BUILDING SELF-ESTEEM

A Healing Circle Leads Youth To Awareness And Community And Away From Drugs
And Disease

Hepatitis C is a serious illness, and Sliammon and BC's Centre for Disease
Control have teamed up to spread the word about hep C.

Educators visited the Sliammon Salish centre on their tour around BC. The
information session included a poster contest, songs and a traditional feast.

"The evening is about awareness, drumming, dancing and anything that
promotes community and self-esteem, leading [youth] away from getting
addicted to drugs," said Melanie Rivers, an educator for BC's Centre for
Disease Control. She travels around the province teaching groups about
various illnesses, but this tour's focus was hep C.

"It's really important to get the kids out, because if you get them out the
parents will follow," said Rivers.

The evening began with dancing, which was followed by songs by the Spirit
Singers and a feast. It is part of Sliammon's heritage to feed guests so
they are content for the rest of the evening.

Following the food came the poster competition in three different age
categories, with a gift certificate for first place in each group as well
as participation prizes for everyone. Young people showed posters they had
worked on for the past week.

"It was really hard to choose," said Rivers. "There are two that I would
like to take with me and use on the brochure."

Three speakers attended the event to talk about the dangers of drug use,
unprotected sex and other unsafe activities that may spread hep C. Rivers
explained the different ways of contracting the disease and various methods
of prevention and risk reduction.

The second speaker, Yasmin Winsor, a street nurse from Vancouver,
instructed the crowd about the physical aspects of the disease and what it
does to the body. "It basically means that your liver is sick," said
Winsor. "Alcohol, drugs or anything that damages the liver can speed along
the ill effects of hep C."

Symptoms of hep C are fatigue, jaundice, nausea, muscle pain, hair loss,
headaches, weight loss and trouble sleeping. The indications of having hep
C usually happen within six to nine weeks after contracting the virus,
although some people feel healthy and never know they have the illness
until the liver begins to fail.

The third speaker, Charlotte Brooks, told an inspirational story through
watery eyes and left the crowd awed at her bravery. Brooks, for the last 11
and a half years, has suffered from the human immunodeficiency virus; she
is HIV positive.

"I was in denial," said Brooks. "I became a heavy drinker and started using
all kinds of drugs." To add to her misfortune, in 1995 she also found out
that she was infected with the hep C virus.

She believes that if it wasn't for the support of her family she would not
be here today. For the past 20 months she has been totally sober and
spreads her story to people who have a chance to learn from it and change
their ways.

"I'm really happy I sobered up and cleaned up," said Brooks. "My life has
changed so much. I want to get rid of all this pain that I'm carrying."

At the end of her talk she told the group that they might be the last
community she speaks to. She was planning to take a break to concentrate on
her health before sharing her message again.