The Chippewa- Sokaogon community is hosting a youth AIDS conference next week in light of AIDS Awareness Day. Coordinator Rachel Vodar says the conference is an initiative to educate and bring AIDS awareness to youth in the tribal community.
“…I asked the youth the other day, are you even aware what is AIDS, what is HIV, and surprisingly a lot of the youth didn’t know, and we are talking about middle school age and high school age who don’t even know what AIDS or HIV is.”
Vodar says although AIDS isn’t an immediate concern in the community, it’s important for future generations to practice safe and healthy living. Melissa White is a registered nurse from the Menomonee tribe who will be presenting at the conference to talk about the reality of the disease.
“…she has a board of moccasins and she has about 12 or 13 pairs of moccasins on this board; each pair of moccasins represents a person who’s passed away from AIDS in the Menomonee tribe.”
Vodar says kids will be presenting posters at the conference about what they learned about AIDS.
The conference will be at the Mole Lake Casino Conference Center December 2 at 5pm.
