A Promise from me to you - I will post weekly from now on

Welcome back for another episode of "As Ti-chee Churns".  We've been very busy since we last blogged, however from this point forward I will be blogging at least once a week so that everyone will be informed about our progress with our Expanded Rapid HIV Testing Initiative, and the very important work we are focusing on with regards to the CDC and Indian Health Service recommendations and our commitment to end the spread of HIV/AIDS in Indian Country by testing all tribal members between the ages of 13 and 64.

We've been able to train Lummi, Nooksack, Upper Skagit, and Tulalip Tribes and will be partnering with Swinomish as they already have a HIV testing protocol in place.  We've distributed 1000 test kits with more on the way.  We have hit some integration issues due to trouble with clinical reminders and commitment, however we have addressed these issues and hopefully will encounter little or no trouble in the future.  It has been a very humbling and invaluable experience working with and training the health staff at our tribal affiliates.  As stakeholders in this very important work, their cooperation and expertise has helped us along in our continuing efforts.

We are now going to be working on three projects at once.  The first is our social networking skills, design and implementation.  The second is our Youth initiative for 6-12 YO, and finally establishing a training protocol for the general tribal population as Rapid HIV testers/volunteers.  This will increase our volunteer base and set up a permanent tribal volunteer contigent specifically designed to offer RapidHIV testing to their peers and therefore allowing Ti-chee or pass the torch of testing off to the 5 tribes we currently have a cooperative agreement with.  This will free up valuable time and assets to work on other specific projects for the youth, the elders, and women's health.

We just finished a training by the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center or NNAAPC out of Denver CO entitled "HIV Social Media"  which greatly increased our awareness of the importance of Social Networking and how involved we need to be to improve our sustainability and the overall effectiveness of our education and prevention outreach.

Thats all for now, Peace, Health and Prosperity,

Ken Lamb - Project Lead  ERHTI