The fourth NAHI summit followed tradition, starting off a little late, but starting off strong with a morning panel discussing outreach and education and an afternoon advocacy panel stirring people to action.

The afternoon panel included representatives from diverse East-Coast organizations and was started off by Amanda Lugg, community advocate for the New York-based African Services Committee, who harkened back to the days of Act Up's public displays of activism.

Amanda, "with all due respect," pushed for timely action now, instead of waiting to see where NAHI might be in a year's time.

"How many deaths will happen in a year," she asked. "How many infections will happen in a year? Lawmakers need to hear our voices and they need to see our faces."

From the impassioned Ugandan/British/New Yorker- ask Amanda about that sometime- to Carin Siltz's compassion for people living with HIV who come to African Advocates Against AIDS, or the African Family Health Organization's Tiguida Kaba's truth and hilarity and the Continental African Community's Evelyn Joe who did not shy away from blunt honesty, Thursday's panelists are pushing for more tangible outcomes and action.

And many people are saying this may just be a taste of things to come.

Speaking of taste, how about that catered West-African lunch? That was also appreciated by attendees, considering all the plantains were gone before lunch was over, but more on that topic some other time.

Seize the opportunity while you can. Plans for the fourth and final summit are being finalized and online registration will be available until Friday, Sept. 5. And after the energy in Seattle, you know this is something you won't want to miss. So sign up and if you don't, and then you hear everyone talking about what you missed, well...don't say we didn't warn you.

Online registration for the D.C. NAHI Summit is up and available online, so consider registering sooner rather than later. The three-day event is open to 125 registrants and after that people will be on waiting list. So don't wait too long, because this event is fast-approaching.

The date has been set and the invitations are forthcoming!

The Seattle/Pacific Northwest NAHI Summit will take place Friday, Aug. 22 and be followed by United Africa Day on Saturday at the Rainier Community Center.

And apparently Christopher Bates, acting director of the Office of HIV/AIDS Policy and previous NAHI keynote speaker, will also be in attendance-- but only for one day, so be prepared to grab him when you can.

But his attendance will not be the only highlight. Instead attention will be focused on the topic of community.

For Stella Gran-O'Donnell the theme Creating Community Dialogues and Partnerships "summarizes and reflects the status" or "readiness" of our community in terms of facilitating partnerships and collaboration, regarding HIV and AIDS among Africans, African serving organizations, and other stakeholders.

"We see the Summit as one of many initial steps to 'Creating Dialogues' and facilitating 'Partnerships' at various levels, throughout the local community, with stakeholders at the city, county and state levels, throughout Region 10, and with the National African NAHI Summit Planning team, OHAP and others."

So there you go. Make your plans people, because August and summit three will be here soon and so will the final NAHI summit in D.C.

Are you ready?

"People will treat me differently."

You'll support them. Sometimes people just need that shoulder to lean on or that hand to hold. So remind your loved ones that you're here for them. And if they need someone to walk with them to the testing site for support, let them know you can be that person. Whether their tests results are positive or negative, you loved them the day before they took the test. So put their concerns to rest and let them know you'll love them after they get their results, too. If they're not convinced, let them know you love them enough to get tested with them.

"I'm not at risk."

Anyone can get HIV. We know that very few people ever think those "HIV testing commercials" are about them, because they're not in that high-risk group the narrator keeps talking about. Not them. No way. Not even possible.

But the truth is, if your friend's bodily fluids are coming in contact with someone else's body fluids, then your friend is at risk. HIV is an equal opportunity virus that doesn't check for race, religion, age, job title or future aspirations before taking up residence in the body. So remind your friend to be realistic about his or her exposure and know that there are ways to prevent HIV contraction and steps to take in order to stay healthy.

"I don’t want to know."

Now or later. You have to pick one because whether we like it or not, if HIV is present in a person’s body, it will eventually make itself known. The virus is basically the equivalent of the atom bomb on your immune system, leaving a person susceptible to even the most basic of germs. Does your friend really want to fight a battle against the common cold that seems to have the strength of “super pneumonia?” People who have HIV are living longer, but that’s a result of advances in medical technology and an individual’s commitment to consistently taking meds. Remind your loved ones that you want to have them around for years to come and the sooner they know their status, the sooner they can take the steps needed to stay as healthy as humanly possible.

"I don't like needles."

It's quick and painless. Most HIV tests are about painful as brushing your teeth and that's because the rapid tests require a simple swabbing of your gums. That's it. No injections, no finger pricks, no hours spent waiting for results. And most testing sites have quasi-anonymous policies, noting identifiers such as race, age and geographic location for statistical purposes. So talk, swab and talk some more. Then read the results. Reassure your friend that no pain, whatsoever, is involved in this test.

Getting your loved ones to do the right thing is not always easy, especially when they want to do the opposite, but this Friday, June 27 is National HIV Testing Day, an opportunity to raise awareness around the topic and possibly persuade your loved ones to get tested for HIV.

Campaign efforts are spearheaded by the National Association of People Living With AIDS in the hopes of inspiring people to get tested, know their status and, ultimately, decrease in the rate of infection. The CDC estimates that for every four people who have HIV, one of them doesn't know it.

So for this week, we've taken people's favorite reasons as to why they're not going to get tested for HIV and given you comebacks so your friends, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins and anyone else you love might reconsider getting tested for HIV. Without further ado:

"It's not that important."

Well, it's important to you. You like having them around. Really, what would your life be like without your good friends and family? Who would you share the jollof rice and oxtails with if they weren't there? Who would you call when you need someone to talk to if they weren't there? And who could replace them if they did succumb to a disease that is 100 percent preventable?

So this seems to be a topic that pops up every once in a while - namely during the Atlanta Summit in a sidebar conversation and again in POZ Magazine: People with different HIV statuses getting married.

In Atlanta, one person said he didn't see any reason for giving the situation a second cautionary thought. Others didn't see why someone who is HIV negative would want to repeatedly risk exposure to HIV.

In the June 2007 issue of POZ, an article about people with HIV, strictly choosing to have sexual intercourse with people of the same status appeared, but not everyone was happy about it.

"Serosorting - the practice of having sex only with partners who share your HIV status - is no means of prevention," wrote one reader. "Instead, it's a means of eliminating the positive population from the general dating pool. The suggestion that sex be limited to same-status couples is tantamount to asking African Americans to sit at the back of the bus. Prevention campaigns should focus instead on knowing one's own status."

In the article, many of the people interviewed saw serosorting as a possible way of preventing new infections.

Is this a new trend that's here to stay? Or is this reader correct? Is it really discrimination if a person who is negative decides not to marry or have intercourse with a person who is positive and vice versa?

Things are still moving in Seattle. And there will be a summit. The only thing that has changed is the date. Instead of attending the event in July, we have a little bit more time to plan our trips for an August summit (date to-be-determined). The event’s expected to be two full days of activities, according to Stella Gran-O’Donnell, and has already attracted to attention of a nearby organization in Portland that works with African refugees and immigrants.

As the HIV/AIDS Regional Resource Consultant, Stella said she’s found an enthusiasm surrounding the summit, which will deal with creating community dialogue and partnership to bring about healing, advocacy and change. She also said they’re expecting about 100 participants and not just from the West Coast, adding that they have their eye on a certain previous NAHI keynote speaker from D.C. Of course, schedules have to align and nothing is set in stone, but that hasn’t prevented plans from moving forward.

"We want to make this a grassroots effort," she said, "and work on this to take it to the next level and work with our African-American partners because they are a true resource."

Planning for the D.C. Summit is still underway as Margaret heads to Ghana for a month of family time. And after straightening out a few bumps in funding and allocation issues, someone is calmer, recovering from her bout of stress and looking forward to days spent on the beach. But time flies and, as Margaret has said, before you know it May will be over and she'll be back to finalize plans for the event, including choosing among several African caterers, metro-accessible venues and, possibly, some African drummers. She plans to make cultural awareness part of the Summit experience and there's even been talk about having a cultural-competency training. So there is still a lot to do. But before we get ahead of ourselves, it would be good to get an update on what's occurring in Seattle.

To piggy back off the last comment, cultural competency is a word that is used by almost everyone nowadays. But as one anonymous woman once said, "I think we need some personal competency."

What benefits are people receiving from cultural competency that they wouldn't get from someone just sitting down and getting to know them? Simply listening and talking with them? With cultural competency, aren’t we applying a broad swath to individuals who may have varied experiences?

Or is it that we're just too busy for the personal conversations?

Like many other topics discussed in Worcester, Mass., at the NAHI summit, there were varying degrees of opinions when it came to one particular issue of outreach.

Attendees were wondering what organizations should do to make inroads into untapped African communities.

Now Amanda, from African Services, said the organizations should "hire an African." But Amadou Diagne, medical scientist for Gilead Sciences, thought the ethnicity of the person doing the outreach didn't matter.

"I don't think the background of the provider has to be the same as the community they serve, because you can gain people's confidence," Diagne said. "I think, like anybody else, they are looking for people to listen to them.

"I think that people will not judge you based on your physical appearance. They will have to know you and talk to you first. If you treat them right, they'll treat you doubly right and that's how African people are."

So -without taking sides-if Amanda's right and organizations need to hire Africans to contact African immigrant communities, then what can smaller organizations with less funding do if they can't hire an African?

And given the diversity of Africans, is it enough to say hire an(y) African?

But if Amadou is right, then what will the current organization workers have to do to tap into these communities?

It seems the last blog entry about HIV prevention, abstinence and young people garnered two very strong responses about taking age into consideration when it comes to these conversations.

So the question that arises: What would be considered an age-appropriate conversation about sex, HIV and prevention for a 13-year-old?

Obviously there are some parents who believe abstinence is the mainstay of their prevention conversations with their children. But is it possible to determine a specific age for talking about "alternatives?"

Can an age-appropriate conversation really be based on age?

There's been some talk about having a youth panel discuss the topic of abstinence at the summit in D.C. And when it comes to talking about young people, sex and HIV prevention the conversation always comes down to the same argument.

Some say talking about abstinence as a means of prevention leaves out the teens who may be having or have had sex, already. Others say having a conversation that focuses solely on condom use leaves out the kids who may not be having sex.

But are we selling our teens short by thinking that just because they've had sex in the past that they'll want to continue to have sex? Or that if the teens not having sex knew how not to get HIV and STDs then that would encourage them to begin having sex?

Brace yourselves for some excitement, because another summit was just added to the calendar.

Apparently word of mouth about the Worcester summit traveled from Massachusetts to Washington state, breathing life back into the Seattle summit. So look for forthcoming details as we get closer to July (the proposed summit month).

Much of the advocacy panel was dominated by the conversation of HIV positive African immigrants and the red tape they can encounter after declaring their status.

The topic of stigma came up multiple times, mainly dealing with the HIV travel band and the stamp an HIV positive person receives on his or her passport to denote a positive status.

Dr. Frenk Guini, principal consultant HIV/AIDS Health Care, Research and Policy for Complementary Health Partners, called for a revolution reminiscent of 1980s and 90s with ACT-UP to get politicians' attention and have laws changed, because "these issues may sound simplistic, but they make a difference in your everyday life."

Christina Velez, staff attorney at the HIV Law Project in NYC was also in strong agreement, saying the ban is "an antiquated piece of legislation" that doesn't serve any purpose.

However, one thing was not mentioned: if the ban were lifted, what would be the long-term benefits for anyone who is HIV positive, particularly with HIV 2, given that it is still possible to contract HIV 1? Would those benefits outweigh any problems or setbacks initially experienced?

To say that attendees were pleasantly surprised would be putting it mildly. With at least 130 participants from health, government and community-based organizations in attendance, the topic of African immigrant health stirred emotions and bubbled over into conversations of education, outreach and advocacy.

The morning started off?a little late, but only by an hour?with African music by Jama Jigi and quickly moved to the topic of advocacy and encouraging immigrants to get involved in what many are hoping will become a movement reminiscent to what was seen in the 1980s and 90s by white homosexual men regarding HIV.

There were polite, but heated, debates about strategies targeting specific African communities, using providers that look like the community members they serve and divorcing HIV from sexuality.

Several panelists and audience members pinpointed privacy as a major reason African immigrants are not seeking HIV testing. Others mentioned the desire to receive green cards, but the red tape that comes with a positive diagnosis.

This health care system that many Americans complain about was touted as worse for many immigrants. And with the immigration ban removed from the recent PEPFAR bill, many see this as a long-term battle that is still worth pushing for.

For the record: It is Ok to post comments.

Margaret will not lose her job based on the opinions submitted in response to blog entries. In fact, if no comments are posted, the blog will be seen as useless and could be shut down. So after reading an entry, click on the Comments link below and type your thoughts, reactions, questions and comments.

Now, with that being said, we just wanted to alert everyone to the fact that the second summit is coming up in a matter of days (Feb. 8) in Worcester, Mass, 45 minutes East of Boston. The one-day summit mingles the efforts from New York and Massachusetts and plans to pack in a lot of information in eight hours, as Chioma Nnjai, program manager for the Multicultural AIDS Coalition, Juliet Berk, contract manager for Massachusetts State HIV/AIDS Bureau, and Amanda Lugg, from New York's African Services, combine efforts to present this joint event.

Two hundred and fifty people have been invited to the summit and as of last week, 75 have been confirmed. Guests and panelists are representing such organizations and departments as Imams United, HIV Law Project, the New York City department of Public Health and the Office of Health and Population Affairs.

"This is going to be an awareness conference to the African community and those who work with them,” Margaret said. “I hope people walk away with interest in advocacy in the community."

Thanks to some feedback, we have a little more insight into what some of you may be looking forward to reading.

So for our first conversation starter, we're looking at the topic of unity within the African immigrant community. Now this was something that was brought up a couple of times during the first summit in Atlanta.

When Africans immigrate to the U.S., the label suddenly applied for census purposes is either African-American or African. Country of origin and tribal distinctions seem to melt away as differences in culture, language and customs are overlooked. And even Mummy said those differences are going to have to be put on hold in order to mobilize and get things done.

So the question is, if African immigrants are separated or sectioned out of the African-American category, will that really be sufficient? Or will the African category need to be broken down a little further? How will messages targeting African immigrants for—let's say— HIV prevention, be able to resound with such a diverse group?

No, you're not going crazy. For those of you who noticed, the H in NAHI no longer stands for Health, but for HIV/AIDS. So now it is the National African HIV/AIDS Initiative. But that doesn't mean you can't post comments or send your great ideas or stories about what has worked for your organization, even if it doesn’t focus just on HIV. If you or your organization works with the African immigrant community, then we'd still love to hear from you.

And for those of you who had no idea that the "H" even changed...well, we won't take that personally.

Day Two of the Summit got off to a rather late start. And Dr. Adu-Opong had no problem pointing out—while speaking clearly into the podium's microphone—that most participants were at least 60 minutes late.

"We need to be serious about what we want for ourselves," he said. "As I said yesterday, 'who's going to take us seriously if we don't take ourselves seriously?'"

Once the housekeeping issue regarding "African time" was taken care of, participants moved on to the main goal of the day: Results.

The topic of the day was HIV/AIDS, commemorate World AIDS Day with several presentations by OMHRC Capacity Building Specialists Margaret Korto and Jay Blackwell, HIV Prevention Manager Dr. Hassan Danesi and Dr. Mummy Rayab-Gyagenda, who recently finished her doctorate, helped organize the event and is about to give birth any day now. Topics included advocacy, outreach, prevention and research.

All the problem areas identified on Thursday were met with strategies on Friday in the areas of networking, advocacy and resources.

They're looking to:

• Work with other immigrant CBOs with similar goals and objectives
• Implement training sessions in 2008 to educate community members
• Utilize listserves
• Work with media and encourage community involvement
  
  
• Work with African-American sororities and fraternities
• Have advocacy trainings
• Unite the African immigrant communities through community outreach
  
  
• Assess community needs
• Apply for grants
• Encourage cultural competency for immigrants and providers
• Identify friendly providers

So it looks like 2008 is going to be a busy year.

The situation with Seattle hasn’t put a damper on summits already planned, including the two-day summit in Atlanta.

Despite a chilly Thursday morning and a rather late start—but only by about 30 minutes, though— leaders in health, advocacy and community organizations converged on the campus of Mercer University for Day 1 of Health Issues and Faith summit.

From the start to the end of the day, conversations were heated.

This year they weren't holding anything back. And Dr. Ahmed Adu-Opong didn't even attempt to restrain himself, calling everybody on the carpet with his squirm-producing rhetoric, challenging African immigrants to not just accrue degrees without any intention or desire to help the masses.

"If we're so educated why is our continent in such disarray," he asked to a room heavily peppered with PhD and Master's degree recipients.

"Our house is burning and we need your help to put out the fire," he said. "Knowledge is supposed to be used to eliminate the suffering of the masses. Home is where you make it. You don't have to go to Africa to help the community. And I'll take it a step further; we need to help our African-American brothers and sisters. But charity begins at home before it spreads abroad."

With three master's degrees and one PhD, Adu-Opong's comments were met with silence as he quoted statistics showing African immigrants as the most-educated immigrant group in the United States.

"My challenge to you all today is at the end of tomorrow, please let's come out with a concrete plan, a blueprint that's going to propel this conference into a serious building effort that's gong to help our brothers and sisters that aren't fortunate enough to have the green cards."

Well, it seems Seattle, one of the target cities for a NAHI summit, has been nixed from the list…for now. It’s looking like Seattle may be back on the list next year. But until a contact has been established in the area, things will be put on hold.

So get the word out now and we’ll be ready to pull Seattle in next year.

A quick review...
We're looking at five different locations, each with its own degree of organization currently in place.
If there was an official ranking of the locales, ranging from extremely organized to…well, we're getting there, it would look a little something like this:

• Boston, Mass.
• New York
• Atlanta
• D.C.
• Seattle

An informal assessment that stems from Margaret's interaction with the community reps and the organizations they work with. So it's kind of like Boston and New York are the older siblings, Atlanta's the middle child and D.C. and Seattle are coming of age with their organizational skills.

However, Atlanta will be the first city to host a summit, which will focus on "Health Issues and Faith" from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1.

That Thursday will look at the broad topic of health issues facing the community and the role faith plays in our lives, while Friday will be used to commemorate World AIDS Day.

According to Mummy, executive board member of the Prevention Effectiveness Consortium on Health and Education (PECHE), a.k.a. one of the driving forces behind the summit, "We're not very open with the way we talk about sex and sexuality, but there are ways to share it so we don't feel embarrassed or offended, either."

And that's where the faith component comes in. Because a lot of people look up to leaders of their faith, regardless of the religion, Mummy thought it would be a good idea to incorporate people who have some influence. And instead of this being one of those meetings where people come together to ponder what needs to be done, Mummy says they plan to take things to the next step.

"It's going to be a 'what's-next' kind of forum," she said.

Enough of leading people to the well for water. Mummy says now it's about making sure you make them thirsty enough to drink.

So almost everybody's invited, including community members and policy makers. And although she's a little nervous, she's sure everything will be ready for the summer.

"Atlanta's going to make a difference because we recognize health and HIV/AIDS affects everybody in respective of their religion."

It sounds like someone's setting the bar high and determined to deliver.