Sorry if the past posts have been slightly mixed up, we have had issues with the Wi-Fi but that hasn't stopped us from blogging any way! Today, we started our first day at Terence Cardinal Cooke Healthcare Center (TCC) in East Harlem. TCC is a healthcare center that works with unique populations such as people living HIV/ AIDS, Huntington's Disease, dementia, and others. We arrived around 10am after a short subway ride. We took a tour of the facilities in the morning and then spent the rest of the day interacting with the residents with a short excursion to Central Park for lunch (which was graciously provided by TCC). Some things that we did included playing games, talking to the residents one-on-one, and making arts and crafts for none other than St. Patrick's Day. We had such a great time working with them, hearing their stories, and sharing a lot of laughs.
In our experience, being able to start developing these connections with the residents has made us begin to reflect on our perceptions of HIV/ AIDS which we hope will develop further throughout the rest of the week. From the one day we spent, we have been able to learn about each person's unique story/ background and are amazed at all they have accomplished. We think that learning about HIV/ AIDS is often from a distance and lacks the human aspect of the people who are living with this medical condition. Interacting with residents has strengthened our perspectives of seeing each person as equals and that they have something unique to contribute to our society as a whole. We are really looking forward to seeing how our experiences at TCC will continue to develop us and our perspectives on this topic and the socio-cultural factors that influence the experience of someone living with HIV/ AIDS.
~Helen & Kelly :) - co-ELs
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