Eleven Washington, D.C.-area high school soccer players touched down in South Africa yesterday to teach the sport to (and bond with) young girls their age, many of whom are HIV positive or closely affected by the disease. The D.C. Blast, an all-girls soccer team, raised $60,000 in the last year to fund their trip as part of Grassroots Soccer, a U.S.-based AIDS organization that uses soccer to teach African youth the skills they need to avoid contracting HIV.
Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
Woman of the Month is supported by exclusive advertising from Gilead.
Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I recently met a guy who is negative. I did tell him about my status and he decided to kiss me anyway (we didn't go further than that). But a day later, he called and said that he actually had a mouth ulcer that time when we kissed and he was very worried. Asked if he can get the virus from me that way. For that moment, I felt so insulted and yet I felt so bad. It was my first time having a contact with a "negative" guy."
