Transdiaspora Network

Transdiaspora Network Brings Innovative HIV Prevention for Teens to Brooklyn Public Library

The special event commemorates National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

 

Brooklyn, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/07/2012 --Transdiaspora Network (TDN) will partner with the Brooklyn Public Library to create cutting-edge HIV education workshops for local high school students. This special event, which commemorates National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, will take place February 7th from 9:30am to 2:30pm in the Stevan Dweck Center Auditorium at Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Branch, located at 10 Grand Army Plaza.

The educational workshop will bring TDN’s groundbreaking curriculum to a diverse group of Brooklyn high school students. Based on TDN’s trademark prevention approach, the workshop will include dance mediation, an innovative and holistic strategy that encourages youth to respect their bodies and develop a more nuanced relationship to others through improvisation of small dance duets on select themes, such as self-control and happiness. Workshop attendees will also have an opportunity to fine tune their verbal communication skills through the use of traditional Caribbean folktales. In this portion of the workshop, teens will discuss issues of self-esteem and develop the interpersonal problem-solving skills necessary for day-to-day communication and talking about sensitive topics around sexuality. In addition to the workshop, anonymous HIV/AIDS testing will be available on-site.

While only representing 14% of the U.S. population, Blacks account for 44% of all new HIV infections, according to the most recent information collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2009. At some point in their lifetimes, an estimated 1 in 16 black men and 1 in 32 black women will be diagnosed with HIV infection.

As our President and Founder Ariel Rojas says, “we bring a new social meaning to culture and tradition. Our programs reflect the intricacies of the many possible connections between the client's culture and the administered intervention.” Transdiaspora Network (TDN) is a leading human-capacity building nonprofit organization conducting culturally oriented HIV prevention and awareness activities in Brooklyn, New York, since 2007.

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) is a national HIV testing and treatment community mobilization initiative to encourage blacks in the United States to educate themselves about he basics of HIV/AIDS, get tested and know their status, get treatment if they are living with HIV/AIDS, and get involved in their community fight against the epidemic.