DP News

November 15, 2009

Voices Project teaches students how others live

By REBECCA BRIA rbria@timesleader.com

Megan Carey and Mary Gulotta never knowingly came into contact with someone who has acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Then they met Bryan.

Carey, of Groton, N.Y., and Gulotta, of Trucksville, both 19, are among 28 students in the Introduction to Psychology class of Alicia Nordstrom, Ph.D., at Misericordia University who worked on The Voices Project this semester. The Voices Project is a storytelling program about diverse populations that are often the victims of prejudice, being stereotyped and discriminated against.

As a service-learning project, Nordstrom’s students interviewed people in the community such as Muslims, Hispanics, African Americans, Indian Americans, people struggling with their weight or obesity, people with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and people in poverty.

The students met with voluntary participants for three hours and attended a cultural event related to the subject. The students also wrote mini memoirs of their participants’ lives.

Misericordia faculty, staff and students read the stories of each participant during a public presentation on Nov. 5 in the Lemmond Theater on campus.

Carey and Gulotta interviewed a man named Bryan who has AIDS, a disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Bryan, 49, of Kingston, did not wish to use his last name in an attempt to protect his privacy. He was diagnosed with AIDS on Nov. 16, 2001 after not feeling well for about a year. He does not know exactly how he contracted HIV or from whom he contacted it; however, he does acknowledge having engaged in unprotected sex and abused drugs and alcohol.

“Somebody knows somebody who has it, whether they know it or not,” Bryan said.

Carey and Gulotta were referred to Bryan through their professor and asked him questions including how he contracted HIV, how he dealt with the diagnosis of AIDS, his family’s reactions, his positive and negative experiences related to AIDS and the stereotypes he has endured.

The women also accompanied Bryan to Main Street Galleries in Kingston to view an exhibit based on the book “Focus on Living” which features stories and photos of people living with AIDS.

Carey and Gulotta culminated their project by writing a five-page paper on Bryan’s experiences with AIDS in the first-person as if they were him.

“Trying to put it in his perspective was difficult,” Carey said.

Both women said they did not feel uneasy around Bryan; however, they made sure to include in the paper that some people do feel nervous around him.

“Those who do not know much about AIDS are always a little weary about being around me because they feel they will be infected by contact,” the paper quotes Bryan. “Although they never directly say they don’t feel comfortable around me to my face, I can tell how they feel by the guarded look and body posture they have when they spend time with me.”

Carey was most astounded to learn that Bryan has a large support system of family and friends who are open to him. Gulotta says it was Bryan’s optimism that amazed her most.

“He’s not extremely negative,” Gulotta said. “He uses it to advocate and educate others.”

Bryan was surprised by the students’ interest in the project.

“Once they started getting into it, I think they adopted it outside of their project,” he said. “What I’d like for them is to educate themselves (on AIDS) and those around them.”

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