use This video is not intended for the average high school audience. "STD Street Smarts" is accompanied by a comprehensive facilitators' manual Eor more information on these and other videos and resource material available in our library, contact Darcia Kohuskai Education Coordinator at 345-1516 More Tidbits �7 OAN in Thunder Bay ! The summer of 1990 is going to be our turn to host a quarterly meeting of the Ontario AIDS Network' So. what is the OAN. you might ask? Veil, its MISSION STATEMENT says, "The Ontario AIDS Network is a coalition of Community Based groups mutually creating a just and effective response to AIDS" Meeting four times a year in various cities in Ontario, the local AIDS Committee plays host to the member delegates I have attended many of the OAN meetings. They can be large meetings with up to fifteen AIDS organizations taking part. Issues such as anonymous testing, treatments, funding programs and advocacy are discussed It helps our groups to make a coordinated response to the media, the Ontario Ministry of Health and the public. Also, workshops are held to share new knowledge and upgrade skills Massage, treatments, media relations, fundraising are just a few that have been covered in the past This is not the first OAN meeting to be held here The group was here about two years ago October of 1987 to be exact. That was during the city's first AIDS Awareness Veek! The OAN is a long way away, but there is a lot of planning and work to be done now. Is any one interested in getting involved? By creating an ad hoc committee we can pull together a great weekend for all our OAN members that will be here Looking after developing the agenda, assisting with catering, and billeting will be needed. An entertainment component for the weekend could be considered! Transportation may be required, meeting space needs to be found, and there will be mailings and office duties to be assisted with in the pre-event stages. Give me a call at the office if you want to assist with this project. It will only last from about February to July, with the majority of the work being done four to six weeks before the meeting If you can't help with the work,would you be able to provide accomodations for for someone while they're here7 This would be a great help All volunteers are also invited and welcome to attend the OAN when it's here This can be a fun event and we can show the off our organization to the rest of the province! Lawrence Korhonen Volunteer! 1989 has proven to be a very busy year for our volunteers, from bingos, client care, mall and school displays to office work. AIDS Awareness Veek and office renovations. One thing is for sure, not only would these events not have happened if it weren't for our volunteers, but it wouldn't have been as successful or as professional and without as much care. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay to thank each and every one of you, and also to let you know that you, the volunteers, are the best. And whatever the obstacles and the problems, volunteers who work with persons with AIDS or any work with AIDS Committees are the best of the best. Thank You! I personally want to say Tidbits Our 1990 Healthy Sex Calendar For Gay & Bisexual Men is now available at the New Year's price of only $4.95' Vehavea limited number of calendars left. Call 3*45-1516 to have one mailed to you or pick one up at 285 Bay Street A series of Vellness Seminars will be held at ACT-B in February and March. Guest facilitators will cover topics such as nutrition, stress reduction, massage and meditation All are welcome. Phone 345-1516 for details �8. ’.hanks for caking me feel right at home and comfortable since mv joining the ACT-B team My greatest pleasure has been getting to meet and know each and every one of you. You are simply the greatest I am looking forward to working with all of you in the New Year as well as at our informal volunteer get togethers The first of which is on January 11th at 7 30 pm. here in our newly renovated office. Hope to see you there. As we go into a new year I would like to leave some special words with you I do not know who wrote them but they are wonderful words to live by Speak it again Speak it still again Speak it still once again I wish all of you a wonderful and Happy New Year and along with it peace and tranquility. Sincerely Linda Gambee Volunteer Coordinator On This Day Mend a quarrel Search out a forgotten friend Dismiss suspicion, and replace it with trust. Write a love letter Share some treasure Si ve a soft answer Encourage youth Manifest your loyaltym a word or deed. A CT-B Calendar January 17 Board Meeting 7.00 p m. January 23 BINGO1 6 30 Diamond Bingo Hall February 7 Executive Committee Meeting Keep a promise. Find the time Forego a grudge. Forgive an enemy Listen. Apologize ifyou were wrong Try to understand. Flout envy Examine your demands on others Think first of someone else Appreciate, be kind, begentle Laugh a little more. Deserve confidence Decry complacency Take up arms against malice Express yourgratitude Gladden the heart of a child Take pleasure m the beauty and wonder of the earth Speak your love Eebruary Volunteer Orientation at the ACT-B office at 285 Bay St All interested persons are welcome Contact Linda Gambee at 345-1516 Eebruary 9 Open House1 All Day at the ACT-B office, 285 Bay Street Eebruary 14 Valentine’s Day Deadline for submissions for the March/April issue of ReACT-Believe Eebruary 21 Board Meeting 7 00pm March 7 Executive Committee Meeting �9. Shared When 1 decided to write this article I didn't know if I could I didn't know if I'd be able to relate to the problems that a person with AIDS faces. I spoke toaP W.A. andwe shared our experiences. I found we could relate - with a difference.. For the last ten months I have felt tired, alone and scared, Constant fatigue really dragged me down. I had to watch, every day, that I didn't do too much. If I went like crazy one day. I'd be exhausted for the next two. I was too tired to read or even sleep. I just-sat. It got to the point that I had to leave my job My friends didn't understand how I could be so tired. The fatigue didn't help my mood any either I became very cranky and my patience wore thin With the lack of sleep and the negative feelings and memories I had to deal with I became very sensitive -1 cried a lot. I needed my friends more than ever but my mood swings were driving them away I couldn't talk to them about how I felt because they couldn't understand. I had so many things to deal with, so many things to learn and understand. I needed help -1 needed and I felt alone, I had to deal with my self image I used to be such an Life independent, hardworking, active person. All of a sudden I needed help, and lots of it1 I couldn't work I had to go for Social Assistance. I couldn't afford to live in my nice apartment I had to move to more meagre surroundings I needed help to pack my things, I had to borrow money. I come from a family where you work and are responsible for yourself Needing so much help was a big kick in the ego. It's been a difficult and stressful year for myself and my friend with AIDS. The year turned out well, though. We both dealt with our situations. There is a positive side to this story. It's not all sadness. My friend has really improved the quality of his life over the past year He has learned to accentuate the positive He has reached out to people that can give him positive answers; some old friends and some new When he's feeling low he'll call a positive someone and talk it out. Another person's positive outlook can really help. *The Color of Light Daily Meditations For All Of Us Living With AIDS, by Perry Tilleraas He has learned to work with. not against his illness He reads *The Color of Light every day and reads about his illness and nutrition He walks every day and sets priorities for each day He doesn't chastise himself when he doesn't accomplish all he set out to do He pats himself on the back for what he has done He knows that he can put it off, because there is no sense stressing himself My friend has learned to ask for help emotionally and financially. He realizes now that the help is there for him. He has worked hard. He earned what he is getting. He strives to alleviate his anger and drive away his negativity which his illness thrives upon. Speaking to people who are not ill helps, and writing down his feelings also helps him to see things in a different light He has learned to live a positive and active life within the everchanging limitations of AIDS. Oh yes. the difference I mentioned at the beginning I feel better now. I'm working again and I have a brand new baby girl. My friend has AIDS Eileen Parker �10. continued from page 4 blood, semen and vaginal secretions in enough concentration to infect There is a possibility that one could be exposed to HIV while performing oral sex on an HIV infected person In order for the virus to transmit from the infected person to the other, the uninfected person would have to have a point of entry into their blood stream In other words, the infected semen or vaginal secretion would have to enter a cut or open sore in the mouth of the uninfected person, and that person would then have become exposed to the HIV virus The Safer Sex Guidelines developed by the Canadian AIDS Society, recommends that men wear condoms and women use a latex barrier when receiving oral sex- every time! Q: Me and some of the guys from school take steroids and we use the same needle. Can I catch AIDS or is that just from sharing needles when you do drugs’ A Sharing needles is sharing needles. It doesn't matter what you're shooting. Yes, you can be exposed to the HIV virus by sharing a needle with someone who is infected. You should not share needles but if you do they should be cleaned using bleach and water After EACH person uses the needle you should flush it out 2 or 3 times with bleach and then 2 or 3 times with water Make sure you do that in between EACH person. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Welcome to the 1990's As we enter anew decade it may be useful to take stock and try to see where we are heading. The early years of the A IDS era were marked by a variety of responses with some of the most useful work arising out of the concern of individuals, and coalescing in the community-based AIDS groups. Now that the initial panic and confusion has subsided, and government (at least in Ontario) has provided basic support, we are ready to move into a new period of action As we move into the '90's, we need no longer look at AIDS with the pessimism of the '80's Although no "magic bullet" cure or vaccine is likely to appear, we are learning to manage AIDS and we can begin to look at it as a chronic manageable condition. Drugs such as AZT and DDI often help on the medical front, while studies in complementary therapies offer a great deal of promise I believe the time has come for all of us to examine ourselves, both as individual whole systems and as part of a global ecology. If we begin to take ownership of ourselves, and the planet we live on. we can begin to effect significant change both in our personal health and in the health of our planetary home One of our projects in the near future is a series of Wellness seminars, and this should be an exciting way to begin the new decade in a positive and healthy manner Let us all begin to move along the path to personal and planetary health and wholeness David Belrose is a founding member of ACT-B and is serving his second full term as President He was born ^ rmsed m Thunder ®aY ^ writs for Canada Post 95 a *eWer carner • �ARE YOU AT RISK ? Call the confidential AIDS Information Phoneline at 345-SAFE. It ■ From 5 30 a m to 5:00 p.m. our staff and volunteers will answer your questions ■ After 5 p m. listen to an informative taped r ssage Would you like to be on our mailing list? Call 345-1516 or mail to: AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay P.O. Box 3586 Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 6E2 ACT-B Services Speakers for educational presentations and in-service sessions for professional groups The ACT-B Resource Centre Library. Confidential one-on-one counselling. Support groups for persons with AIDS, friends, family, and others An Outreach Program to smaller communities in Northern Ontario. Producing and providing educational materials to groups and individuals All submissions and opinions for ReACT-Belie ve should be forwarded to the Editor by calling 345~1516 or writing to P.O. Box 3 5fib Thunder Bay; Ontario, P7B 6E2 ACT-B is a member of the Ontario AIDS Network and the Canadian AIDS Society/ La Societe Canadienne du SIDA (Charity * 0779330-11) The opinions and medical information offered by ReACT-Believe are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the staff or Board of Directors of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay If you have any questions or comments, please contact our office at (807) 345-1516 from 8 30 am. to 5:00 p m Our office is located at 283 Bay Street printed on recycled paper � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource David Belrose fonds Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource reACT-Believe Vol 3 No 1 - Jan/Feb 1989 Subject The topic of the resource Organizations Health and Medicine Description An account of the resource Newsletter of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1989 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2662/1990_reACT-Believe_vol3no2.pdf 2258eeefc606f9769b41f732723caffb PDF Text Text ���������� https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2662/1990_reACT-Believe_vol3no1_[1989_v3n1]_2.pdf d1bcad91a61edf90d7a92f9f5171df83 PDF Text Text Ur\ Ok I m r\ I —K /IC^ nVil U eheve The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Newsletter January /February 1959 Volume III, Issue I Educators! Posters for kids! See inside Condoms & Cars Staff & Board.................. "Hands On" AIDS Therapy The Case For Early Intervention . Questions from the Phoneline Tidbits Pg. Pg ?g Pg 1 2 3 4 Dry 4 -Dao Ss CAN Comes to T. Bay!... . Volunteer! Volunteer' ACT-B Calendar. Shared Life President's Message Pg 7 Pg 7 Pg 8 Pg 9 Pg 10 �1. Condoms and Cars Reprinted with permission from the AIDS Committee of Windsor It's become the leading cause of death in young people. It can be avoided completely only by abstaining. Yet few are willing to make that sacrifice and choose rather to live with the risk. Most efforts to contain this epidemic focus on reducing the danger to an acceptable level. Those words refer to traffic accidents. They are also familiar terms for describing the AIDS epidemic. There are those who argue that the only way to stop AIDS is to promote abstinence. No level of risk is acceptable. Ifthey were consistent in their logic they wouldalso be campaigning to ban the automobile Even with all the emphasis on seat belts, air bags, speed limits and drunk driving laws, the highways are hardly a risk free environment. The usual criticism of condoms is that their record as a birth control device is less than reassuring. An often quoted statistic is that over the course of a year about 10% of the heterosexual couples using condoms will v.oj'w. IVilVV ^ 1 V^J***M*V f Condoms are neither failsafe nor foolproof For the most part they don't work because people forget to use them or damage them through improper use And sometimes condoms are poorly manufactured. Why then do public health officials, health care workers and community AIDS organizations rely so heavily on condom promotion? The answer lies in the distinction between conception and infection One sperm cell, and only, one. is needed to fertilize an ovum. The reproductive process is designed to facilitate fertilization, with millions of sperm cells contained in every ejaculation of semen. On the other hand AIDSis a difficult disease to contract sexually. Viral infections must occur in sufficient number and frequency to overwhelm the immune response That threshold varies with the source of the infection and the health of the people involved. The levels of HIV in semen and vaginal fluids are lew and often can not be detected in r\orer»«"io Vv> nrrr** tn Ko * r, f - Over several years the risk is compounded. If the chances of geting AIDS are the same as having a baby abstaining starts to look very good indeed. j'W UWiiU lUlW VW l/V tiilVVtVM. Studies have shown that the sexual partners of people with HIV often remain uninfected over long periods of time despite repeated exposures through unprotected intercourse. In comparison the exchange of blood through sharing needles provides a far more efficient means of infection In order to break the epidemic ofsexually transmitted AIDS, condoms dent need to be 100% effective In fact even a leaking condom may sometimes be sufficient in keeping the amount of exposure below the threshold of infection. Realistically however, the goal is to make HIV infection an isolated event, not to eliminate all risk. So far this strategy appears to be working in the one segment of society that is taking safer sex seriously the gay community Rates of sexually transmitted disease and the incidence of HIV transmission have been reduced far beyond what was believed possible. And this has happened despite the large numbers already infected Abstention will always be an option. We can choose not to have sex or not to travel the highways. But most of us will continue to take chances •n ikit wUl vAl tvsi. iXioUvlAig, reasonable concessions to safety Jim Monk �r Christine Mather (just call me Chris) I am the new Support Services Coordinator at ACT-3 > my name is 2. ren Maki and Eileen Parker are now with us as Fundraising Coordinator and Communications/Outreach Coor­ dinator respectively Karen was a member of the ACT-B Board That's a Support Services Coordinator?" That's a good question, one for which we don't yet have a full answer Basically. I see my job of Directors She will coordinate and help plan as providing "psycho-social" support (O K I'll and implement the private fundraising of try and make that the last jargon I use) to ACT-B in conjunction with the Eundraising P V A s. their families, friends and other care This will include organizing Committee givers figuring out just what services should bingos, special events and making foundation be developed to deliver that support is the first and corporate approaches. task the Support Services Committee Eileen has been with us previously, and I face. Of course, we 11 be reviewing what since July, on a CEIC Section 25 job creation has been done in other communities, but we'd program. She will be continuing her work in like to begin by hosting an organizational/ commumcations;producmg posters, pamphlets, brainstormiong meeting for anyone our newsletter and working with the media concerned about AIDS We can anticipate that and will also be coordinating our Northwestern from this meeting will come ideas, direction Ontario Outreach Program and guidance - so start thinking Ve il be advertising and explaining this meeting more thouroughly closer to the event e miss Donna and Vicki That's a description of my position now for I am an some information about me already! immigrant from England and have been in Donna was our Project Coordinator and Vicki Thunder Bay for 13 years Eor the last eight was our Administrative Assistant on a CEIC years I have been a Social Worker and have Section 25 job creation program. worked in several local agencies. I very much Each with her own special brand of humour enjoy living in Canada and especially like and unique insight, they brightened up the getting out into the bush. If there's any kind of assistance I can offer i office and our lives Donna has moved on to another job and Vicki is enjoying the Florida you or those you care about, from counselling to negotiating with government agencies, feel winter. We miss them! free to give me a call or drop in at the office In our next newsletter will be a column ACT-B Board of Directors from me about stress and stress management techniques. David Belrose President Deb White Vice-President Chris Mather H.B.S.W Norma Proctor Treasurer ACT-B Staff Terry Bryant..................... Secretary George Arnold Director Linda Gambee VolunteerCoordinator Rick Atkinson......................................... Director Darcia Kohuska EducationCoordinator Michael Chan Director Lawrence Korhonen Office Manager Carl Gray..................................................Director Karen Maki FundraisingCoordinator Betty Kruzick Director Chris Mather Support Services Coordinator John McDonald ....................................Director Eileen Parker Communications Coordinator Jeanette Munshaw..................................Director Michael Sobota.....................Executive Director Barbara Reid........................................... Director �r Christine Mather, i (just cal! me Chris) I am the new Support | Services Coordinator at ACT-B > my name is 2. ren Maki and Eileen Parker are now with us as Fundraising Coordinator and Communications/Outreach Coor­ dinator respectively Karen was a member of the ACT-B Board 'What's a Support Services Coordinator?" That's a good question one for which we don't yet have a full answer Basically. I see my job of Directors She will coordinate and help plan as providing "psycho-social” support (O K I'll and implement the private fundraising of try and make that the last jargon I use) to ACT-B in conjunction with the Eundraising P W A s. their families, friends and other care This will include organizing Committee givers figuring out just what services should bingos, special events and making foundation be developed to deliver that support is the first and corporate approaches. task the Support Services Committee Eileen has been with us previously, and I face. Of course, we 11 be reviewing what since July, on a CEIC Section 25 job creation has been done in other communities, but we'd program. She will be continuing her work in like to begin by hosting an organizational/ communications;producing posters, pamphlets, brainstormiong meeting for anyone our newsletter and working with the media concerned about AIDS. We can anticipate that and will also be coordinating our Northwestern from this meeting will come ideas, direction Ontario Outreach Program and guidance - so start thinking We ll be advertising and explaining this meeting more thouroughly closer to the event e miss Donna and Vicki That's a description of my position now for I am an some information about me already! immigrant from England and have been in Donna was our Project Coordinator and Vicki Thunder Bay for 13 years Eor the last eight was our Administrative Assistant on a CEIC years I have been a Social Worker and have Section 25 job creation program. worked in several local agencies. I very much Each with her own special brand of humour enjoy living in Canada and especially like and unique insight, they brightened up the getting out into the bush. If there's any kind of assistance I can offer i office and our lives Donna has moved on to another job and Vicki is enjoying the Florida you or those you care about, from counselling to negotiating with government agencies, feel winter. We miss them! free to give me a call or drop in at the office In our next newsletter will be a column ACT-B Board of Directors from me about stress and stress management techniques. David Belrose........................................ President Deb White Vice-President Chris Mather H.B.S.W Norma Proctor Treasurer ACT-B Staff Terry Bryant........................................ Secretary George Arnold......................................... Director Linda Gambee VolunteerCoordinator Rick Atkinson ....................................... Director Darcia Kohuska EducationCoordinator Michael Chan Director Lawrence Korhonen Office Manager Carl Gray ............................................ Director Karen Maki FundraisingCoordinator Betty Kruzick Director Chris Mather Support Services Coordinator John McDonald........................................Director Eileen Parker Communications Coordinator Jeanette Munshaw..................................Director Michael Sobota . Executive Director Barbara Reid........................................... Director �3. Massage & the Acquired Immune Deficiency by William ¥. Roberts It was not easy to begin massage work with PW A.s. I found no resistance in myself, especially after checking nth others who were already working in this area. However some friends were not happy nth the idea This led to some heated discussions (!) and a procedure that seemed to satisfy everyone involved Everyone is involved. Let me put out some of my experience and I hope, some useful ideas I'll make two things clear at the beginning. Massage is a laying on of hands, a caring person taking care of another. This, in itself, is a healing process at least as old as the Bible and certainly something that everyone can do. The second point is that there is no need to adjust the approach of massage for a person with AIDS or other related dis-eases There are special situations to be aware of, however you must be aware of any one’s special circumstances before and as you work on them And you must decide to work. It also seems important for any massaging person to not take on the dis-ease of a person they are working on To do so. I find, drains energy, gives headaches and ends further sessions. I prefer to iook at the massage person as a conduit or channel for anv healing process that is at work, and an unplugged drain for tensions to pass off and thru. Leaving no residual This means I must clear my head. I found that washing before a session, burning cedar with a window cracked to clear the working space, shaking the hands off when they feel heavy, taking breaks when needed (by both people!), a glass of good water and a light heart worked quite well for myself At times I use music, however 111 mention that later Relax! EorthePV A there are some other aspects I feel are important Nervousness1 Yours at least, and this may be the first time this person receives a massage. Check this out with any person you work on. and give some careful thought to the fear that may be in someone who is quite possibly facing their death. In the case of Karposis Sarcoma, there may be darkened areas of skin (like bruises) or open lesions I exercise the same caution as I would around bruises and wounds Very gently over the bruise and leave the wound alone The hands can be passed over the areas, without touching, with probably the same effect The care is more important than the actual contact. Joints may be quite stiff Gentle manipulation using the comfortable range of motion. I let the person tell me if something hurts My aim is relaxation and normalization of body functions. Many, if not most relaxation tapes are just plain dumb and a waste of money! Listen before you buy. The most useful ones I’ve found are simply sounds oceans/crickets/frogs/birds and music that is not climactic Stuff that moves easily (and maybe exoticallyor eccentrically) as you would like the body to move There is a lot to talk about here and maybe I can go into another article I don t want to leave without mentioning two possibly important items Tickling Not a lot! and not at the end! (Check out the situation with the person first) And iust holding the head with both hands and allowing the complete relaxation.* Sometimes a deep sigh will indicate the release, and other times a snoring sound* That’s all for now. please feel free to contact me. * Emotional Stress Release points on the head, check out a Touch for Health book or a Naturopath. William Roberts is a long standing volunteer vith ACT-B. He is a trained Touch For Health practitioner, a masseur, a teacher of T'ai-Chi and plants trees. For more information an the healing properties of massage, stop by the ACT-B Resource Centre Library at 285 Bay St. �The Case For Early Intervention PART l TYPES OF INTERVENTION Sc ATTITUDE TtV>o UiW A 4 A W N rsqft nf flntc % VA \AAiO series, we reported the Federal Government's revised guidelines for the use of AZT As mere has become known about this drug and how to appropriately administer it. AZT has shown itself to be an effective way to slow the replication of HIV in many infected individuals Eor others. aZT may not be effective or appropriate. 5hould you use AZT if you are HIV +’ That is a decision that should wholely rest in your own hands. The decision is best made by knowing and understanding what your current health status is. in consultation with a good. AIDS aware physician. It could also be beneficial to talk with a counselor at your local AIDS committee. The first step in making any decision about treatment concerns, is knowing what your status is This is the primary reason for individuals to consider taking the HIV antibody test. In a future article we will present the case for being tested. TYPES OF INTERVENTION Five general categories of intervention are currently available. 1. general health maintenance. 2. holistic or complementary therapies. 3 antiviral medicine. 4 immuneododulating medicines and 5 preventive medicine against opportunistic infections. Martin Delaney, coauthor of Strategies for Survival: The Gay Men's Health Manual for the Age of AIDS, wrote in a Eebruary, 1989 article "The biggest mistake we can make in exploring these approaches is to assume that we must choose one. as if it were an election campaign No singular method of intervention is sufficient on its own." A traditional, simplistic approach to health usually went something like this: if I get sick, go to a doctor and s/he will fix it. It is a common altitudinal approach that gives power over to trained professionals, eases us of the burdens of responsibility, and - for the most part - is usually effective. Modern medicine has developed allot of "fixes". AIDS knocks out the support for this attitude completely. There is no "fix", no magic bullet that provides a single treatment or cure At the same time, understanding that there are five useful ways to begin early intervention points toward a new attitudinal model, one of taking personal responsibility for decision making about our health, in partnership with skilled resources In future articles of this series, we will discuss the case for HIV antibody testing, new treatments, and cautions to bear in mind about interventions. 4. ????’’? Questions From the Phoneline Q: If someone I work with has AIDS, can I catch it from them’ A: Unless you had unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse, or shared intravenous needles with them, there is no way you could be exposed to the *HIV You can not get AIDS or HIV infection from casual contact. virus You can't get it from sneezing, touching, kissing, brushing by. sharing a phone etc. In fact, you are of more risk to the person with AIDS Vhen one has AIDS, their immune system is suppressed, so they become more susceptible to illnesses such as colds and flus This isn't good for the person with AIDS, as these simple illnesses become hard to fight off. If you work with someone who has AIDS, the best thing you can do is learn something about A IDS so that you can better support your colleague Don't be afraid of that person -don't be afraid to touch A hug can do wonders Q Can I get AIDS from having Oral Sex’ A There is a low risk of HIV transmission from oral sex as the HIV virus is found in Continued on Page 10 �Tidbits. te p wm lit ml M/M Is mi To all AIDS Committees. We have found bubble gum flavoured dental dams. To order write to Ash Temple 615 Erin Street Winnipeg. MB. R3G 2W1 1-800-665-8985 We have multicoloured condoms in bright green ', cherry red. canary yellow and electric blue We ordered them from: Safetex Corporation 1100 Valley Brook Avenue Lyndhurst, New Jersey 07071 As I write this Tidbitl am feeding my little baby Sarah. Yes. I’m at work and so is my 2 month old baby! This would have been unheard of 20 years ago. but the times are changing It's been a positive experience for everyone. I have been able to return to work when Sarah is still very young I haven t had to face early separation from my baby or my other baby, my work. She makes us giggle when she makes funny noises during staff meetings; and. when things get crazy around the office. Sarah gives us a big smile and makes everything all right! They offer a wide variety of paper and envelopes I find the paper is of good quality. Domtar in Winnipeg also has recycled paper available Call (204)949-0210. Also some printers in Thunder Bay will have recycled paper available in the near future. They're Here! Posters For Kids________________ HEY* YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU CANT GET AIDS ER0M is produced by the Minnesota AIDS Project and is widely distributed in the United States Thunder Bay is the first city in Canada to receive this award-winning poster Whimsical cartoon characters come to life on a giant 17 x22" full colour poster that is sure to delight children of all ages The A IDS Committee of Thunder Bay is offering this poster for children, free to all local schools, along with an informative Teaching Guide. Contact Darcia Kchuska, Education Coordinator for more information at 345-1516 AIDS COMMITTEES: This poster is available at the discounted price of $2 00 per poster. Open House_____________________ An Open House will be held at ACT-B all day. Eriday, Eebruary 9 Come in and meet all the staff and have some great coffee and conversation While you're here, see our display and our "goodies" table. Sneak out a bit early Eriday afternoon and come on down Everyone is welcome! Environment__________________ ATTENTION ALL TEACHERS_______ This newsletter has been printed on recycled paper We ordered the paper from The Paper Source Fallbrook. Ontario K0G1A0 (613)267-7191 The ACT-B Resource Centre Library has three videos available geared specifically to teens A Letter From Brian---------------------------------This video tells the story of a teenage girl who �6. you know what? you CAN'T GET ALPS FROM: mm AIM IS Hot 5PACAO BY "TAltioS VC ToOCJf / had an intimate experience with a teenage boy named Brian He writes her a letter and tells her he has AIDS. She is scared. A Letter Erom Brian" tells how she deals with her situation. The Subject is AIDS----------This film features frank discussions with and among teenagers about the causes, concerns and preventive practices related to AIDS. STD Street Smarts—^— This video is produced by. for and with "street youth". With frank language and explicit imagery, this video addresses difficult issues such as sex and injection drug use in the age of A IDS. It is non-judgementai in its portrayal of young people acquiring, using, and sharing knowledge about safe sex and needle use This video is not intended for the average high school audience. "STD Street Smarts" is accompanied by a comprehensive facilitators' manual Eor more information on these and other videos and resource material available in our library, contact Darcia Kohuskai Education Coordinator at 345-1516 More Tidbits �7 OAN in Thunder Bay ! The summer of 1990 is going to be our turn to host a quarterly meeting of the Ontario AIDS Network' So. what is the OAN. you might ask? Veil, its MISSION STATEMENT says, "The Ontario AIDS Network is a coalition of Community Based groups mutually creating a just and effective response to AIDS" Meeting four times a year in various cities in Ontario, the local AIDS Committee plays host to the member delegates I have attended many of the OAN meetings. They can be large meetings with up to fifteen AIDS organizations taking part. Issues such as anonymous testing, treatments, funding programs and advocacy are discussed It helps our groups to make a coordinated response to the media, the Ontario Ministry of Health and the public. Also, workshops are held to share new knowledge and upgrade skills Massage, treatments, media relations, fundraising are just a few that have been covered in the past This is not the first OAN meeting to be held here The group was here about two years ago October of 1987 to be exact. That was during the city's first AIDS Awareness Veek! The OAN is a long way away, but there is a lot of planning and work to be done now. Is any one interested in getting involved? By creating an ad hoc committee we can pull together a great weekend for all our OAN members that will be here Looking after developing the agenda, assisting with catering, and billeting will be needed. An entertainment component for the weekend could be considered! Transportation may be required, meeting space needs to be found, and there will be mailings and office duties to be assisted with in the pre-event stages. Give me a call at the office if you want to assist with this project. It will only last from about February to July, with the majority of the work being done four to six weeks before the meeting If you can't help with the work,would you be able to provide accomodations for for someone while they're here7 This would be a great help All volunteers are also invited and welcome to attend the OAN when it's here This can be a fun event and we can show the off our organization to the rest of the province! Lawrence Korhonen Volunteer! 1989 has proven to be a very busy year for our volunteers, from bingos, client care, mall and school displays to office work. AIDS Awareness Veek and office renovations. One thing is for sure, not only would these events not have happened if it weren't for our volunteers, but it wouldn't have been as successful or as professional and without as much care. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay to thank each and every one of you, and also to let you know that you, the volunteers, are the best. And whatever the obstacles and the problems, volunteers who work with persons with AIDS or any work with AIDS Committees are the best of the best. Thank You! I personally want to say Tidbits Our 1990 Healthy Sex Calendar For Gay & Bisexual Men is now available at the New Year's price of only $4.95' Vehavea limited number of calendars left. Call 3*45-1516 to have one mailed to you or pick one up at 285 Bay Street A series of Vellness Seminars will be held at ACT-B in February and March. Guest facilitators will cover topics such as nutrition, stress reduction, massage and meditation All are welcome. Phone 345-1516 for details �8. ’.hanks for caking me feel right at home and comfortable since mv joining the ACT-B team My greatest pleasure has been getting to meet and know each and every one of you. You are simply the greatest I am looking forward to working with all of you in the New Year as well as at our informal volunteer get togethers The first of which is on January 11th at 7 30 pm. here in our newly renovated office. Hope to see you there. As we go into a new year I would like to leave some special words with you I do not know who wrote them but they are wonderful words to live by Speak it again Speak it still again Speak it still once again I wish all of you a wonderful and Happy New Year and along with it peace and tranquility. Sincerely Linda Gambee Volunteer Coordinator On This Day Mend a quarrel Search out a forgotten friend Dismiss suspicion, and replace it with trust. Write a love letter Share some treasure Si ve a soft answer Encourage youth Manifest your loyaltym a word or deed. A CT-B Calendar January 17 Board Meeting 7.00 p m. January 23 BINGO1 6 30 Diamond Bingo Hall February 7 Executive Committee Meeting Keep a promise. Find the time Forego a grudge. Forgive an enemy Listen. Apologize ifyou were wrong Try to understand. Flout envy Examine your demands on others Think first of someone else Appreciate, be kind, begentle Laugh a little more. Deserve confidence Decry complacency Take up arms against malice Express yourgratitude Gladden the heart of a child Take pleasure m the beauty and wonder of the earth Speak your love Eebruary Volunteer Orientation at the ACT-B office at 285 Bay St All interested persons are welcome Contact Linda Gambee at 345-1516 Eebruary 9 Open House1 All Day at the ACT-B office, 285 Bay Street Eebruary 14 Valentine’s Day Deadline for submissions for the March/April issue of ReACT-Believe Eebruary 21 Board Meeting 7 00pm March 7 Executive Committee Meeting �9. Shared When 1 decided to write this article I didn't know if I could I didn't know if I'd be able to relate to the problems that a person with AIDS faces. I spoke toaP W.A. andwe shared our experiences. I found we could relate - with a difference.. For the last ten months I have felt tired, alone and scared, Constant fatigue really dragged me down. I had to watch, every day, that I didn't do too much. If I went like crazy one day. I'd be exhausted for the next two. I was too tired to read or even sleep. I just-sat. It got to the point that I had to leave my job My friends didn't understand how I could be so tired. The fatigue didn't help my mood any either I became very cranky and my patience wore thin With the lack of sleep and the negative feelings and memories I had to deal with I became very sensitive -1 cried a lot. I needed my friends more than ever but my mood swings were driving them away I couldn't talk to them about how I felt because they couldn't understand. I had so many things to deal with, so many things to learn and understand. I needed help -1 needed and I felt alone, I had to deal with my self image I used to be such an Life independent, hardworking, active person. All of a sudden I needed help, and lots of it1 I couldn't work I had to go for Social Assistance. I couldn't afford to live in my nice apartment I had to move to more meagre surroundings I needed help to pack my things, I had to borrow money. I come from a family where you work and are responsible for yourself Needing so much help was a big kick in the ego. It's been a difficult and stressful year for myself and my friend with AIDS. The year turned out well, though. We both dealt with our situations. There is a positive side to this story. It's not all sadness. My friend has really improved the quality of his life over the past year He has learned to accentuate the positive He has reached out to people that can give him positive answers; some old friends and some new When he's feeling low he'll call a positive someone and talk it out. Another person's positive outlook can really help. *The Color of Light Daily Meditations For All Of Us Living With AIDS, by Perry Tilleraas He has learned to work with. not against his illness He reads *The Color of Light every day and reads about his illness and nutrition He walks every day and sets priorities for each day He doesn't chastise himself when he doesn't accomplish all he set out to do He pats himself on the back for what he has done He knows that he can put it off, because there is no sense stressing himself My friend has learned to ask for help emotionally and financially. He realizes now that the help is there for him. He has worked hard. He earned what he is getting. He strives to alleviate his anger and drive away his negativity which his illness thrives upon. Speaking to people who are not ill helps, and writing down his feelings also helps him to see things in a different light He has learned to live a positive and active life within the everchanging limitations of AIDS. Oh yes. the difference I mentioned at the beginning I feel better now. I'm working again and I have a brand new baby girl. My friend has AIDS Eileen Parker �10. continued from page 4 blood, semen and vaginal secretions in enough concentration to infect There is a possibility that one could be exposed to HIV while performing oral sex on an HIV infected person In order for the virus to transmit from the infected person to the other, the uninfected person would have to have a point of entry into their blood stream In other words, the infected semen or vaginal secretion would have to enter a cut or open sore in the mouth of the uninfected person, and that person would then have become exposed to the HIV virus The Safer Sex Guidelines developed by the Canadian AIDS Society, recommends that men wear condoms and women use a latex barrier when receiving oral sex- every time! Q: Me and some of the guys from school take steroids and we use the same needle. Can I catch AIDS or is that just from sharing needles when you do drugs’ A Sharing needles is sharing needles. It doesn't matter what you're shooting. Yes, you can be exposed to the HIV virus by sharing a needle with someone who is infected. You should not share needles but if you do they should be cleaned using bleach and water After EACH person uses the needle you should flush it out 2 or 3 times with bleach and then 2 or 3 times with water Make sure you do that in between EACH person. PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE Welcome to the 1990's As we enter anew decade it may be useful to take stock and try to see where we are heading. The early years of the A IDS era were marked by a variety of responses with some of the most useful work arising out of the concern of individuals, and coalescing in the community-based AIDS groups. Now that the initial panic and confusion has subsided, and government (at least in Ontario) has provided basic support, we are ready to move into a new period of action As we move into the '90's, we need no longer look at AIDS with the pessimism of the '80's Although no "magic bullet" cure or vaccine is likely to appear, we are learning to manage AIDS and we can begin to look at it as a chronic manageable condition. Drugs such as AZT and DDI often help on the medical front, while studies in complementary therapies offer a great deal of promise I believe the time has come for all of us to examine ourselves, both as individual whole systems and as part of a global ecology. If we begin to take ownership of ourselves, and the planet we live on. we can begin to effect significant change both in our personal health and in the health of our planetary home One of our projects in the near future is a series of Wellness seminars, and this should be an exciting way to begin the new decade in a positive and healthy manner Let us all begin to move along the path to personal and planetary health and wholeness David Belrose is a founding member of ACT-B and is serving his second full term as President He was born ^ rmsed m Thunder ®aY ^ writs for Canada Post 95 a *eWer carner • �ARE YOU AT RISK ? Call the confidential AIDS Information Phoneline at 345-SAFE. It ■ From 5 30 a m to 5:00 p.m. our staff and volunteers will answer your questions ■ After 5 p m. listen to an informative taped r ssage Would you like to be on our mailing list? Call 345-1516 or mail to: AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay P.O. Box 3586 Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 6E2 ACT-B Services Speakers for educational presentations and in-service sessions for professional groups The ACT-B Resource Centre Library. Confidential one-on-one counselling. Support groups for persons with AIDS, friends, family, and others An Outreach Program to smaller communities in Northern Ontario. Producing and providing educational materials to groups and individuals All submissions and opinions for ReACT-Belie ve should be forwarded to the Editor by calling 345~1516 or writing to P.O. Box 3 5fib Thunder Bay; Ontario, P7B 6E2 ACT-B is a member of the Ontario AIDS Network and the Canadian AIDS Society/ La Societe Canadienne du SIDA (Charity * 0779330-11) The opinions and medical information offered by ReACT-Believe are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the staff or Board of Directors of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay If you have any questions or comments, please contact our office at (807) 345-1516 from 8 30 am. to 5:00 p m Our office is located at 283 Bay Street printed on recycled paper � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource David Belrose fonds Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource reACT-Believe Vol 3 No 2 - Spring 1990 Subject The topic of the resource Organizations Health and Medicine Description An account of the resource Newsletter of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1990 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2663/1990_reACT-Believe_vol3no3.pdf a1b50a4d70e660f9d53e2b5a0e5b3790 PDF Text Text ���������� https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2663/1990_reACT-Believe_vol3no3_2.pdf cbdadf26ba3603b176b7d5d58a4c11fb PDF Text Text elieve The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay newsletter Summer 1990 Volume III Issue III is Visual AIDS 7h* flngast 31 - September 30, 1990 A travelling exhibition of AIDS posters from around the world at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery located beside Confederation College. The gallery is open Tuesday to Thursday from noon to 8:00 p.m., and Friday to Sunday from noon to 5:00 p.m. 7 See images that are shocking, funny, sensitive, wild, ridiculous, poignant, touching, erotic, sensual, scarey, frightening, intelligent, curious, and - bizarre .. . . . uncover countries' deepest assumptions about sex, family, pleasure and national duty." from "Condom Conundrum", Pg. 2. ►Vo*1 V® Inside . . . CUEW Anti-HIV Discrimination Lab Safety 'The Works" The Test Tidbits Discrimination Stress The Caring Profession Surviving__ Video Project Self Success Nutrition & AIDS New Publications Editorial Condom Conundrum Questions From the Phoneline 7 11 9 10 1 4 9 11 7 7 3 6 8 5 2 5 �Tidbits • • • OAN The quarterly meeting of the Ontario AIDS Network is scheduled to take place in Thunder Bay on July 6, 7 and 8 at the Thunder Bay Yacht Club. The OAN is an organization made up of 25 community-based AIDS service organizations in Ontario, of which ACT-B is a member. Also attending will be representatives from the Ontario Ministry of Health, Health Promotion Directorate, the Canadian AIDS Society, and the Federal Centre for AIDS. The PLWA/HIV Task Force will be officially meeting for the first time on Friday. This group has been recognized by the OAN, and we are very excited about this, as there should be opportunities for local PLWA/HIV persons to participate. The quarterly meetings enable the member groups to share Information and work together in the fight against AIDS. Yard Sale! ACT-B's annual Yard Sale is coming up soon. We're looking for any donations of items for our sale. For pick up call 345-1516. Volunteers, God Bless Them Many will be shocked to find When the day of judgment nears That there's a special place in heaven Set aside for volunteers. Furnished with big recliners. Satin couches and footstools, Where there's no committee chairmen. No group leaders or car pools. No eager team that needs a coach. No bazaar and no bake sale, There will be nothing to staple. Not one thing to fold or mail. Telephone lists will be outlawed. But a finger snap will bring Cool drinks and gourmet dinners And treats fit for a king. You ask, "Who'll serve these privileged few And work for all they're worth?" Why, all those who reaped the benefits And not once volunteered on Earth. purpose of the Forum was to obtain community input into planning what Support Services we should provide. About forty people attended from a wide variety of organizations. The afternoon was spent in small groups doing planning exercises. The result of all this activity was a proposed list of 17 services. This list is being discussed at the Support Services Committee to decide how to proceed. I would like to personally thank all the ACT-B staff and volunteers who worked hard to make this event such a tremendous success. - Chris Mather Volunteers Awarded! The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay annual Volunteer Recognition Event was held at the Thunder Bay Yacht Club on Sunday, May 6. 38 volunteers were presented awards for their dedication and service to ACT-B. Special awards were presented to volunteers who contributed at least 50 hours of service to ACT-B in the past year and made significant contributions in a variety of capacities: Coffee mugs: Michael Chan Marilyn Chicoine Ed Galeotafiore William Roberts Bonnie Vermette Crystal Pcntney Gold Pens: Marion Bowers Fern Campbell Vic Chicoine Jeanette Munshaw Cindy Sundberg Deb White Blue Achievement Pins: 4h * Norman Bowers Dwight Gifford Carl Gray Norma Procter Planning Forum Blue Achievement Pin and Gold Pen: Barbara Reid The ACT-B Support Services Community Planning forum was held April 5th, 1990. After much preparation, anguish and mail listing it proved to be a great success. The Silver Achievement Pins: David Belrose Terry Bryant Cathy Powell Page 1 Are you interested in an AIDS presentation? We can talk to your staff, community group, classroom, clients or to the general public about AIDS what it is and what you need to know to prevent exposure. We can also talk to you about workplace concerns, safer sex or a specific area you want to know more about. For more information, contact Darcia Kohuska, Education Coordinator at 345-1516. ACT-B Dictionary ACT-B The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. A community-based AIDS Service Organization dedicated to confronting AIDS through education, advocacy and support. HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus - The virus believed to cause AIDS. AIDS Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome - the immune system is disrupted by the HIV virus, leaving the body defenceless against opportunistic infections. PLWA HIV+ Person Living With AIDS having tested positive for HIV antibodies. Library The ACT-B Resource Centre Library has books and videos available on loan on a variety of issues surrounding AIDS. There are also a variety of free brochures and pamphlets available. The library is open Monday to Friday, from 8-30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and it is located at 285 Bay Street. Are you HIV+? Is someone you love HIV+? The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay offers caring, supportive counselling for individuals and groups. Support Services also include assistance with daily living tasks, transportation, dealing with government agencies, as well as emotional support. Contact Chris at 345-1516. Appointments outside the agency and evenings are always available. All enquiries are confidential. ReACT-Believe �How the world is selling safe sex: condom conundrum An extract from an article by David Talbot, Mother Jones, Magazine, January 1990 No human malady is more vested with symbolic meaning than AIDS. To view AIDS posters, pamphlets, and commercials from around the world - the global art of public health - is to uncover countries' deepest assumptions about sex, family, pleasure and national duty. In Israel, the virus is portrayed as a sinister looking Palestinian commando in classroom literature. In Poland, a country obsessed with economic erosion, unsafe sex has been depicted as a rust corroded bolt penetrating a stainless steel nut. In a poster produced by the New York radical feminist group Gran Fury, the viral terror takes the shape of a big ballistic erection, accompanied by the caption: "Sexism rears its unprotected head, AIDS Kills Women". It kills men too of course, but that half of the species is not Gran Fury's concern. is to uncover countries' deepest assumptions about sex, family, pleasure and national duty.' '. . . In most parts of the world, AIDS campaigns tend to address the public as misbehaving children and employ either fear or moral messages. For example, corpses and skulls are common images in these campaigns. AIDS awareness material produced by gay groups and Scandinavian Health Ministries tend to counter these morbid, moralistic messages by stressing hope, eroticism, and humour. "Sex is Wonderful" rejoices a Danish safe sex poster that depicts a young naked couple in a delirious embrace. We know nothing of their marital status; ReACT-Believe appealing. It is in the U.S. that we see some of the world's cockiest safe sex propaganda produced by groups like the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. In these posters, naughty smooth skinned youths tug at each other's jockey shorts like tussling puppies and shamelessly display themselves wearing nothing more than Trojan sheaths. However, none of this sauciness has been allowed to enter into the educational efforts of the U.S. government. While teens in suburban North America are chanting slogans like "Control Your Urging, Be A Virgin", kids in the Danish country of Funen are watching explicit condom instruction videos and are being handed "safe sex" kits. "Kids from twelve years and up are taught about safe sex" says condom coach Paul Madsen. 'We bring dildos into the classroom and let them roll on the rubbers". Madsen is treated like Father Christmas when he shows up in Danish schools with his bag of safe sex goodies. But when AIDS activists from the group ACT UP! tried to distribute condoms recently in New York city high schools, they were run off campus like low life crack dealers. Michael Hewlquist, program officer for AID5COM, lias concluded that people are more likely to AIDS proof thenlives when the educational campaign adopts a "more light hearted and upbeat approach. When safe sex information is presented in a cultural context, such as carnival songs or plays I've seen in Trinidad, it seems to sink in better with people". Fortunately, there are growing signs of this creativity throughout the third world. A group called Puppets Against AIDS presents a safe sex Punch and Judy show on the streets of South Africa. The show is an effective way of reaching the country's black population, half of which are illiterate. In Thailand, Dr. Mechai Viravaidya, the country's leading family planning expert has painted condom ads in bold white letters on the sides of elephants, and has convinced Buddhist monks to bless condoms in order to win them wider acceptance in the Thai countryside. "Why do we get so embarrased about sex?" Viravaidya says as he hands out condom key rings and safe sex T-shirts. ‘We are all walking around with something between our lees". Page 2 �Questions from Editorial If I use a condom does that mean I'll never get AIDS? Using a condom during anal, vaginal and oral sex greatly reduces your risk of HIV infection, other STD's and pregnancy! (now that's a lot in a little piece of latex!) It is important that you learn how to use a condom properly, as condom failure is usually due to improper use. Condoms rarely fail because of manufacturers defects. (Check out Consumer Reports on Condoms, March 1989 issue) Here are some condom tips ... Only use latex condoms natural skin condoms don't prevent HIV transmission. Check the date on the condom package. Latex is a synthetic material, it usually has about a 3 to 4 year shelf life. ^ Be careful when you open the package and put it on. It's fragile, so watch rings, fingernails etc.. Pinch the reservoir tip or top half inch of the condom before rolling it on an erect penis. This provides space for the semen. ^ Roll on and lubricate using a water based lube like K-Y F- • Don't use oil based products like vaseline or margarine, as they weaken the latex and may cause it to break. After ejaculation, hold onto the rim and pull out. Take the condom off and throw it away. Don't reuse a condom. r Also, remember that practice makes perfect, so try them alone before you try them with a partner. Try different brands until you find one you like. For more condom information, contact your local AIDS committee or family planning centre. Confidential: spoken or % written in confidence; entrusted with secrets; charged with a secret task In March, I overheard information about a woman’s positive HIV status in the emergency ward of a local hospital. Everyone that is aware of a person’s HIV status must be sensitive to the issue of confidentiality - this includes health care providers, social service agencies, AIDS service organizations, friends and family and anyone else that may have access to confidential information. Confidentiality is vital because of the social stigma attached to AIDS. Breaking of the confidentiality agreement, whether it be written, spoken or understood, has the potential for serious repercussions for the HIV+ person in the form of a loss of housing or a job, being ostracized by friends, co-workers and even family. All those with access to confidential information must not only keep that information from outside sources, but must not break confidentiality within the organization. Co-workers should be informed of a person’s HIV status only on a "needs to know basis" - watch your coffeetime talk! Ask yourself: - who has access to files? - how do you identify yourself when phoning a person? - are mailings confidential? - who can overhear confidential personal and phone conversations? Confidentiality is something we all need to keep in mind - and to ourselves. Excerpts from the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Confidentiality Policy. "... credible service is based on trust, respect, sensitivity, and a high code of practice. Ensuring the confidentiality of privileged information is an important component of responsible and professional service delivery." "As part of service delivery, it is necessary to share information with others within the workplace. The underlying principle is that all personal and health information related to an identified individual must be treated as confidential. This means that information of a confidential nature that is given, read, observed, overheard or otherwise acquired will be held as privileged information. It also means that agency personnel will not carry on a conversation about service users in the presence of persons who have no official need to know." If your agency or organization is forming a confidentiality policy, contact ACT-B at 345-1516 for information and consultation. AIDS Infoline 345-7233. page 5 ReACT-Believe �Nutrition & AIDS ACT-B Advisory Council Fred Bail Director, Public Health Laboratory Darlene Blnette Coordinator, Community AIDS Program Doug Broman Producer, Thunder Gay Magazine Nicky dark Infection Control Supervisor, P.A.G.H. Joy Fedortck Educator k Native Advocate Mickey I lenneaaey Qty Councillor John McDonald lawyer Mary McKenzie ' Coordinator, Palliative Care, McKellar Hospital Marie Fortier Residential Care Worker Eleanor Richardson Educator 4c TVO Regional Liaison Steve Roede Family Phyaidan Canadians get into healthy fiber. . . An Introduction ACT-B Board of Directors David Belroee President Deb White Vice-President Norma Procter Treasurer Terry Bryant Secretary George Arnold Director Rick Atkinson Director Michael Chan Director Carl Gray Director Betty Kruzick Director John McDonald Director Jeanette Munshaw Director Barbara Reid Director Latex! Add a little fiber to your healthy sex diet. . . . ACT-B Staff Volunteer Coordinator Doug Broman Director, Video Project George Kenny Researcher /Writer, Video Project Dorda Kohuaka Education Coordinator Lawrence Korhonen Office Manager Karen Maki Fundraising Coordinator Chrw Mather Support Services Coordinator Scott Miazdzyk Researcher /Writer Video Project Eileen Parker Communications/ Outreach Coordinator Deb Patterson Researcher /Writer Video Project Michael Sobota Executive Director Sheila Berry A duck walks into a pharmacy and says to the pharmacist, "I'd like a condom please". The pharmacist says, "Sure, do you want that on your bill?". ReACT-Believe An excerpt from a pamphlet by the Task Force on Nutrition Support in AIDS. This pamphlet is available at the ACT-B Resource Centre Library located at 285 Bay Street. For more information on nutrition, talk to your doctor or your dietician. The opinions and medical Information offered by ReACT: Believe are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of die staff or Board of Directors of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. Medical information offered by ReACT-Believe should be used with your own discretion. Please consult your doctor. If you have any questions or comments please contact tike Editor, Eileen Parker at (807) 345-1516 or write to P.O. Box 3586, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 6E2. When the immune system is weakened, as it is with AIDS, it is particularly important to maintain good nutritional habits. Eating both the right amounts and the right types of food will give you energy, protein and other nutrients that will help give you strength and may improve your ability to fight infection. Since your illness may make it more difficult to follow your regular diet, you will need to make greater efforts to insure you are getting enough protein and calories in your diet. Once you are familiar with ways to adjust your diet, you will be better able to meet the challenge of eating well. You must first be familiar with the foods that make up a proper diet. Eating a wide variety of foods is one of the best ways to meet your daily nutritional needs. As you know, breakfast has always been an important meal. Because you may become more tired as the day progresses, or because of your medication, it will be extra important for you to have a healthy meal to get your day off to a good start. Since infectious bacteria exist in the environment, you should take precautions to avoid the further complications they can cause. Always was all fruits and vegetables thoroughly. Cook meat well, avoid raw fish (sushi) and raw eggs (including homemade AL 721 preparations). Remember to purchase only pasteurized dairy products. Also, it is important to avoid "fad" diets or products that promise to cure your illness. Special diets or fad regimes often do not provide the adequate calories, protein, vitamins or minerals needed by your body. Our office is located at 285 Bay Street. We are open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. To be on our mailing list call (807) 345-1516. Page 6 �Surviving CUEW Anti-HIV Discrimination Clause (Always In Debt Syndrome) There are some benefits to surviving with an AIDS diagnosis. One never has to worry about paying the high premiums for Life Insurance because as far a9 the Insurance Companies are concerned you're already dead. And if you are fortunate enough to already have Life Insurance then don't be late with those payments. Did you ever scan through that real estate magazine and 9ee this month's dream home? Well you can cross that dream off your list. Chances are the bank won't give you a loan because it's uninsurable. By the way, if you're still working I suggest you go out and apply for a few credit cards. Not that I can see you abusing them, but when money gets tight perhaps you can use them to buy essentials such as food. If you leave applying until you're no longer able to work you may as well not apply. Welfare recipients are labelled as dead beats with most major credit companies. If s not so much that you're a dead beat it's just that your level of income will not meet their level to qualify. Oh well, one's dignity stays intact so much better when we're dealing with C.O.D. Another benefit of having AIDS is not having to rush out to the bank at the end of the year to choose that RRSP. After all why would a person with AIDS even consider a Retirement Savings Plan. When you have received your AIDS diagnosis a Canada Savings Bond with seven years to maturity even becomes a little risqu£. There is one major benefit to living with this illness, and that is that you become much more aware of the world that you live in. Minutes and hours take precedence in our lives for we have had to deal with our mortality or the lack of. The only Relationships and friendships have become AIDS important as we have stepped out of the VACCINE fast lane of life. Survival is the number available one priority at this time. GETTING - Ron Rogers Person Living With AIDS in Thunder Bay P.O. Box 2554 Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B6E2 B3tf right now is at your drugstore You can write your own prescription for it. And it can cost less than 50$ a shot. The Canadian Union of Education Workers Local 5 recently won protection from HIV discrimination in their collective agreement. The CUEW put forward an anti-HIV discrimination clause during their negotiations with Lakehead University. A representataive of CUEW consulted with ACT-B in preparation for the negotiations. ACT-B also provided an education inservice session for the bargaining team and others at Lakehead University. The University already has a Workplace AIDS Policy in place. CUEW reports that the Thunder Bay local is the first local to achieve the anti-HIV discrimination clause in contract negotiations outside of the Toronto area. The other union locals who have won this clause are at OISE and York University. Video Project Work is now in progress to develop two AIDS-related videos for the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. Designed to fill in some of the gaps that exist around education issues, the project is funded by the AIDS Community Action Program (ACAP), of the Health Promotion Directorate, Health & Welfare Canada. A Native AIDS video will introduce basic education concerns to Native people living in the more isolated areas of the region. Not only will the video dear up some of the myths about the spread of AIDS, viewers will be informed about the possible risks and preventative measures. As well, it is hoped that the material will lead to better understanding and perhaps introduce an atmosphere of increased compassion for affected individuals. Women have been targeted for the second video which is a fictionalized account that presents basic AIDS information in an accessible manner with an emphasis on negotiating safer sex. Running through June, July and August, the videos will be ready for distribution and airing by the end of August. BRING YOUR OWN CONDOM C'tv / mi/'V Him;?/* It’s called a condom. Page 7 ReACT-Believe �Negotiate is a new poster available as a part of the series "Good Health Lasts a Lifetime", produced by the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. Single copies are available free to post in your agency. Volume orders are available at $2.00 per poster. Healthy Sex for Gay & Bisexual Men is a reprint of our highly successful 1988 brochure, with over 12,000 copies in circulation! The new edition boasts an all new design and photographs. For prices and information contact Darcia Kohuska, Education Coordinator at (807) 345-1516. ReACT-Believe Page 8 �The goods on "The Works" Relaxation Techniques Relaxation techniques are also used extensively to combat stress. The idea is that the mind and body are in a constant state of feedback with each other. Therefore, by being able to relax your body you will also be relaxing your mind. Why not try the following exercise. In the last issue of ReACT-Believe we described a method of taking action to reduce the number of stressors in your life. In this column let's look at how to cope with stresscausing situations which can not be eliminated, such as long term illness. What we're talking about here are practices which if followed daily will reduce the effect stress has on you and will build 1. Lie down on a firm but your store of energy. comfortable surface. If your bed is super soft maybe the couch Meditation would work. Some people find When you hear the word meditation what the floor most suitable. comes into your mind? Do you picture an eastern guru sitting on a bed of nails? Don't 2. Put yourself in a comfortable worry, you don't have to be way-out to position. Many people use the meditate. There are many forms and uses of position they are most often in meditation. What they have in common is a just before they fall asleep. cleansing of the mind of the busyness of the day and the forming of a state of physical 3. Concentrate on the muscles of and mental peace. Such techniques have your right foot. Tense them as been used for centuries to assist people to tightly as you can. Concentrate heal themselves. What follows is a healing on really getting to know what it meditation using visualization techniques feels like for those muscles to be from "The Holistic Health Handbook" tense. compiled by the Berkley Holistic Health Center. 4. Relax your foot. Concentrate on enjoying the relaxation of your A Healing Meditation foot. Get to know the difference between relaxation and tension in that muscle group. Lie down. Relax your body deeply, starting at the toes and working up the legs, the torso and arms, the neck, the face, ail the way to the scalp. When you are sensing your relaxed body as deeply and gently as you can at that moment, locate whatever physiological problem you have. Visualize it, not necessarily accurately in terms of physiology, but in any way that makes sense to you: a tumor could be seen as a pile of sand to be removed by elves, a systemic infection as lumps to be strained out of the blood; a head­ ache as a vise around the head which can even­ tually be loosened. Then visualize this image of your problem as melting, or being attacked, or loosening up, or being filtered out ... in your own way. Do this meditative visualization three or four times a day, each tune sensing the current state of the health problem and letting whatever visual representation comes into your mind be transformed into a representation of well-being Page 9 5. Repeat steps 4 & 5 with your left foot. Now move on to other muscle groups. Most people use the following sequence, right foot, left foot, right calf, left calf, right thigh, left thigh, pelvic area, abdomen, chest, shoulders, neck, scalp, face. Some people find that while they are relaxing a muscle, it helps to imagine it being drawn down towards the centre of the Earth, others visualized it as becoming lighter and lighter until it floats away. Caution: don't tense and relax a muscle group which you have recently injured, and don't jump up quickly after you've finished this exercise. Bring yourself back gently and calmly and slowly get up. by Alexandre Highcrest An excerpt reprinted with permission from Stiletto, the Prostitutes Safer Sex Project newsletter. You've seen their ads in NOW: "Are you shooting up?. . . " The Works, the needle exchange at 660 Dundas West**. We've all heard about the place so I paid them a visit and here's what I discovered. I dropped in on them in a rather clandestine manner; no mention was made of who I was, my CORP* affiliation, etcetera. I was simply a customer with two used needles to exchange. They offered me clean needles at the rate of up to 10 to one. I wasn't asked if I was a user, or the user; I was simply asked how many needles I would like. I took 20 - why not? No other questions were asked, although the person minding the store was curious as to how I heard about the project. Lubed or dry condoms, condom wallets, small packets of personal lubricant, and bleach kits (which also contained condoms and personal lube) were also available free for the taking, along with the usual reams of safe-sex and safe-drug-use literature. Canadian Organization for the Rights of Prostitutes A street in downtown Toronto ReACT-Believe �HIV TESTING Recem advances in drug treatment tor AiDS are causing people to re-evaiuate wnether being tested for HIV is sometning tney wish to consicer. Because mere was no treatment ana oecause of social attitudes towards AIDS many people did not see a reason to get tested. The success of AZT. m prolonging life for some, has resulted <n its wider use. New drugs ana treatment are becoming avaiiaoie that are helping people prevent illness, if you are thinking about navmg a test, there are many issues to think about One of those is a common one: it aeais with who will know about my HIV status. HIV Antibody Test This is a test tnat detects the body s reaction to hiv. the virus involved with AIDS, it is a highly sensitive test ana provides tne most reliable information on wnetner you have been infected with HIV. Following arc listed the types of tests, their degree of confidentiality and where these tests arc available. TYPES OF TESTING AVAILABLE FOR YOU TO KNOW YOUR HIV STATUS ANONYMOUS TESTING A secret code is used to identify your blood. The staff at the test site do not know your name. It is not oossibie for tne laboratory, the doctor or the public health department to know who you are. You are known only by your number. CONFIDENTIAL TESTING NOMINAL This is where tne testing clinic and laboratory, the doctor and the public healtn department know your name. NON NOMINAL You are able to choose with your doctor a special code and the code follows your blood sample to the laboratory. If your doctor is one that is trusted by the public health department to do counselling before and after the test, then the public health department will not ask for your name and address. If your doctor is not one that is known to do counselling, the public health department will ask for your name and address and will ask you to come for counselling. The public health department are within their rignts to know the names and addresses of all those who use this method. CONFIDENTIAL NOMINAL Who will know my name and address? The doctor, the medical staff, and the public health department. Sexually Transmitted Disease clinic, your doctor. Where can 1 go for testing? ANONYMOUS NON NOMINAL The doctor, the medical staff. and the public health depart­ ment UNLESS your doctor does pre and post test counselling. NO ONE In Ontario - only available at the Hassle Free Men's Clinic in Toronto. In Quebec available at two locations in Montreal, one location In Quebec City. Sexually Transmitted Disease clinic, your doctor. WHERE TO GO CONFIDENTIAL TESTING Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit 999 Balmoral Street Monday and Friday 4:30 - 6:00 pjn. No appointment necessary Telephone: 625-3900 ANONYMOUS TESTING This is noi availaDle in the Ottawa Region. It is available in Quebec, however, and available lo ALL. Please telephone lor an appointment. In Toronto: — CISC Metro Montreal AIDS intervention Centre Telephone: (514| 934-0552 Bilingual Services — 9 00 a m. to 8 00 p m. Hassle Free Men's Clinic For appointment: (416) 922-0603 Hours. Mon 4-9 p m. Thu. 103 o.m Tue. 103 o.m. Fn. 4-7 pm Wed. 4-9 p.m. Sat. 102 o.m. CLSC Centrevilie rue Sleury. Montreal Telephone: (514) 861-6644 Primarily francophone — 9:00 a m. to 8:00 p.m. Quebec City Info-Sante £quipe de Prevention et de Dftostage. Infection d VIH et SlDA Telephone: (418) 648-2626 Doctors Dy appointments You may oe asked for the First three digits of your postal code, This is to identify your home region only. For more Information on tasting, call the AIDS Intoilne si 545-7233. ws-FAFF Tint's 345-7233. Tati to p-taH pbopSt, uittldoys, We don 't law to itouj pouf- name,, /n tie ewnityt poa aan fate* to a taped megsapt. ReACT-Believe Page IQ �by Susan Ivany "AIDS has forced laboratory workers to take a hard look at techniques that may put themselves or patients at risk I work as a laboratory technologist in a local hospital, and have been employed in the same lab since 1980. I have seen changes take place In the lab over the past ten years as a direct result of the AIDS crisis. Early in the '80's there was some hysteria among health care workers, lab staff included. AIDS has forced laboratory workers to take a hard look at techniques that may put themselves or patients at risk. I believe that among most of my colleagues a sensible middle ground has been reached, where proper but not ridiculous precautions are routinely taken. This has come about only by staff familiarizing themselves with safer procedures and learning more about AIDS and HIV. The risk of exposure to infectious diseases has always been a part of this job. The AIDS crisis has forced us to take a critical look at our procedures. The most apparent changes are in the area of infection control and lab safety: One example of this is the recapping of needles. Our blood collection trays are now equipped with sharps containers so that it is never necessary to re-cap a used needle. With a sharps container, the adaptor and needle twists off. When the container is full and ready for disposal, the lid is snapped so nothing can come out or go in. This has reduced needle-stick injuries significantly. Lab staff now use vinyl or latex gloves when handling or taking blood. They have become so routine, that I could thread a needle wearing them now! Isolation procedures are now routine. The lab technician may pose a danger to the person with AIDS. The lab technician wears gloves, a gown and mask to protect the patient from any opportunistic infections that the lab technician may pass to the patient. Biohazard bags are now used for transporting samples to the lab. Even within the last five years, lab staff were eating and smoking in the lab! Another routine that we never thought twice about was getting a fluid sample to the top of a pipette by using mouth-suction. The proper procedure now is to use a suction-bulb to draw the fluid to the top. I believe that protection from all infectious diseases is more scrupulous than it has ever been. Lab staff are now using precautions that should have been taken years ago. You know what they say, "Better late than never"! < "The Caring Profession" by Lisa Coulouris R.N. As a registered nurse. I have looked after patients with AIDS in a hospital setting. What is it like to care for people with AIDS? I found it to be a challenge; one in which I enjoyed. Keeping a person with AIDS comfortable, clean, hydrated and free from new opportunistic infections is no easy task. At the same time, it is a rewarding experience. My patients appreciated little extras done for them. When they would have two hours of uninterrupted sleep after a relaxing massage, I knew 1 was doing my best, treating them with the compassion, respect and dignity they deserved. That in itself was a reward. It can also be a trying experience, not because of the patients, but some staff. Because of the debilitated state of most of these patients, two nurses are usually needed to carry out general nursing care. Most staff were more than eager to help without question. They were fantastic in they way they approached all patients with genuine care and concern. Unfortunately, a few were just the opposite. I was absolutely shocked at the attitude of some of the nurses I encountered. One flatly refused to enter the room, stating, "Find someone else to help you" (She was not busy at the time). At a time when patients need a lot of support, I found instead, much discrimination among my colleagues. Comments such as "I wish those gays wouldn't visit here”, and "They shouldn't let AIDS patients help themselves to the pantry - they might touch the food" were just a few of the things I heard. One evening I needed help washing my patient's hair. I asked several nurses before someone would help. The responses were: "I can't, I might miss my break”, "I don't want to bring that (AIDS) home to my family" and "What does he need his hair washed for - he's not going anywhere". It is only a few nurses I am speaking of, but to me even just one nurse with such attitudes is too many. There is a lot of fear of AIDS - even within the medical profession. Therefore, I feel that more education is needed. Inservices on AIDS for staff should be mandatory for all personnel working with AIDS. Hopefully, with more education, the fear of AIDS will decrease, so all patients, regardless of diagnosis or sexual preference will be treated equally. Page 11 ReACT-Believe printed or 100% recycled paper Lab Safety � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource David Belrose fonds Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource reACT-Believe Vol 3 No 3 - Summer 1990 Subject The topic of the resource Organizations Health and Medicine Description An account of the resource Newsletter of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1990 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2665/1991_reACT-Believe_vol4no1.pdf 21a46e02d6f53e8cb6af07621ffc024a PDF Text Text ������������� https://digitalcollections.lakeheadu.ca/files/original/17/2665/1991_reACT-Believe_vol4no1_2.pdf e150ccc664c59c3215d64338caf16e7e PDF Text Text �{Romance ACT-B Advisory Council Fred Ball Doug Broman Nicky Clark Joy FedoricK Mickey Hennessey John McOonald Mary McKenzie Mane Portier Eleanor Richardson Steve Roede Director, Public Health Laboratory Producer, Thunder Gay Magazine Supervisor, P.A.G.H., Infection Control Educator & Native Advocate City Councillor Lawyer Coordinator, Palliative Care, McKellar Hospital Residential Care Worker Educator & TVO Regional Liaison Family Physician zoitfi y Intelligence ACT-B Board ol Directors Kathryn Arnold Rick Atkinson Norman Bowers Joanne Books Terry Bryant Denyse Cuiligan Susan Ivany Gail llnkJater Jeanette Munshaw Diane Roberts Ron Rogere Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Director Before romance. Call the AIDS It\foline at 345SAFE (345-7233) and get the facts about AIDS and safer sex. ACT-B Stiff David Belrose Sheila Berry Lawrence Korhonen Karon Maki Glenna McLeod Eileen ParKer Calhy Powell Michael Sobota Education Coordinator Volunteer Coordinator Office Manager Fundraising Coordinator Support Services Coordinator Communications/Outreach Coordinator Secretary Executive Director Gallois’ Revelation V Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m - 5 p.m talk to our staff and volunteers. V Afterhours and weekends listen to an informative taped message. You do not have to give your name. 'If you put tomfoolery into a computer, nothing comes out but tomfoolery. But this tomfoolery, having passed through a very expensive machine is somehow enobled and no one dares to criticize it.' Please give us your feedback! Comments, concerns, compliments and criticisms about the newsletter, our publications, or about any aspect of V Outside Thunder Bay, call the Ontario Ministry of Health AIDS Hotline. It’s toll-free! English the agency. You can phone or mail. You can remain anonymous if you wish. We'd like to know your comments in order to improve on weak points, and continue to deliver our strong points. Thank you to the agencies and individuals who have given us their comments. They are greatly French: TDD: 1-800-668-2437 Monday to Saturday 10 cum. - 10 p.m Sunday - 12 p.m - 7 p.m 1-800-267-7432 1-800-267-7712 appreciated. Write to: AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay P.O. Box 3586 Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B6E2 (807)345-1516 8:30 a.m. • 5:00 p.m. Eileen Parker, Editor, ReACT-Believe The opinions and medical information offered by ACT-B Dictionary ACT-B The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. A community-based AIDS Service Organization dedicated to confronting AIDS through prevention, support, education and advocacy. HIV AIDS ReACT-Believe are those of the individual authors and not necessarily those of the staff or Board of Directors of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. Medical information offered by ReACT-Believe PLWA Human Immunodeficiency Virus - the virus believed to cause AIDS. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome - the immune system is disrupted by HIV leaving the body defenceless against opportunistic infections. Person Living With AIDS should be used with your own discretion. Please consult your doctor. HIV+ Having tested positive for HIV antibodies. �Anonymous Testing The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay supports anonymous testing and believes that anonymous testing is needed. Often people don’t get tested for HTV because they feel they don’t need the test or for fear of a lack of confidentiality. With the stigma surrounding AIDS and HTV infection, they don’t want everyone to know what their test results are, or that they have ever been tested. Confidential testing, which is the current avenue for testing in Ontario, allows for the testing site, the doctor and the public health department to know your name. If a person doesn’t want confidential testing, where does that leave them? - wondering if they are HIV+? Perhaps not getting the test or postponing it, which would delay vital early treatment, or, not worrying about it and if they are HIV+,i possibly spreading HIV to others. Often if people feel they must be tested, they will travel to Toronto for anonymous testing, or to Winnipeg or Duluth. In an article from the October 19, Globe & Mail, Ontario Health Minister Evelyn Gigantes said she supports anonymous testing for AIDS, as recommended in a report (H1V/A1DS: A Need For Privacy) by the Ontario government’s Information and Privacy Commission. A release from the Ontario Information and Privacy Commission states, "The major recommendations of the report are that anonymous testing be made available for HIV antibodies; and that partner notification be centred around the physician and the affected person." There is controversy surrounding anonymous testing. One side believes that the consequences of disclosing HIV/AIDSrelated personal information could be devastating. The other side cites issues around public interest such as notifying contacts that have been or are at risk, counselling the affected person, and medical research. Also from the Globe & Mail, "The report has been criticized by some medical health officers, but Ms Gigantes said she thought the commission ‘made the case (for anonymous testing) as fully and carefully as it can be made.’ ... she said it makes sense "intuitively" that fears of having their identity disclosed prevent some individuals from coming forward to be tested. ‘The social and economic penalties for a person suspected of even taking a test in our society are grotesque,’ she said in an interview. She said she has asked ministry officials to investigate ‘within a very short time’ ways to implement anonymous AIDS tests in the province." The Ontario Ministry of Health has agreed to establish a pilot study to research anonymous testing for HIV antibodies at multiple centres in Ontario. At this time, the sites and project coordinator have not been determined. Thunder Bay may be considered as a possible test site. " . . .with confidential testing the testing site, the doctor, and the public health department know your name." Anonymous Testing sites use only a secret code to identify you. The staff at the test site do not know your name. It is not possible for the laboratory, the doctor or the public health department to know who you are. Currently, in Ontario, Anonymous Testing is available only at the Hassle Free Clinic in Toronto. Men’s Clinic - (416) 922-0603. Women’s Clinic - (416) 922-0566. In Thunder Bay, confidential testing is available at the Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinic at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, 999 Balmoral St., Monday and Friday, 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. No appointment is necessary. Call 625-5900. �If your Jim The other day I was asked to write what it was like to be a Person Living with AIDS in Thunder Bay. I’ve asked myself that same question but didn’t pursue an answer. The answer involves acceptance. In essence, that is what it is like; accepting. I do have an illness to which there is no cure and thus far is fatal. There is a certain amount of fear here. The question, although challenging is of benefit to my mental well-being. I continue to accept. To write down what it is like, is an expression for me, of feelings. Having AIDS has prodded me into getting in touch with these feelings and/or emotions. At the risk of sounding "insane"; being diagnosed HTV+ was the beginning of a crawl towards a quality of life which up to that crucial moment of self-affirmation, has been foreign to me. Feeling the way I do today did not come easy. To me it has been a process which includes: denial, self-loathing, rejection, blame, isolation, grief, terror and loneliness. My own diagnosis was not my initial introduction to AIDS. Approximately eight years ago, an acquaintance of mine simply seemed to be here and then wasn’t I knew a healthy successful and productive person. Whispers of fear went around my circle of friends. Did you know Randy died of AIDS? What is AIDS? I’m scared, but I won’t think about it It will never happen to me anyway!! Three years later the disease was at my doorstep. I came home one night late as usual, high as usual and my "Longtime Companion" told me he had AIDS. I cried such as I had never cried. I believe for another three years I was in some stage of shock, if not shock, certainly denial. I became a cold, self-seeking, isolated shell. I became self­ destructive. Suicide thoughts were common place and I wouldn’t talk, I mean talk about AIDS. It was like a headache; don’t think about it and it will go away. It never has. I couldn’t stop thinking about it and barely acknowledged it. I’ve actually lost count, if you can believe this, of how many people I’ve known personally who have died of AIDS. I was diagnosed about six months ago. I don’t wallow in fear of impending death: mine or my "Longtime Campanion’s." I suppose 1 now embrace life. That brings me back to the question. What’s it like to be a person living with AIDS in Thunder Bay? It’s difficult but I’m here by choice. I have a goal and as I stated, I’m crawling towards it I recall different time. My life will never be the same and that's O.K. It was truly not that great. My companion still lives in our home in Toronto. He’s coping, surviving and adjusting just as I. I’m lonely but not alone. I have a support network which I utilize, friends which I’m grateful for. I’m not happy but I’m far from being sad. My family is close, they love me. They lend their courage. My values are different. I appreciate the pace and natural beauty of Thunder Bay. I believe my life has a purpose; I’m not sure what it is. I possess fear but I’m not controlled by it. I survive, that’s what I do best. When I’m at my lowest. I’m not afraid to ask for help. I'm not afraid to ask someone to listen to me, to hug me, to love me. All I want really is to be allowed to live. That’s what it is and what I am: a PERSON LIVING with AIDS in Thunder Bay. ....Jim organization would like to receive posters, pamphlets, brochures, educational packages and our quarterly newsletter, write or call ACT-B from anywhere in Northwestern Ontario. You can also request .as an organization or individual to receive our newsletter only. Please specify if you wish to receive your mail in a plain envelope. Call (807) 345-1516. A volunteer position is now open for the position of Treatment Issues Coordinator. Duties will include: preparing the Treatment Section of ReACT-Bclieve - 2 pages, 4 times per year. This will involve finding articles to reprint from treatment focused newsletters, possibly researching new treatment articles, requesting article submissions from volunteers and doing design and layout for the treatment section. Typing skill is an asset. Training and resources will be provided. This position will report to the Communications Coordinator. Call Eileen Parker at 345-1516, Monday to Wednesday. —> ACT-B’s Native Outreach Tour travelled to Geraldton, Sioux Lookout, Kenora and Red Lake. Presentations were given in Ojibway and English along with videos, posters and pamphlets geared for Native people. For information about resources available specifically for Native people contact ACT-B at (807) 345-1516. �A Support Group is available for those living with HIV and AIDS. They meet every Thursday evening in a confidential atmosphere. A Support Group is also available for family, friends, partners and caregivers of those living with HIV and AIDS. They meet the second and last Wednesday of each month. Both groups are facilitated by professional counsellors, and provide a supportive environment for discussions. Oral Polio & IITV infection by Eileen Parker Babies and children given the oral polio vaccination can pose a threat to those with AIDS or HIV infection. The oral polio vaccination contains a dose of live 'attenuated polio virus that the child takes orally. The live virus is excreted in the child’s feces for up to several weeks (in rare cases up to 2 months). In an interview with Dr. Joan Don, she said that being HTV positive does not necessarily mean that the person’s immune system has broken down enough to be susceptible to the polio virus. As a precaution, she recommends that people who have HIV infection or AIDS, or who are otherwise immune compromised should avoid household or similar close contact for up to 4 weeks after immunization. Children shed the virus for a longer period if it is their first immunization. The period for viral shedding decreases with subsequent immunizations. Dr. Don also advises that if a child will be in contact with someone who is immune deficient, the child should receive IPV (inactivated polio vaccine) rather than OPV (oral polio vaccine). Don’t avoid caring for cute little kids, but it may be wise to ask the parent if the child has received the oral polio vaccine recently, and/or consult your physician. If you are a parent with HIV or AIDS, consult your physician when it’s time for your child’s "shots". * Attenuated - a live vinis that has lost its ability to cause clinical illness, but it can still "infect". It causes a strong immune response. What are Support Groups? 99One day out of the week when you don't feel so alone." ft A place where you can go and be yourself - there are no barriers , you can be open. It-, < n I m not the only one. H "Those who aren't HIV+ don't really understand what I'm going through9 9 "a place to seek the support and friendship of others on our journey to overcome the day to day implications of AIDS.9 9 99A place where fear can be diminished somewhat through the caring of fellow group members.9 9 For more information call the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay office at 345-1516. ALL ENQUIRIES ARE CONFIDENTIAL. Support Services are available for those living with HTV and AIDS, and their families, friends, partners and caregivers. Individual, family, and group counselling is available through the AIDS Committee. Referrals can be made to other counselling services available in the city. Practical support is available for daily tasks such as housekeeping, transportation, cooking and shopping. AC7T-D volunteers provide practical support when requested. Short term financial assistance is available for emergency needs; such as medication, food, rent, or other necessities. ACT-B can then help to access sources of income to meet these needs in the future. Advocacy is provided on a person’s behalf. When you are HTV+ or have AIDS, you may be discriminated against by your employer, welfare, an insurance company, your landlord or others. We can provide information and referrals to ensure that your rights are not violated. To access Support Services call Glcnna at the AIDS Committee of Thunder Buy uL 345-1516. ALL ENQUIRIES ARE CONFIDENTIAL. �October 1990, by Sean Hosein. The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay does not treatments) or therapy described in ReACT-Believe. accept the risk of, or responsibility for, any damages arise or result, either from use or reliance on the herein. Persons relying on the information provide professional. AZT versus THA: results from France look promising for THA As HIV is known to infect brain cells (Science 1990;249:549-553), it is not surprising that in advanced HIV disease, brain damage can occur. In the case of Alzheimer’s disease, in which dementia also occurs, researchers suspect that a virus is at the root of the problem, and have used the drug THA (Tcirahydroaminoacridine or Tacrine) in experiments on subjects with Alzheimer’s disease with some beneficial effects. Scientists think that THA may also be of use in treating the memory loss and other neurologic complications that occur in some patients with AIDS. Results of THA trials in France were reported in Treatment Update #10, but at that time were based on only 2 months of the trial. The researchers now have released the findings of their 7-month study. The trial, at l’Hopital Paul Brousse, Villejuif, and l’Hopital de l’UniversiuS Internationale, Paris, involved 62 males and 8 females. Sixty-two subjects had ARC. Forty-five subjects took AZT (either by itself or in combination with TGA, and in doses between 600 to 1200 mg/day);25 subjects took THA (by itself or in combination with AZT, and in doses between 150 to 250 mg/day). Eighteen subjects took only THA, and 19 subjects took only AZT. Subjects took AZT for an average of 27 weeks and TGA for an average of 24 weeks. Seven subjects died in the AZT group, while none died in the THA group, a statistically significant result. Sustained decreases in HTV p24 antigen were seen in the TGA group, along with sustained increased in the CD4+(T4) cell count. The incidence of opportunistic infections was greater in those on AZT than in those on TGA. VI International Conference AIDS, San Francisco, 1990 abstract SB 457. It is not clear why the results from the UK differ from those from France, but the French trial is known to be using ultra-pure THA (purified by the Synthese et Recherche company in Anthony, France) and this may account for the difference. In the USA, THA is made by Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals (Morris Plains, New Jersey), which is said to be seeking "Treatment IND" status (investigational new drug) for the drug from the FDA. In Canada, THA is made by Pharmascicnce (Montreal) under the brand name Alzyme in 25 mg capsules. AZT: viral resistance has serious implications for early intervention As larger numbers of HIV-infected people have begun to use AZT, limits to its usefulness have become more apparent. One of the major factors affecting its efficacy is the development of strains of HIV which are resistant to doses of AZT that can be tolerated by humans. At the University of California (San Diego), research on AZT resistance has been taking place for the past 2 years; scientists have found that virus from 42 HIV-infected subjects who had no prior exposure to AZT was susceptible to inhibition by AZT. Virus taken from 31 subjects with AIDS or advanced ARC developed resistance more quickly than virus taken from people with earlier-stage HIV disease. This was a statistically significant difference. After 1 year of AZT administration, nearly 90% of people with late-stage HIV disease (AIDS/advanced ARC) had HIV which was resistant to AZT. This was contrasted with the group who had earlier-stage HIV disease, in which only 31% of the subjects were resistant to the virus. A lower CD4+ cell count was predictive of the chance of resistant strains of HIV emerging with 1 year of AZT use. People with CD4+ counts of less than 100 cells had an 89% chance, with CD4+ cells in the range of 100-400 a 41% chance, and with more than 400 cells, a 27% chance of developing resistant strains of HIV within 1 year. The emergence of AZT-resistant HIV appeared sooner in subjects who were on very high-dose AZT (1200 to 1500 mg/day) than on lower doses (500 to 600 mg/day). Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes 1990;3(8):743-746. AZT: Early Intervention in Canada & the USA results in no difference in disease progression Canadian physicians/investigators have conducted a long-term study of AZT intervention in subjects with early-stage HIV disease. All 74 subjects were asymptomatic and were matched to a group of similar controls who did not receive AZT. The 74 subjects were given a schedule of increasing doses of AZT: 600 mg/day for 10 weeks, 900 mg/day for 9 weeks, and then 1200 mg/day for 9 weeks. This was followed by a "wash-out" period of 6 weeks, after which subjects were given either 1200 mg/day or the next highest dose of AZT they were able to tolerate. The difference in rates of disease progression between the two groups was not statistically significant VI International Conference AIDS, San Francisco 1990 oral presentation THB 18. To determine the effect of AZT on the "functional status and well-being" of subjects with early ARC, researchers at the University of California conducted a study of 71 subjects in a placebo-controlled trial of AZT (1200 mg/day). Their results show that after 6 months, most scores on function and quality of health had improved for the placebo group while some scores had declined for the experimental arm (AZT group) compared to values at study entry. These differences were statistically significant. Over the following 6 months, subjects on AZT declined less than those on placebo. By the 12th month, values for both groups were similar to pre-trial scores VI international Conference AIDS, San Francisco, 1990 oral presentation THB 19. . �rMENT mmend> advocate or endorse the use of any particular he AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay therefore, does not osts or consequences of any kind whatsoever which may madon contained herein, or due to any errors contained lust do so at their own risk. Please consult your health HGP-30: Vaccines as Therapy One of the reasons HIV may be able to subvert the body’s immune system is that different components of HIV resemble various components of the body; parts of the vims are thought to be similar to certain hormones, antibodies, and growth factors. As antibodies are produced against HIV, they may also "cross-react", or attack the components of the body which resembles HIV. Some scientists think that if an anti-HIV vaccine is given to people, the anti-HIV antibodies produced as a result of the vaccination might also attack the body. Medical Hypotheses 1990;31:155-156. However, in 2-year trials of the Salk HIV vaccine, most of the subjects do not appear to be suffering any ill effects as a result of having been vaccinated. In most subjects, the vaccine appears to have halted the further decline of their immune systems. In the next issue of Treatment Update we will report on progress in vaccine development and testing, including the Salk HIV vaccine, as well as on research taking place in England, France and Zaire. Researchers at the National Cancer Institute and George Washington University have developed a synthetic molecule--called HGP-30-which mimics pl7 and p24, the core proteins of HIV. Antibodies produced against HGP-30 attack pi7 and p24 as well. In experiments with rabbits immunized with HGP-30, high levels of antibodies against HGP-30 do not appear to cause any ill effects. In laboratory experiments, these antibodies effectively neutralize HIV. Tests with 19 non-HIV infected human volunteers show that immunization with HGP-30 causes the production of antibodies to pl7 and/or p24. The vaccine was not associated with any toxicity. Another advantage of this vaccine is that it appears to activate CD8+(T8+) cells. These cells play an important role in controlling HIV infection, and Norwegian researchers have found that CD8+ cells produce a novel anti-viral substance. It is thought that this vaccine may boost the levels of antibodies to the core proteins in HIV-infected people and may thus serve as a form of therapy, delaying progression to AIDS. Plans arc under way in California to implement phase I trials of HGP-30 in HTV-infected subjects later this year. VI International Conference AIDS, San Francisco, 1990 oral presentation SA76. The Thymus Gland and HTV The thymus gland, located in the chest, plays an important role in the development of certain white blood cells, helping them to mature into various types of T-cells. The gland also acts as a storage centre for T-cells, and releases hormones which affect the immune system. Because the immune deficiency seen in AIDS is similar to that seen in children with rare thymus disorders, early in the 1980s researchers began to investigate the functioning of the thymus gland in people with HIV infection. French researchers have found that subjects with advanced HTV infection have low levels of a thymic hormone called thymulin. Also, American and Danish researchers have found abnormalities in thymic hormone production in subjects who were HIVinfected but who did not have AIDS. Initially, they thought that they found eleveated levels of the thymic hormone thymosin-alspha, in their subjects. Further investigation revealed that these subjects had high levels of an inner or core protein of HIV (called pi7) in their blood. Parts of pl7 resemble thymosinalpha and their detection systems treated the two substances as one. Actual levels of thymosin-alpha are decreased in subjects with HIV infection. At autopsy, the thymus glands from people with AIDS are often reduced in size and appear to be damaged. Some of this damage may be due to direct infection by HIV. However, there may be another mechanism whereby HIV infection results in thymus damage. As previously mentioned, part of hIV, pi7, resembles part of the crucial thymic hormone thymosinalpha. When antibodies are produced against this HIV product, it is likely that they attack not only HIV but also thymosinalpha and possibly the thymus gland as well. Indeed, at autopsy, the thymus glands from people with HIV infection have the appearance of glands which have come under severe attack by antibodies. Science 1986;232:1135-1137. Further work on pi 7/thymosin connection has resulted in the development of an anti-HIV vaccine called HGP-30. More info The ACT-B Resource Centre Library keeps articles, fact sheets, research studies, newspaper clippings and newsletters containing treatment information. We also subscribe to specific treatment information newsletters with the latest information on AIDS & HIV treatments. This information is available to everyone, health care professionals, those with HIV or AIDS, students, agencies, caregivers, and anyone with an interest in AIDS and HIV infection. The Resource Centre Library is located at 285 Bay Street �RU AIDS Awsumf As Communications Coordinator with ACT-B, the question that I am most often asked by reporters is, "How many people have AIDS in Thunder Bay?". People want statistics. They want them because they want to know if they arc at risk of getting AIDS. There is AIDS in Thunder Bay. Yes, you may be at risk. A main reason is because perhaps you think that you’re (pardon the pun) immune to AIDS because you’re not in a "high risk group". There are no high risk groups, only high risk behaviours. Having sex without a condom is a high risk behaviour. When discussing AIDS and condom usage I have heard "We don’t have to worry about that We’re married.", "I won't get AIDS because I’m with one partner.", "I don’t have to use condoms. My girlfriend is really nice.", "He only had one girlfriend before me.", "We don’t use them. We’ve been going out for four months." It only takes once to get HIV (the virus believed to cause AIDS). The virus doesn’t take into account how much you’re in love, how nice your partner is, how nice you are or how long you’ve been married. You can’t tell if a person has HIV by looking at them. A person can be perfectly healthy (for years!) and be carrying HIV. The person may not know they have the virus. Well, we’ve established that anyone may be at risk. Will you use a condom? I’ve heard a common statement, "Na, I don’t like those things." (This coming from a person who wears a seatbelt, quit smoking, and is getting back in shape). Using condoms is an essential part of maintaining good health. I have also heard another disturbing statement, "Yeah, she carries condoms, I’ll go for her." The guy that said this was implying that a woman who has condoms must be "easy". There is a big error in his thinking here. Consider this - if your partner doesn’t use condoms with you, chances are they haven’t used them with other people either. Also, if this person goes to the bar and gels drunk or stoned, it’s not very likely that they’re being safe and making sure they’re using condoms at 2 in the morning. If your partner insists that condoms be used, chances are that this person is responsible and is caring for his or her health. I’d choose the person who uses condoms. Oh yes, the original question, "How many people have AIDS in Thunder Bay?" How many people who have it is not the issue. There is no way of accurately measuring the number of people that carry HIV. We do know that there are people living with AIDS and HTV in Thunder Bay and that number is growing. Call the AIDS Infolinc - 345-SAFE that a vaccine for HIV will be discovered within the next few years. 2 T F HIV and AIDS are the same thing. 3 T F You can tell by looking at someone, whether they have HIV infection. 4 T F Prostitutes often pass HIV to their "customers". 5 T F Once you know someone better, you don’t have to keep using condoms. ®TF Education about HIV and AIDS needs to be only for gay and bisexual men and IV drug users. 7 T F Testing for HIV antibodies is available in Thunder Bay. 8 T F HIV can not be transmitted by sharing food or drink with someone who has HIV. 9 T F You are at risk by working with someone with AIDS or HIV. J0TFA common way of contracting HIV is through your dentist. 11 T F Mosquitoes don’t carry HIV. 12 TF People with AIDS and HIV can have a healthy sex life. �RU AIDS Amur®? As Communications Coordinator with ACT-B, the question that I am most often asked by reporters is, "How many people have AIDS in Thunder Bay?". People want statistics. They want them because they want to know if they arc at risk of getting AIDS. There is AIDS in Thunder Bay. Yes, you may be at risk. A main reason is because perhaps you think that you’re (pardon the pun) immune to AIDS because you’re not in a "high risk group". There are no high risk groups, only high risk behaviours. Having sex without a condom is a high risk behaviour. When discussing AIDS and condom usage I have heard "We don’t have to worry about that We’re married.", "I won't get AIDS because I’m with one partner.", "I don’t have to use condoms. My girlfriend is really nice.", "He only had one girlfriend before me.", "We don’t use them. We’ve been going out for four months." It only takes once to get HIV (the virus believed to cause AIDS). The virus doesn’t take into account how much you’re in love, how nice your partner is, how nice you are or how long you’ve been married. You can’t tell if a person has HIV by looking at them. A person can be perfectly healthy (for years!) and be carrying HIV. The person may not know they have the virus. Well, we’ve established that anyone may be at risk. Will you use a condom? I’ve heard a common statement, "Na, I don’t like those things." (This coming from a person who wears a seatbelt, quit smoking, and is getting back in shape). Using condoms is an essential part of maintaining good health. I have also heard another disturbing statement, "Yeah, she carries condoms, I’ll go for her." The guy that said this was implying that a woman who has condoms must be "easy". There is a big error in his thinking here. Consider this - if your partner doesn’t use condoms with you, chances are they haven’t used them with other people either. Also, if this person goes to the bar and gets drunk or stoned, it’s not very likely that they’re being safe and making sure they’re using condoms at 2 in the morning. If your partner insists that condoms be used, chances are that this person is responsible and is caring for his or her health. I’d choose the person who uses condoms. Oh yes, the original question, "How many people have AIDS in Thunder Bay?" How many people who have it is not the issue. There is no way of accurately measuring the number of people that carry HIV. We do know that there arc people living with AIDS and HIV in Thunder Bay and that number is growing. Call the AIDS Infoline - 345-SAFE that a vaccine for HIV will be discovered within the next few years. 2 T F HIV and AIDS are the same thing. 3 T F You can tell by looking at someone, whether they have HIV infection. 4 T F Prostitutes often pass HIV to their "customers". 5 T F Once you know someone better, you don’t have to keep using condoms. 6 T F Education about HIV and AIDS needs to be only for gay and bisexual men and IV drug users. 7 T F Testing for HIV antibodies is available in Thunder Bay. 8 T F HIV can not be transmitted by sharing food or drink with someone who has HIV. 9 T F You are at risk by working with someone with AIDS or HIV. J0TFA common way of contracting HIV is through your dentist. 11 T F Mosquitoes don’t carry HIV. 32 TF People with AIDS and HIV can have a healthy sex life. �"United we Deliver." stand... Together we Dedicated to those whom I have met in Thunder Bay. can And I will sense your hearts of love. Your friendship I will not regret. For these are the times, Lest -1 will not forget. And when it’s my time that will come. I will leave with dignity, and pride... and this I pray. v "As she sings her song, She dances to create the circle. As we three, we sit as one. Together, we prayed of life's obstacles. And as we clasped our hands we became strong." When the music had played. I too fell the notes of its serenity of the mountains. While the strengths of the trees as they danced and swayed. It was a time for my reflections. While in my silence., quietly I prayed. "Oh! Great Spirit," I am one of many, who also shares my challenges of my tomorrows. I will share the walk of silence. And perhaps will feel many spirits of sorrows. I carry this illness, it is no coincidence. And I believe this was given by choice. I am an Indian, who is HIV positive. But I am not alone. For there are many that will stand with me to live, And while I will continue to travel, Far up in the skies above, I will feel your eyes, "Dear Grandfathers" Look down and guide them well. Smile down on these. Whose hearts are courageous and strong. For the heart is like a rose, Once it is in bloom. You can feel its beauty. Have faith and the world will see, Your love and your care Will carry you as you will prepare. For a better tomorrow as your brightest destiny. This will be your reward. My dear Brother and Sister "United we stand... Together we can deliver!" And if by chance you look above Watch for a certain bird. For it is me in spirit of Ken Ward. For this I pray. To me new friends of a unique family of the staff, members, volunteers of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. With my sincerest love, Ken Ward "Feather of Hope" Good-bye and Hello This will be the last message from me, as a member of the Board of Directors of ACT-B. Since the founding in early 1986,1 have been a part of this agency, and have seen it grow, often slowly, sometimes rapidly, until its present state. It will be strange not to be part of the board any longer. However, beginning my new responsibilities as Education Coordinator is exciting and challenging. 1 look forward to waking with everyone in my new role within the agency. It will be difficult to live up to the expectations generated by the work that Darcia has done, and.I want to thank her both as President of the Board, and as her replacement, for her significant contribution to the development of this agency. So, good-bye to everyone from the President of the Board of Directors, and hello from the Education Coordinator. David Belrose At the November Annual General Meeting, memben of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay voted in a new Board Director*. Our new board members, Kathryn Arnold, Joanne Books, Norman Bowers, Denyse Culligan, Susan Ivany, Gail Linklater, Diane Roberts and Ron Rogers. Our returning board members are Rick Atkinson, David Belrose (who has since become our new Education Coordinator), Terry Bryant and Jeanette Munshaw. We would like to welcome all of you and look forward to working with you in the coming year. �Time to lend a Hand AIDS & The Human Rights Code The Ontario Human Rights Code prohibits discrimination against people with HIV. This includes all those who have AIDS or who have tested positive for HIV, whether they show symptoms or not. The Code also prohibits discrimination agsinst people who are believed to have HIV, as well as those who associate with them. Here are some examples of discrimination: | If you have been denied a job, dismissed or demoted because you have AIDS/HIV, or because someone thinks you do, and you can still do that job; | If you have been required to undergo an HIV-antibody test at an employment medical or have been asked whether you have AIDS or HIV at an employment interview; | If you have been denied accommodation because you have, or are believed to have, AIDS/HIV; ■ If you have been denied service by a store, restaurant, theatre, club, government agency, insurance company, hospital, dentist’s or doctor’s office, or other such provider of services, goods and facilities because you have, or are believed to have, AIDS/HIV; | If you or your child have been denied permission to attend school because you or your child have, or is believed to have, AIDS/HIV, or if you or your child have been asked to take a HIV-antibody test as a condition of admission; | If you have been harassed at work by your superiors or co-woikers, or by your landlord, building superintendent or other tenants in your building, because you have, or are believed to have, AIDS/HIV; If you have experienced any of these situations or others please get in touch with the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Support Services department at 345-1516, or contact the Ontario Human Rights Commission at (807) 623-9119. You may be able to file a complaint It is your right to be protected against discrimination because you have, or are believed to have AIDS/HIV. You do not need a lawyer or have to pay a fee to anyone in order to file a complaint. The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay offers advocacy and support, and referrals if needed, in cases of discrimination. Between November, 1986, and October, 1987, Statistics Canada surveyed people over 15 who performed volunteer work such as fund-raising, canvassing, providing information or organizing events: - 5.3 million people, 27 per cent of the adult population, volunteered at least once. - More than one billion hours of time were donated, equivalent to half a million full-time jobs. - Some people worked for several causes. On average, 3.7 hours a week were donated. - Albertans were most likely to volunteer (40 per cent); residents of Quebec least likely (19 per cent). - Women were more likely to volunteer almost 6 in 10. - Volunteering increased with age, to a peak of 36 percent for people between 35 and 44. - People in large metropolitan centres were less likely to volunteer: Montreal (17 per cent), Toronto (21), and Vancouver (23). Western centres were the exception, however, with Saskatoon, for example, having a 44 per cent participation rate. Source: Globe &. Mail. July 23, 1990 (ACT-B has over 100 volunteer!!) _^Kneacc Bye Dar, With fond memories we say goodbye to Darcia as our Education Coordinator. A new job will take her to the jungle of downtown Toronto, and off to the wilds of Northern Ontario. Darcia will still be involved with ACT-B in the future as a volunteer serving on the Education Committee. We miss you and wish you the greatest of success and happiness, AND STOP IN AND VISIT! OKAY! - the staff and volunteers of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay # �Volunteer Training: "Who needs it, anyway?" Without a doubt, most everyone acts in a volunteer capacity for an agency or organization. Let me expand on this. As volunteers, wc are representatives of our organization. In the public eye, we are seen as reflections of an agency’s standards and philosophy. Even when wc arc not volunteering at an event, people still associate us with that group. Therefore our behaviour should represent a responsible volunteer of that agency. Training therefore should cover basic points; the history of the organization, its mandate, goals, general policies and procedures for volunteers, basic HIV infection and AIDS information, sociological, psychological, and biological aspects of HIV and AIDS and related issues. Volunteer training is given to educate at the entry level. In six hours, highly skilled and knowledgeable professionals present facts. Facts dispel myths. From there, volunteers take this information out into the community. These facts are presented, complete with that old technique - humour. We always joke about things that we feel uncomfortable talking about; sex, death, racism, sexuality, suicide, and on and on. There is much to accomplish in such a short time, yet much is accomplished. Each person who has gone through the orientation should understand the AIDS Committee better, should be aware of HIV infection and AIDS, should know that they will be working with people who respect the rights of others, should be prepared to uphold the concept of confidentiality, should have a sense of humour and know how and when to have fun. Beyond the basic orientation, we are in the process of developing specialized training for those volunteers who have indicated their interest in working specifically in the support services area of our committee. Knowledge and training give us a level of comfort around sensitive and cloudy issues. That’s why it’s so important Sheila Berry Volunteer Co-ordinator AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Thanks Volunteers! d <o Without you Stage One: ACT-B My wife and I had the pleasure of attending the Volunteer Orientation to ACT-B on Sept. 22nd at the Thunder Bay Yacht Club. We were warmly welcomed by Sheila Berry, Volunteer Co-ordinator, who broke the icc and set the stage for our introduction to ACT-B. As prospective volunteers, Sheila took this opportunity to outline the various duties we might perform and to reassure us that we would be expected to perform only those duties which were personally suitable to our nature and schedule. She also emphasized the need for reliability, responsibility and confidentiality among the members in order to provide and maintain an effective level of service. In other words a chain is only as strong as its weakest link and we volunteers "links" are to strengthen the chain and lighten the load. The next portion of the program was covered by Michael Sobota, Executive Director, who gave a basic overview of who and what ACT-B is and how it relates to the networking efforts on a provincial, national and global level. Michael also provided a historical and educational "AIDS 101" mini-course on AIDS and HTV infection - Complete with a question and answer period wc could have continued for days. The program was rounded out with a touching and thought provoking video entitled AIDS: A Family Experience. This real life drama provided the basis for an in-depth group discussion which enabled us to look within ourselves and share personal views with other group members. At this point I think we had become ACT-B volunteers,'but hadn’t yet realized it You are presently reading my first volunteer contribution to ACT-B and although I am a slow study I hope to contribute further to this worthwhile effort. I thank my wife for bringing me along to the orientation and ACT-B for providing me with a very enjoyable day and a free lunch to boot!! Craig Davis ACT-B Volunteer we’d be . . . Yeah Cathy! A dream come true. Cathy Powell is our new secretaryl Ya-hool She's already whipped us into shape • Where are you going? Let me know if you’re taking calls. Jane Doe was looking for you. Did you mark what time you’ll be back? When’s that postage machine coming? Get off my typewriter. When she isn’t whipping us into shape, she’s making us smile, and our visitors feel welcome. Welcome Cathy. Answers from RU Aware questionnaire. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. False False False False False False 7. True 8. True 9. False 10. False 11. True 12. Tme Number of correct answers 12 - bravo, you’re pretty aware 6-11 - you’re average aware less than 6 - you're not very aware If you got less than 12 contct answers or want more information, call the AIDS Infoline at 345-7233. �The AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay gratefully acknowledges all the businesses and organizations that supported our educational message in the Chronicle Journal for World AIDS Day. Bay Credit Union Iain Angus, MP Manitoba Pool Elevators McKellar General Hospital MDS Laboratories Spadoni Bros. Thunder Bay Art Gallery Thunder Bay District Health Council Thunder Bay District Health Unit UTDC Inc. Can-Car Works Thank you to all the people, organizations, and businesses that supported and worked together to make AIDS Awareness Week a success. AIDS Awareness Week Steering Committee ACT-B volunteers Ashley Wright Beatrice Foods Canada Games Complex Confederation College Fitness Centre Country Seed Planters Designs On You Executive Suite Fun Run Volunteers Japan Camera Jeanne Edwards Ken Ward Landale Gardens MacLean Hunter Community Programming Magnus Theatre Mayor Jack Masters McDonald’s Pat Fenlon Petals ’n Pots Port Arthur General Hospital Robin’s Donuts Salon of Beauti Shelley Wark-Martyn MP Sunspun Foods Thunder Bay Community Auditorium Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra Valhalla Inn Thank you to the Thunder Bay Foundation for the generous donation. primed on recycled paper Writers & Readers Write Would you like to try your hand at writing? Would you like to learn how? You can write articles for ReACT-Believe. We can assign stories or you can run your ideas past us. If you’ve ever wanted to write an article or an editorial, call me, Eileen Parker at 345-1516. News Flash From the North Pole!! (Bay St. Affiliate) Santa’s Helpers - disguised as polar bears delivered Christmas baskets filled with goodies to our friends living with HTV and AIDS. A great big bear thank you goes out to the following businesses for sharing and caring in the true spirit of the festive season. Fanny’s Fabrics - Netting and ribbon Kemp Fisheries - Wild Rice Northco Foods (Robin’s Donuts) - free coffee & donuts Safeway (Court St.) - a variety of fresh fruit Second Cup (Keskus) - tea & coffee ACT-B volunteers & staff added a loving touch to the baskets in the form of a fuzzy wuzzy teddy bear. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource David Belrose fonds Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource reACT-Believe Vol 4 Issue 1 - Winter 1991 Subject The topic of the resource Organizations Health and Medicine Description An account of the resource Newsletter of the AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource AIDS Committee of Thunder Bay Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1991 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF