By Stephanie Ellis
SALEMITE REPORTER
For most women HIV is a frightening thought. For Cathy Robinson Pickett, it is a harsh reality.
On April 7 at 7 p.m., in Shirley Auditorium, Pickett, a nationally renowned HIV/AIDS activist and educator, will share her life and experiences in the lecture “The Changing Faces of AIDS,” as well as discuss the current status of HIV/AIDS in North Carolina, the United States and Africa.
Pickett was diagnosed with HIV ten years after being raped in college. She has been infected for over 20 years.
“The first six months were really hard and emotional,” explains Pickett. “But then someone said to me ‘when God gives you lemons you have to make lemonade’ and as silly as that sounds I decided right then that I couldn’t let that anger destroy my life.”
Since her diagnosis, Pickett has devoted her life to HIV/AIDS education and prevention. In 1990, she started Friends-Together; a not-for-profit organization dedicated the advocacy and education of HIV. This organization has educated thousands of people and provides free camps and retreats for families and children infected and affected by HIV
According to Pickett, “Because of our unique approach to education, which combines facts and figures with real life stories, I think we are able to touch people’s hearts. That personal connection then encourages them to look at their life choices in a realistic light.”
Picket also travels across the United States to teach people from grade school to college about HIV. She will be visiting Salem from April 7 and 8.
“I am very excited about coming to Salem. It will be my first visit to your area. I hope we will have a big turnout of students wanting to get the facts; my message is ‘Know AIDS equals No AIDS!”
Pickett has received many awards for her work in HIV/AIDS education. People Magazine named her one of the five international angels of AIDS in 2003. In 2004, she received the Humanitarian of the Year by the national Pediatric Nursing Association. She most recently received the Everyday Hero Award in 2005 from Tampa, Florida’s Bay New 9.
The nice thing about awards is that it gives you credibility and makes people notice,” Pickett says. “Not-for-profit organizations must be noticed to get funding.”
However, the award that means the most to her is the Ten Outstanding Young American for 2001 Award. She explains that this award in the past has been award to those who would be become president, so it is like the Nobel peace prize.
Pickett’s main hope for speaking at Salem is to help students and the community to understand the potential risk of getting HIV/AIDS.
“Unfortunately college kids have an idea that AIDS affects those people over there, not us, yet 50% of all new infections occur in people under 25,” Pickett says. “My biggest concern for college students is that they get this message: Only Men, Women and Children Get AIDS!”
For further information about Pickett and Friends Together, visit www.friendstogether.org. For information about her lecture, contact Dr. Susan Opt at 336-721-2886, or by email at opt@salem.edu.