Tulalip

We had our first contact meeting with Alan from Tulalip today.  He came up to meet with us to discuss the general points of our grant and what Tulalip's role would be in the process of it's progression over the next two years.  It impresses me just how genuinely concerned people are with their tribal responsibilities governing the health and welfare of tribal members.  It makes my job a whole lot easier knowing that there is this fine empathy from health care staff and I look forward to training and working with these mindful people. 

The experience so far has been eye opening and rewarding and we've only just begun.  My goal for this quarter is to have all the tribes on board and their staff from the health clinics and CD organzations trained and ready to begin the Rapid HIV Testing Initiative by NOV 1, 2010.  I'm optimistic especially when both Lummi and Tulalip have already committed to work towards achieving this goal and timeline.

We were kind of disappointed that we were unable to make it down to Tulalip because we love dining at the Casino.  But priorities and responsibility weigh-in heavily.  As this is our first real test in the field with a real big budget backing us up, it bolds well for everyone if we keep on track.  Our progress is amazingly quick and as we've been doing Rapid HIV Testing events and projects for the past 4 years, our transition is smooth and efficient.  More later, I'm out.

Ken