LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
A Look Back at the First Year of CAMPsafe |
by Michael Cover |
With the Labor Day holiday and CAMPsafes first summer of activity behind us, we thought we should take a moment to evaluate our first HIV and AIDS education and outreach program. Envisioned during the cold winter months, CAMPsafe began with a simple mission: to help stop the transmission of HIV through targeted outreach and education that increase the awareness of the dangers of unsafe sex. We began by sitting down with owners of several Rehoboth area gay-oriented businesses to seek their advice on the best means of communicating with their customers. We also talked with seasonal beach house members and long-time area residents about how to convey important information on safe sex to those in one of the at-risk groups identified as needing it the most: gay and bisexual men who engage in sexual activity that may put them at risk of contracting HIV. In talking with these people, it was clear that in recent years the sense of "crisis" surrounding AIDS and HIV had subsided; new drugs and improved medical treatments have allowed many of those infected with the virus to live longer, healthier lives. Yet, AIDS remains a deadly disease that weakens the bodys ability to fight off infections. And many are putting themselves at risk of infection because they are not aware of the simple precautions that can be taken or they are making misguided choices in their sexual behavior. Our first task this year was to conduct a survey of the communitys knowledge of HIV and sexual behavior to discover what it was gay and bisexual men were doing and why. To date, more than 300 people have taken the survey, which is still available on the Web at www.camprehoboth.com. Over the next few weeks, we will be finishing the tabulation, and well share the results with you. We then developed materials that would help us communicate important information about HIV and AIDS to gay and bisexual men who live, work and vacation in Kent and Sussex Counties. Over the course of the summer, we kept the CAMPsafe name and safe sex information highly visible in the community by: Giving out more than 6,000 condoms at CAMP Rehoboth and the bars, restaurants, and guest houses most frequented by gay and bisexual men; Distributing informational palm cards that highlight the importance of safe sex and strategies to avoid HIV transmission that everyone should be aware of; Working with bar, restaurant and other business owners to ensure that CAMPsafe information was available to all those who might need it; Providing beach houses with useful household accessories that kept the CAMPsafe mission highly visible through message boards and "Do Not Disturb" door hangers. We could not have accomplished any of this without the unwavering support of the area gay-oriented business owners and managers, particularly John Berdini, Kelly Harp, Aaron Flamm, and Randy Overbaugh, of Cloud 9; Joyce Felton and Rob Dick, of Blue Moon; Wayne Hodge, of the Renegade; John Meng and Mark Fuhrman, of Double L; and Barry Becker, of Lambda Rising. Our thanks to all of you for helping make this first year a successful one. But the biggest round of applause goes to our own Gladys Kravitz, who was the most vocaland certainly the most glamorousperson helping to promote safe sex and the CAMPsafe program. Every week in The Renegades Karaoke Lounge, Gladys encouraged her audience to act responsibly and made them aware of the important CAMPsafe mission. We hope you enjoyed our first summer of CAMPsafe. As I mentioned in the last issue, we will be continuing our efforts in the Rehoboth area for the remainder of this year, and are already looking at how to improve the program for 1999. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions. Please give us a call, drop us a line, or an e-mail: campsafe@camprehoboth.com with your ideas. Look for updates on other CAMPsafe events in up-coming issues of LETTERS. And finally, what you have all been waiting for... the winner of a trip for two to Miami Beach in CAMPsafes "I Want To Go To South Beach This Winter" contest is Sam Chalfant of Springfield, Virginia. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 8, No. 13, September 18, 1998. |