Written by La-Kenia Green, TDN BOLD Initiative intern. Dec. 10, 2013

On Monday December 2^nd, World AIDS Day was celebrated. As I arrived to the community health fair organized by Diaspora Community Services at Flatbush Reformed Church, I saw there were around 5 young students from different schools that did skits about using protection to prevent HIV/AIDS. There were also many different organizations tabling at the event like SUNY Downstate Medical Center and Amida Care, among others.

I spoke with two doctors in training from SUNY Downstate Medical Center and was given a chance to introduce myself and explain what I do for Transdiaspora Network (TDN). I mostly took note on the amount of people that wanted to get HIV tested and even doctors got tested. There was a table where you could get your blood pressure level tested and I have noticed that the people being tested were up in age roughly around 40 and up.

One thing that stood out to me was the skit about the two friends who were having a conversation about sexual life of one of them. The friend said that she does not use condoms with her partner and her friend seemed concerned. However, she did not understand what was the problem with not using protection when she would rather have sex without one because it is more pleasurable. The friend insisted that she used it to prevent getting any STD’s, or even getting pregnant. Later, they both decided to go to the doctor to get checked out. This shows that even friends can be an influence in some of your choices -good or bad.