The Campaign to End AIDS’ (C2EA) American Heritage caravan stopped by Test Positive Aware Network’s (TPAN) office for a ‘meet and greet’ Oct. 29.
The caravan traveled eight days from Portland, Ore., to Aurora, where activists participated in a rally for the Ryan White Care Act at Rep. Dennis Hastert’s, R-Ill., office. TPAN and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago hosted the event. On Oct. 10, 10 caravans of people with HIV/AIDS and their supporters departed for Washington, D.C., as part of the C2EA. The caravans will stop in more than 100 cities before heading to the capitol on Nov. 5 for five days of action.
‘People’s spirits have just gotten higher and higher because we’re received so much love and compassion everywhere we stopped, which was really unexpected,’ said Lowen Berman, an AIDS agency worker from Oregon. Berman added that because many individuals on the caravans have HIV/AIDS, the trip has also been very tiring.
The American Heritage caravan has stopped in cities such as Rapid City, Mich.; Laramie, Wyo.; and Omaha, Neb. ‘Everywhere we go, people tell us how AIDS has affected their lives,’ Berman said.
Berman said that the rally at Hastert’s office was disappointing because the representative was not present, and the individual from his office had ‘no knowledge’ of the issue.
Fernando Blasco is one Chicagoan who decided to join the caravan en route to the nation’s capitol at the TPAN event. Blasco, who has been HIV positive for 11 years, said he is feeling great and is very excited.
‘It’s a good experience to be in harmony with other people living with HIV, and find respect and dignity,’ Blasco said.