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Woman with AIDS tells students to 'get educated'
By Shekini Gilliam, Macomb Daily Staff Writer
| Macomb Daily photo by David Dalton |
Kathleen Gerus-Darbison wasn't promiscuous or a drug user. But 17 years ago, the Macomb Township resident was infected with HIV by her late husband, a hemophiliac who had contracted it through a blood transfusion.
The 44-year-old woman spoke to students at New Haven High School on Tuesday to encourage them to become educated about the virus that she said infects one out of four 15- to 24-year-olds.
"I hope you take the information that you learn ... and share the stories with people that you love and care about," said Gerus- Darbison, a nationally recognized AIDS activist and community educator for he Midwest AIDS Prevention Project. "This is one thing you really need to pay attention to. Get as much education as possible."
Her illness progressed to AIDS in 1993, shortly after her husband's death in 1992. Many of the students who listened to her presentation in the school's gym were the same age as her daughter, a high school senior. The daughter does not have HIV or AIDS.
Gerus-Darbison and Candice Moench are co-founders of Stitches, The Doll Project. It's a traveling display of about 40 dolls made by women with HIV and AIDS. Their booth was one of about 11 at the school's health fair, sponsored by the communication department.
The dolls and accompanying stories about the artists give the ill an opportunity to inform others, Gerus-Darbison said.
"Many of these women live in situations where they can't be open about it," she said. "To be out makes them like a leper. So, they make these dolls to give themselves a voice and to be able to educate others."
Other booths at the event included the New Haven School-Linked Adolescent Health Program, the Bay Haven Coalition and Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Between visiting the booths and listening to Gerus-Darbison's story, the students watched a student-created skit about a track star who contracted AIDS by sharing a steroids needle with a teammate. Later, Deanna Nolan from the Detroit Shock women's basketball team also spoke to students.
The program at the school reiterated the seriousness of HIV and AIDS to students who may have become immune or numb to the message, said Celia Hopper, communications instructor and English teacher.
"They hear so much that it's become like an old hat," she said. "They think it can't happen to them. You have to make decisions not just for yourself, but for all the people around you that it would affect if you got AIDS. So we need to arm ourselves with knowledge on how to avoid it and be aware it can happen to anyone."
Marion LaCroix has witnessed enough unexpected circumstances in her friends' lives to validate Hopper's statements. The senior at New Haven High School talked to students who visited the Peer Education Program booth.
"One of my friends just found out she had Hepatitis B," LaCroix said. "Sometimes teens also think they can't get pregnant, but another one of my friends just had a baby. I don't really know anyone personally who has (AIDS), but that doesn't mean it's not out there. Everyone here is probably taking in knowledge they didn't have prior to this."
ŠThe Macomb Daily 2002
