THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 7, 1995 TAG: 9507070546
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
In the past year, Rev. David Gimenez, who leads a church serving the Hispanic community in Hampton Roads, has watched AIDS steal away people he cherished. First, his 34-year-old nephew, a former drug user, died. Then, AIDS took a woman in his small congregation.
Now, he's taking up the fight against AIDS with a workshop on Saturday to educate people, especially those in the Hispanic community, about how to avoid contracting the deadly disease.
``The Bible tells us that because of lack of knowledge, people perished,'' said Gimenez, pastor at Iglesia La Roca Centro de Amor. ``Lack of knowledge is a deterrent to the fulfillment of God's purpose on God's people.''
In the United States, AIDS is spread mainly through intravenous drug use and unprotected sexual activity. Nationally, the disease has had an unusually heavy impact in the minority community, a pattern which is reflected in this area.
In the five cities of South Hampton Roads, African Americans represent 55 percent of the AIDS cases and 66 percent of those infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Locally, the impact has been less severe among people of Hispanic origin: They comprise 2 percent of AIDS cases and those infected with HIV.
``There is a disproportionate degree of HIV in all ethnic communities,'' said Kirsten Bradley, an HIV/AIDS educator at the Tidewater Chapter of the American Red Cross.
``In some instances, that goes along with socioeconomic status. . . lack of access to health care and education is going to put people at greater risk of any disease.''
The free workshop will be held from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at Commonwealth College, on Baxter Road in Virginia Beach.
It is a collaboration between the Tidewater Chapter of the American Red Cross and an organization led by Gimenez, the National Organization for the Advancement of Hispanics. The Hispanic organization has four chapters and a mailing list of 700 people, mainly Virginia residents.
The workshop will include an educational segment by Bradley, which involves the audience in role-playing about decisions people face in protecting themselves from AIDS. Giminenez has also invited a former drug abuser who has AIDS and a Hispanic minister from New York, who has counseled many AIDS patients.
Gimenez says it's clear that young people are more sexually active than they were two decades ago. But he says the attitude of many in the Hispanic community is captured by the Spanish word ``basilon,'' loosely translated as ``having a ball.''
In other words, he says, they have fun without worrying about the consequences. Both Gimenez and Bradley say that the church, which traditionally has great influence in minority communities, needs to play a larger role in educating people about protecting themselves from AIDS.
``The church has a responsibility to blow the trumpet, to let the parents know,'' Gimenez said. ``But the parents have greater responsibility. If they don't exercise morality in the home, from what they view on television to their own behavior, then the children will pick it up.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
AIDS AND HIV IN SOUTH HAMPTON ROADS
Shown below are cases of AIDS and HIV infection in the South
Hampton Roads, reported by the Virginia Department of Health as of
May 31.
White Black Hispanic
Chesapeake AIDS 46 69 *
HIV 40 118 0
Portsmouth AIDS 33 130 *
HIV 79 265 *
Virginia Beach AIDS 205 117 12
HIV 211 211 16
Suffolk AIDS 12 32 *
HIV 10 62 0
Norfolk AIDS 245 366 13
HIV 276 730 24
* - Three or fewer cases.
NOTE: HIV testing is voluntary, therefore these numbers reflect
only those persons who chose to be tested.
KEYWORDS: AIDS HIV STATISTICS TIDEWATER
HAMPTON ROADS by CNB