Alina Oswald
February 2010
It is with great pleasure we announce Alina Oswald as our Dab the AIDS Bear Angel for February 2010.
Alina is one of our Ambassadors of Hope with Dab the AIDS Bear Project. But Alina is so much more than just one of our Ambassadors. She is also a writer, photographer and the darling of the hearts of many people with HIV and AIDS.
I recently asked Alina to write a few paragraphs about herself. The following is her own words:
About Me:
I think I've always been 'different' maybe not in a good or bad way, I'm not sure, but I've always done things differently than it was expected of me. I didn't really go with the flow and my ideals and ideas for my future have always been (maybe) disturbing. Again, not in a bad way or good way... just different. Thing is, only recently I've just come to this conclusion. I think I'm ok with it now, but when I was younger, as a teenager and later, I didn't understand why I couldn't quite fit into the 'mold' the society had pre-prepared for me. Now, looking back, I think I can solve the puzzle. Also, nowadays, working with diverse individuals who don't quite fit in either, I think I finally found a place where I feel like... well, like home. I think I've experienced this at the first AIDS Walk (NY) I've ever attended. It was an exuberant feeling for me, being surrounded by literally all sorts of people, old and young, kids and elderly in wheelchairs, fat and thin, short and tall, you name it. Nobody was pointing fingers, nobody was blaming anybody else, nothing like that. We all sang together with the performers on the stage ("You'll Never Walk Alone") and some of us hugged and kissed... and maybe even shared a tear or two. And then we began our walk. And the exuberance kinda continued surrounding us all the way to the end of the walk, when we (or some of us) were too exhausted to talk anymore. So, over the years and through my covering HIV/AIDS, I've had the opportunity to live this kind of exuberance every time I got to talk to people involved in fighting AIDS (later on, also with those fighting for equal rights). These wonderful individuals have changed my life (and also my artwork, be that writing or photography) for the better...or so I feel. So, THANK YOU for that.
As for how I got into all this AIDS... 'thing'? Well, as I always say, blame it on my mother, LOL! See... I've always been, I think, a math person at the chore. This is because I had some wonderful math teachers (I still keep in touch with one in particular). Anyway, when I was in high school, I was trying to decide where to go from there... and I decided to study electronics (that require a lot of complex mathematics and physics, among others). Well, that didn't quite go well with Mom, I think. See, both my folks are doctors and they've helped me a lot when I was working on the book, on "Journeys Through Darkness," explaining all medical terms and the like.
Anyway, I remember it was April 1986 and Mom, an infection disease doctor, had to attend some training courses. Everybody had to do that, every now and then. It was spring break and she asked me if I wanted to go with her, as her guest, to attend a conference at the university of medicine. The building is very... old and its architecture is a work of art in itself. It's what some may call a building with personality. Well, I think, secretly, Mom wanted me to fall in love with the building and maybe get interested in medicine, LOL! (well, that didn't happen). But what I got interested in was the subject of the conference. The dean of the university freshly back from France where he had attended some conferences with the latest in HIV/AIDS, wanted to share the latest AIDS related news (at the time) with the rest of the doctors. At the time, I had no idea whatsoever what HIV or AIDS or SIV or any of that was. But I thought that this retro-virus, this piece of matter experts knew next to nothing about, was a VERY smart retro virus, because it could cause so much damage to the human body. I remember, after the half-day conference, Mom turned to me and asked what I thought about the whole thing... and all I could come up with was "interesting." It felt like a stupid word to use, at the time. Only days after that conference, Chernobyl happened and AIDS vanished into some memory fog...
Many years later and on this side of the Atlantic, when I was pretty much at the beginning of my writing career, so to speak, I discovered a publication called "A&U - America's AIDS Magazine." "A&U" stands for "Art and Understanding." (www.aumag.org). It seems that the 'vanished' AIDS topic found me again, and that the entire AIDS conference story came back to me. Therefore, I decided I was going to contribute to that publication. And.... it happened! The first person to interview for "A&U" was bestselling author of "Signals - A Story of Life after Life" and "Hope - A Story of Triumph," Joel Rothschild. I think that's how it started, my transformation and my 'relationship' with HIV/AIDS. Individuals like author Joel Rothschild, photographer Kurt Weston, and, lately, Dab the AIDS Bear and the POZIAM community and many others have helped me appreciate more the good parts of our existence and have helped me stay "in the house of light" (as Joel would say in "Hope") for longer periods of time. I've learned to try, at least, to live in the moment, (that's quite an experience in itself, this living in the moment), and also to give my best, every single time.
So, I told Mom that she DID, indeed, start me on the career of my choice, although neither she nor I knew that at the time, LOL!
As for the future.... I'd love to continue covering HIV/AIDS. It IS indeed my passions, writing and photographer and using these two... ways of expression to cover the pandemic and, hopefully, to do my very tiny part in the fight against AIDS. As I've mentioned before, I think I've been different all along. Now I know why, and I embrace it, this kind of different. I think that it's a blessing in disguise. I also appreciate all my family and friends for all their support and patience and for putting up with me throughout all these years. THANK YOU is not enough, really. One wish that I have... to cover the discovery of an AIDS cure and/or vaccine. Now, THAT would be something. But, as much as we want to look forward and hope in a world without AIDS, I truly believe that we should never forget the beginning of this plague, in particular its very dark years many people wanted to leave forgotten, the dark AIDS years of silent suffering and deaths of millions of unsung, unknown HIV/AIDS heroes... without them, would we be here today?
You can also learn more about Alina on her website at: http://alinaoswald.com.
So it is with distinct honor we name Alina as our Dab the AIDS Bear Angel for January 2010.
Alina is one of our Ambassadors of Hope with Dab the AIDS Bear Project. But Alina is so much more than just one of our Ambassadors. She is also a writer, photographer and the darling of the hearts of many people with HIV and AIDS.
I recently asked Alina to write a few paragraphs about herself. The following is her own words:
About Me:
I think I've always been 'different' maybe not in a good or bad way, I'm not sure, but I've always done things differently than it was expected of me. I didn't really go with the flow and my ideals and ideas for my future have always been (maybe) disturbing. Again, not in a bad way or good way... just different. Thing is, only recently I've just come to this conclusion. I think I'm ok with it now, but when I was younger, as a teenager and later, I didn't understand why I couldn't quite fit into the 'mold' the society had pre-prepared for me. Now, looking back, I think I can solve the puzzle. Also, nowadays, working with diverse individuals who don't quite fit in either, I think I finally found a place where I feel like... well, like home. I think I've experienced this at the first AIDS Walk (NY) I've ever attended. It was an exuberant feeling for me, being surrounded by literally all sorts of people, old and young, kids and elderly in wheelchairs, fat and thin, short and tall, you name it. Nobody was pointing fingers, nobody was blaming anybody else, nothing like that. We all sang together with the performers on the stage ("You'll Never Walk Alone") and some of us hugged and kissed... and maybe even shared a tear or two. And then we began our walk. And the exuberance kinda continued surrounding us all the way to the end of the walk, when we (or some of us) were too exhausted to talk anymore. So, over the years and through my covering HIV/AIDS, I've had the opportunity to live this kind of exuberance every time I got to talk to people involved in fighting AIDS (later on, also with those fighting for equal rights). These wonderful individuals have changed my life (and also my artwork, be that writing or photography) for the better...or so I feel. So, THANK YOU for that.
As for how I got into all this AIDS... 'thing'? Well, as I always say, blame it on my mother, LOL! See... I've always been, I think, a math person at the chore. This is because I had some wonderful math teachers (I still keep in touch with one in particular). Anyway, when I was in high school, I was trying to decide where to go from there... and I decided to study electronics (that require a lot of complex mathematics and physics, among others). Well, that didn't quite go well with Mom, I think. See, both my folks are doctors and they've helped me a lot when I was working on the book, on "Journeys Through Darkness," explaining all medical terms and the like.
Anyway, I remember it was April 1986 and Mom, an infection disease doctor, had to attend some training courses. Everybody had to do that, every now and then. It was spring break and she asked me if I wanted to go with her, as her guest, to attend a conference at the university of medicine. The building is very... old and its architecture is a work of art in itself. It's what some may call a building with personality. Well, I think, secretly, Mom wanted me to fall in love with the building and maybe get interested in medicine, LOL! (well, that didn't happen). But what I got interested in was the subject of the conference. The dean of the university freshly back from France where he had attended some conferences with the latest in HIV/AIDS, wanted to share the latest AIDS related news (at the time) with the rest of the doctors. At the time, I had no idea whatsoever what HIV or AIDS or SIV or any of that was. But I thought that this retro-virus, this piece of matter experts knew next to nothing about, was a VERY smart retro virus, because it could cause so much damage to the human body. I remember, after the half-day conference, Mom turned to me and asked what I thought about the whole thing... and all I could come up with was "interesting." It felt like a stupid word to use, at the time. Only days after that conference, Chernobyl happened and AIDS vanished into some memory fog...
Many years later and on this side of the Atlantic, when I was pretty much at the beginning of my writing career, so to speak, I discovered a publication called "A&U - America's AIDS Magazine." "A&U" stands for "Art and Understanding." (www.aumag.org). It seems that the 'vanished' AIDS topic found me again, and that the entire AIDS conference story came back to me. Therefore, I decided I was going to contribute to that publication. And.... it happened! The first person to interview for "A&U" was bestselling author of "Signals - A Story of Life after Life" and "Hope - A Story of Triumph," Joel Rothschild. I think that's how it started, my transformation and my 'relationship' with HIV/AIDS. Individuals like author Joel Rothschild, photographer Kurt Weston, and, lately, Dab the AIDS Bear and the POZIAM community and many others have helped me appreciate more the good parts of our existence and have helped me stay "in the house of light" (as Joel would say in "Hope") for longer periods of time. I've learned to try, at least, to live in the moment, (that's quite an experience in itself, this living in the moment), and also to give my best, every single time.
So, I told Mom that she DID, indeed, start me on the career of my choice, although neither she nor I knew that at the time, LOL!
As for the future.... I'd love to continue covering HIV/AIDS. It IS indeed my passions, writing and photographer and using these two... ways of expression to cover the pandemic and, hopefully, to do my very tiny part in the fight against AIDS. As I've mentioned before, I think I've been different all along. Now I know why, and I embrace it, this kind of different. I think that it's a blessing in disguise. I also appreciate all my family and friends for all their support and patience and for putting up with me throughout all these years. THANK YOU is not enough, really. One wish that I have... to cover the discovery of an AIDS cure and/or vaccine. Now, THAT would be something. But, as much as we want to look forward and hope in a world without AIDS, I truly believe that we should never forget the beginning of this plague, in particular its very dark years many people wanted to leave forgotten, the dark AIDS years of silent suffering and deaths of millions of unsung, unknown HIV/AIDS heroes... without them, would we be here today?
You can also learn more about Alina on her website at: http://alinaoswald.com.
So it is with distinct honor we name Alina as our Dab the AIDS Bear Angel for January 2010.
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