Local groups advocate for teenaged-sex abstinence
Crystal Cooper/Howard University News Service
Issue date: 3/22/09 Section: Student Life
Theater junkie Cathlene Bell has mastered the techniques of dance choreography: Pirouette, spin, leap, and land.
But as she moves on a stage in perfect rhythmic sync, Bell's thoughts fleet to another passion she embraced three years ago. That is when Bell, 20, from New Jersey, joined the New Jersey WAIT team, a performing arts group that emphasizes abstinence education through entertainment.
Bell and fellow Washington Aids International Teens (WAIT) members joined ULTRA Teen Choice and other Washington advocates of sex abstinence until marriage on March 8 - 14 to celebrate DC Abstinence Awareness Week.
"Before joining WAIT, I thought the only purpose of performing arts was to draw attention to myself," Bell explained at a youth forum at Howard University earlier this month. "I never knew that talent could be used as a tool to support a cause."
Washingtonian Chang Shik Yang started WAIT; a DC-based non-profit organization, in 2001, to stop the spread of HIV. The organization now has 10 national and four international branches. Bell and a church friend started the New Jersey branch.
WAIT protocol requires new members to watch a graphic PowerPoint presentation, showing how the AIDS virus attacks human cells. Bell watched in terror as the virus entered the body and multiplied within 48-72 hours.
At this time, the immune system has been too damaged to fight back. She still recalls this as a defining moment. "I've always chosen to be abstinent," Bell said. "But doing it to save lives has increased my passion."
In 2007, D.C. alone had 871 new AIDS cases. African Americans accounted for 700 of these. That same year, Blacks in Maryland accounted for 1,127 new AIDS cases. A new, 82-page report released this week by Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty depicted the city's first confirmed count of residents who are living with the illness - 15,120 people which represents a 22-percent increase from 2006. That equates to nearly 3,000 of every 100,000 District residents over the age of 12 who are living with HIV or AIDS.
But as she moves on a stage in perfect rhythmic sync, Bell's thoughts fleet to another passion she embraced three years ago. That is when Bell, 20, from New Jersey, joined the New Jersey WAIT team, a performing arts group that emphasizes abstinence education through entertainment.
Bell and fellow Washington Aids International Teens (WAIT) members joined ULTRA Teen Choice and other Washington advocates of sex abstinence until marriage on March 8 - 14 to celebrate DC Abstinence Awareness Week.
"Before joining WAIT, I thought the only purpose of performing arts was to draw attention to myself," Bell explained at a youth forum at Howard University earlier this month. "I never knew that talent could be used as a tool to support a cause."
Washingtonian Chang Shik Yang started WAIT; a DC-based non-profit organization, in 2001, to stop the spread of HIV. The organization now has 10 national and four international branches. Bell and a church friend started the New Jersey branch.
WAIT protocol requires new members to watch a graphic PowerPoint presentation, showing how the AIDS virus attacks human cells. Bell watched in terror as the virus entered the body and multiplied within 48-72 hours.
At this time, the immune system has been too damaged to fight back. She still recalls this as a defining moment. "I've always chosen to be abstinent," Bell said. "But doing it to save lives has increased my passion."
In 2007, D.C. alone had 871 new AIDS cases. African Americans accounted for 700 of these. That same year, Blacks in Maryland accounted for 1,127 new AIDS cases. A new, 82-page report released this week by Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty depicted the city's first confirmed count of residents who are living with the illness - 15,120 people which represents a 22-percent increase from 2006. That equates to nearly 3,000 of every 100,000 District residents over the age of 12 who are living with HIV or AIDS.
Be the first to comment on this story