Print Issue: July 4, 2002

AIDS Prevention Program Aimed At Hispanic Teens

ATLANTA - The Archdiocesan AIDS Ministry held an education and prevention program for the Hispanic community entitled "Un Cuerpo Hermoso - Una Alma Hermosa" (A Beautiful Body - A Beautiful Soul) on Sunday, May 26 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Atlanta.

Nearly 80 youth and young adults and 26 parents from IHM, Sacred Heart Church and the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta, St. Philip Benizi Church, Jonesboro, and St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Alpharetta, participated. Maria Rivas, Hispanic outreach coordinator at AID Atlanta, Luis Blanco, AIDS minister at IHM, and Magaly Schaeffer, Spanish outreach counselor with Positive Impact, presented the program in Spanish.

Teens from participating parishes listen during the sessions on AIDS prevention held at IHM in May. More than 80 Hispanic youth and their parents attended the workshop conducted by the archdiocesan AIDS ministry.

"Messages regarding sexual behavior and values are impacting the lives of our youth from a variety of sources. Let us take the initiative to talk about sexual behavior with our youth so they get the right messages from the right persons - their parents and the church community," said Sister Nora Ryan, OP, coordinator of the archdiocesan AIDS ministry. She thanked facilitators as well as the organizers, Carmen Desmelik, Father Francisco Estrada, Father Refugio Oñate-Melendez, Kathy Parker, Sister Maria Pilar, MAG, and Sister Blanca Lopez, RFR.

Parents attended a session led by Rivas which assisted them in communication skills to help them address the complex issues surrounding AIDS. Rivas encouraged parents to be open and discuss the pressures and demands which their teenagers and young adults face, stressing the importance of education, support and prevention. She challenged them "to promote HIV prevention by getting more involved in their teenagers' lives outside the home - in their social activities and school events."

Schaeffer and Blanco had concurrent sessions with youth where they urged them to make healthy moral choices that will positively affect their futures. They noted that individuals under 25 years old are estimated to make up half of all new HIV infections in the United States and that the infection rates are disproportionately high for both African-American and Latino youth.

The youth were asked to make a commitment to examine ways to protect themselves like avoiding drugs and alcohol. Facts were given and questions were accurately answered regarding condoms, but the youth were given the position of the Catholic Church urging them to practice abstinence before marriage.

Parent Nico Padilla said of the event, "This will help me to be able to give more information to my children. It would be good for all parents to learn more about AIDS."