Shuga: HIV Awareness

Hey Bloggie,

So throughout last week, I woke up at 4 a.m. unfailingly. No matter what I tried to do. I’m hoping whatever is causing it will stop pretty soon because I just don’t have time for that. Anyways on Thursday, after much tossing and counting of sheep, I decided to go to trusted YouTube to while away time. One of my recommendations was Shuga. I skipped it but nothing else caught my eye. There were Africans in the picture so I figured why not.

I am very glad I went back! I watched both episodes on YouTube before I even realized I was watching season 3! It suddenly occurred to me that Irokotv had sent out an email about the show. So of course, I ran there (well not literally)! By Friday night, I had watched all episodes, cried and was hoping for more season 3 episodes to be made available. Thank you +MTV Shuga! 

Now, on to why I love this show. The show is about HIV/AIDS awareness and I believe they do it oh so well. The only other HIV awareness movie that shocked me and got me thinking, I saw in my teenage years. It might also have been an MTV Base initiative... I'm not sure. It was titled Transit Visa. It might be very hard to come across right now, but think about it. The least category of visa you need to get into a country is a transit visa. Yet, STDs don’t even need that. They cut across country and state lines without permission. And like Transit Visa, Shuga is crossing country lines. The show started in Kenya and is currently in Nigeria. 

Shuga is awesome because it shows different aspects of life. But I mostly love it because it adequately captures the life of now. These days, hook ups are more prevalent and more acceptable in society. In the words of a colleague, “we’re all sexually liberated and should not be chained.” But, my genetics professor also said “all the works done in the past to eradicate STDs, will be undone by this generation. They only want to live in the moment and don’t even take 2 seconds to think of protection.” Need I say the class was less than pleased? On a serious note though, all these diseases are becoming resistant to drugs and I don’t know that the research to develop new drugs will move fast enough. Not when a lot still needs to be known about HIV.

A researcher once posed this question to a group. If you believe your partner was unfaithful, would you ask him/her to use protection? More than half of the women said no. They said it would seem as though they didn't trust the partner. But they really don’t! Whereas, more than half of the men said they’d use protection. Ironic isn't it?

Not too long ago, I had a conversation with a lady slightly older and equally educated as myself about HPV. Even though she had heard about it, knew that it could cause ovarian cancer, did not take it seriously. It was her belief that her doctor was only try to scare her and that such things did not happen. I was definitely flabbergasted! I tried many times to talk to her and was surprised she couldn't even be bothered to do her research. We’re in a research field! But thank you Michael Douglas. Once I told her HPV was responsible for his throat cancer, she immediately changed her tune and started thinking hard about her abnormal pap. Who said Hollywood wasn't useful?

If in marriage, there’s a fifty-fifty chance of one getting infected due to the adulterous ways of one partner, why then do we take such risks with other people that have unlimited partners? If your partner says don’t worry I’m clean, my dear that is no longer enough. Worry until you both get tested and have confirmed results. If you’re having a one-night stand, imagine how many other people you and this person have done it with. Also imagine that if they don’t want to use protection with you, they probably didn't use it with the others. Think about how smart this person might be about getting STD panels done. They may know their status and not mind infecting you. Humans have a very funny and sometimes wicked nature. That one night of passion can be life altering not only because it results in pregnancy (even though a lot of people think that’s the worst that could happen).

I remember a time when you had to do an STD panel before marriage. I was very sad to hear it’s no longer required. I believe that if one is to be sexually liberated, one should also be smart about it. If you want multiple partners, have multiple condoms. If you’re a woman and the guy refuses, either you leave him or you pack a female condom. This is your life and you should be very proactive about it. Although we cannot control all circumstances, there’s no reason why we should let the controllable ones slip away.

Did you know: H.pylori, the cause of stomach ulcer can be transmitted through kissing?! Even kissing can be a dangerous sport.

Always remember that not all diseases (especially STDs) show on people’s faces. Never ever use a face to discern disease status.

These are my thoughts. What are yours?

Tonia 

Oh and watch Shuga if you can. Here's a clip just for you :)