My last blog......

Hey everyone,

OMG, I can't believe this is my last blog!!! It was such a great experience that I enjoyed so much and I know I will truly miss it. This class taught me so much; I learned alot of great information that I will carry on for the rest of my life, and I will share with everyone I meet. I am sure we all feel like our eyes, minds, and hearts have been opened to the truth about HIV and what it can do to all of us.

I feel like this course met my expectations. I wanted to learn so much about HIV and inform others about it to help prevent the spread of this killer. I learned so much in this class, I loved all the assignments, and to my surprise, I enjoyed writing so much; I've never enjoyed writing tons and tons of papers for a class before, but this one was really worth it. When I have kids in the future, I know I’m going to set down with them and teach them about HIV just like I learned in this great class and I will also teach them the importance of having protected sex; I figured I can always start teaching my kids at an early age if we want HIV "education" to work!

Did you know?
This is my last did you know section, but I promised myself that I will not stop researching facts and information about HIV after we finish this class.

Did you know that the AIDS clock now reads: 34, 797,997 People living with HIV????!!!!! This is crazy; the numbers are increasing so fast, I really wish we can figure out a way to slow them down in the future.

Also, did you know some of the reasons that there is HIV/AIDS stigma in the world are due to the following:

"1. HIV/AIDS is a life-threatening disease, and therefore people react to it in strong ways.2. HIV infection is associated with behaviors (such as homosexuality, drug addiction, prostitution or promiscuity) that are already stigmatized in many societies.3. Most people become infected with HIV through sex which often carries moral baggage.4. There is a lot of inaccurate information about how HIV is transmitted, creating irrational behavior and misperceptions of personal risk.5. HIV infection is often thought to be the result of personal irresponsibility.6. Religious or moral beliefs lead some people to believe that being infected with HIV is the result of moral fault (such as promiscuity or 'deviant sex') that deserves to be punished" (AVERT, 2009)

Reference:
HIV and AIDS discrimination and stigma. AVERT (2009). Retrieved November 25, 2009, from http://www.avert.org/aidsstigma.htm

AIDS clock. Retrieved november 25, 2009, from http://www.unfpa.org/aids_clock/