BY LAYLI WHYTE
Staff Writer
PHOTOS BY SEAN BRADY Melanie A. Swain (far right), of Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey, discusses the use of protection in fighting HIV/AIDS infection with a group at Monmouth University Nov. 30. LITTLE SILVER — Events for World AIDS Day targeted a high risk population last week: high school and college students.
Three HIV positive women with three different stories shared one message with students at Red Bank Regional High School, and a forum at Monmouth University informed students about their risk for HIV.
Throughout the day on Nov. 30, three women living with HIV spent the day speaking to students in health classes about their own personal experiences.
Theresa Bell, the mother of four children, has been HIV positive for 10 years and is currently going to school to earn a master’s degree.
“In the beginning,” she said, “I was in denial. I told my family, and we had already gone through this with a cousin of mine who had contracted AIDS, and they treated me the same.”
One of the quilts on display during the forum. Bell said that speaking at RBR was a first for her at a high school, although she has told her story many times at different events. She works at Hyacinth AIDS Foundation in New Brunswick.
“I feel if I could tell you now,” she said, “I could save your life.”
Bell said she was infected through having unprotected sex with a man who didn’t tell her that he had AIDS, and who has since passed away.
“Get tested,” she said, “because if you don’t know, no one else can know.”
Bell is currently in a relationship with a man who is HIV negative and knows her status.
Jackie, who asked that her last name not be revealed, a mother of three children, one of whom is HIV positive, was also diagnosed with HIV 10 years ago.
“I was on drugs for 22 years of my life,” she said. “I turned to prostitution to pay for the cocaine.”
Jackie warned the students to stay away from drugs because the consequences could be worse than they imagine.
“If you’re involved with folks who are doing drugs,” she said, “it won’t take you to any good place.”
Jackie also pointed out that the face of HIV and AIDS could be anyone.
“If we didn’t tell you our status,” she asked the students, “would you know? The fear and stigma from this disease is killing us.”
Jackie said that she chooses to stay abstinent, and encouraged the students to take their time about being sexually active.
“You don’t have to give in if you don’t want to,” she said. “There is life after HIV. There is life after drugs.”
Jackie used to be on a medication regimen of 22 pills a day, and now is down to three pills a day. She has not developed AIDS.
Grisel, who also wanted her last name kept confidential, a mother of two grown children, was diagnosed as HIV positive three years ago and admits that she is still learning to cope with this new reality.
“Somebody made a choice for my life,” she said. “I’m still very angry and I’m still very bitter, but I’m working on it.”
Grisel said that she is not currently taking any medication to help control her HIV because she must first be treated for hepatitis C so that she can withstand the medication.
All the women stressed to the students that getting tested for HIV is very important, and that they should protect themselves in any sexual situation.
“Oral sex is still sex,” said Jackie.
Bell lives with a chronic cough because of her medication, and she has also had asthma and allergies her entire life.
Jackie was diagnosed with diabetes two years ago, and she said her doctors believe the HIV medication may be the cause.
Listening to the stories of these women, the students sat quietly, asking questions about the pain and medications the women have to live with as a result of their HIV status.
Stacy Liss, a counselor with RBR’s school-based youth services program, The Source, is also the adviser for the school’s CARES Club, which promotes AIDS awareness and prevention.
Liss shared some statistics with the students about the facts on AIDS and HIV.
“HIV/AIDS is a huge pandemic,” she said. “People live in a little bubble sometime living in Monmouth County. Sometimes you don’t see it.”
Liss said that although New Jersey is the third wealthiest state on the East Coast, it also rates third in the nation for the number of children infected with HIV.
“Twenty-five million people have died from AIDS since 1981 –– 3.1 million people died last year, 4.9 million people were infected last year and 3.2 million teens under the age of 15 have HIV or AIDS (worldwide).”
She explained to the students that getting tested is easier than it used to be. The test no longer requires a blood test or waiting a long time for the results.
“It’s a swab test now,” she said. “You get the results right away.”
Liss also emphasized the reality of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) to the students.
“There are kids in this building with STDs,” she said. “There are kids in this school who have been affected by AIDS.”
A former RBR student and CARES member, Jacquelin Bingham, who now attends Monmouth University, has taken what she has learned about AIDS and HIV in high school and decided to try and make a difference in her new surroundings.
She has started her own CARES Club at the university and, with the help of the Monmouth University African-American Student Union (ASU), organized a forum to educate her fellow students about HIV and AIDS, in observance of World AIDS Day, Dec.1.
The forum was held on Nov. 30 at the West Long Branch university and included a presentation by a representative from Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey, entertainment provided by members of the RBR CARES Club, and a discussion panel about the reality of AIDS and HIV in Mon-mouth County.
Melanie A. Swain, of Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey, gave a presentation about services provided by her agency, as well as what people can do to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS.
She said that although Planned Parenthood of Shrewsbury does not currently provide HIV testing, it can offer referrals to organizations that do provide testing.
Swain said that although people have personal definitions of sex, there are several ways to transmit AIDS/HIV sexually.
“Young women come into the office and swear up and down that they are virgins,” she said, “but have contracted a sexually transmitted infection.”
Swain explained the difference between HIV and AIDS.
“HIV,” she said, “is human immunodeficiency virus. It is a virus that weakens the immune system. AIDS is a set of conditions associated with the last stages of HIV.”
AIDS stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome, and is caused by HIV, according to Swain.
Thirty-three percent of people living with HIV don’t know they have it, said Swain, and HIV symptoms can take up to 10 years to appear. Some symptoms include night sweats, persistent fevers and swollen lymph glands.
“The good news is,” she said, “that the male latex condom is the single most efficient available technology to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.”
Swain explained the different varieties of condoms, how to put them on, and how putting them on the wrong way will make them less effective.
“People say it’s awkward,” she said, “but it’s awkward to call someone and say, ‘I’m HIV positive.’”
After Swain’s presentation, students from the Red Bank Regional CARES Club provided entertainment.
A panel discussion moderated by Bingham was then held to answer questions posed about the threat of AIDS and HIV for students at Monmouth University.
The panel included Liss, who said that students at MU are at risk.
“You are vulnerable,” she said, “but you do have the power to gain knowledge and pass that knowledge on.”
Liss also said that when she first came to Monmouth County eight years ago, she didn’t hear a lot about young people doing heroin, but that has changed.
“I’m hearing that now,” she said.
The panel also included Laura Kelly, a professor of nursing at the university; Fran Stein, the nurse manager for the local Ryan White program; Helen Ferlazzo, from the Community Health Center of Asbury Park; and Shantel, a woman living with HIV.
“You are being very naive,” said Kelly, “if you think there are not people on this campus that are HIV positive. Over 3,000 people in Monmouth County are HIV positive.”
Kelly advised students not to engage in sexual activity if they have been drinking alcohol.
“You cannot drink and make good decisions,” she said. “If you’re going to drink, you should not have sex.”
Stein reminded students that there is no visual test for HIV.
“You have to think everyone you are with could have it,” she said.
Shantel, a woman living with HIV who did not want her last name revealed, said that she first contracted the virus when she was 27 years old and has been living with the disease for over 10 years.
“You do not want what I have,” she said. “It’s a hard life, and life is hard enough.”
Shantel said she has to take five pills in the morning and four pills at night as part of her regimen to fight HIV.
“Some people out there are just so ignorant,” she said. “I still can’t tell everybody. I used to be so ashamed, but it’s my time now to give back.”
Stein said that during her work with HIV positive patients, she got pricked by a needle that had been used on one of the HIV positive patients.
“I went on the medications,” she said. “They really make you sick. I was exposed to it, but I didn’t know if I had it for three to six months. I didn’t tell anyone. The one or two people I did tell, I noticed they would sit a little farther away from me.”
Shantel said that her denial of her HIV status has actually helped her by keeping her spirits up, and that it is only starting to wane now. She said she gets up each day and does what she does because she has to for her children.
“I have faith in God,” she said. “There are days where I will cry and cry and cry. It doesn’t mean I have to die.”

