As many of you know, earlier this year, we re-launched our website in an effort to ensure that it remains a leading resource of HIV information and community support for women and girls from all over the world.
The Well Project's blog
As the leaves started to change and my favorite season of the year began, I realized that it has been just a little over a year since I became executive director of The Well Project, which made me reflect on some of the highs and lows of the very busy past 12+ months! As some of you know, I joined The Well Project in 2009 as the director of online services, and brought with me a long history of work in the field of HIV. I began working in HIV education in 1995, shortly after my sister was diagnosed with AIDS. Based on her low number of T-cells (less than 100), she had been living with HIV/AIDS...
As many of you know, a primary focus of The Well Project is to offer community support and advocacy development initiatives to address stigma, discrimination, and the need for enhanced leadership for women and girls. HIV treatment advocacy means many things to many people, but at its core, it focuses on optimizing the quality of--and increasing access to--care and treatment for people living with HIV. Treatment advocacy can take place at any level, including the individual level. Self-advocacy means feeling empowered to manage your own care; examples include asking questions at your doctor's...
It has always been a long-term goal of The Well Project to have all of our online resources in one place, so as to be able to combine information with real world experiences and connections. The technology of our new website has finally allowed us to reach that milestone. Therefore, we have recently migrated the entire A Girl Like Me blog onto The Well Project website and will soon be closing down the "old" blog site and redirecting the www.girllikeme.org URL to this A Girl Like Me section on the website. We have already closed down comments on the "old" blog, but comments can be made on the...
Sonya posted a new blog, I Made a Vow... on A Girl Like Me’s Voices from our Allies: Lynette was in a Harlem hospital on the 3rd floor in a room alone, and refused to give her life to Christ as I stood there begging! Quarantined due to the opportunistic infection, her body was plagued with things besides her AIDS diagnosis. I pleaded with her that people said God was a just God, healer, a loving God, and most of all a forgiving God… “Let’s give him a chance together.” Lynette, just stared ahead as if off into a dream, she bellowed “Sonya, F&%^* you and F&%* God.” I truly thought the ceiling...
Sonya posted a new blog, Hiding Behind the "Good Book"..., on A Girl Like Me's Voices from our Allies: Why is it so hard to understand that getting infected with HIV/AIDS is possible and can happen to you? Just because you saved and sanctified and running for your God doesn't exclude you….yes, you! You can remember when: - You were sneaking and not listening to anybody, but only to the one who made you feel like you never felt before. - You were so in love with the notion of being in love, you only wanted to be with them 24/7 and simply make love. - The reality of being safe and being careful...
If you are in the Raleigh-Durham area or have access to a computer between 5 pm - 8 pm EST, please plan to visit the MFA|EDA thesis exhibition/photography exhibit, Please Call Me By My True Names by Caitlin Margaret Kelly. Several A Girl Like Me bloggers' portraits will be featured in the exhibit and some will be in attendance! To join the live feed from the reception of the MFA|EDA thesis exhibition of Please Call Me By My True Names, please go to: http://www.justin.tv/cmkphotographer during 5 pm - 8 pm EST or attend the reception at Fredric Jameson Gallery, Duke University, Durham, North...
Sonya posted a new blog, Why the Wait? on A Girl Like Me’s Voices from our Allies: I am so upset about the fact that my friend tested positive 2 months ago, and to date has not seen a doctor! Not to mention the health department leaving a note on their door stating it was urgent to please call a number…. It seems to me that all of this energy and encouragement to get people tested, we are somehow dropping the ball on the next step. How could this happen? Tell me why this is happening here in Florida and no one seems to be alarmed. Once you get tested and find out you are positive, that in...
Please join us on Monday, March 10, 2014 at 10:00 am ET for the webinar, " The Well Project: An Online Global Community of Support and Information for Women Living with HIV" on National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day! Pre-register now! You spoke, we listened! Over the past several years, we have asked our users how we can improve The Well Project. On our new website, you will find many of the suggestions you have made, come to life. In addition to accessing accurate and easy-to-understand information about women and HIV, find out how you or your organization can utilize the tools of...
Sonya posted a new blog, Hello HIV! on A Girl Like Me’s Voices from our Allies: So we meet again. I don't know if you remember me; I'm one of those people trying to fight you. I'm the one who tells your secrets, busts your myths, and makes all attempts at stopping you from spreading to another by teaching people all about you. I'm the one who tests at-risk youth, secretaries, deacons, and seniors, folks in the pretty house and manicured grass, drug addicts, prostitutes, preachers, teachers, lawyers, and all walks of life to go and get tested in order to know their status and catch you early...