As part of our efforts to help organizations better serve minority and immigrant communities, OMHRC participated in Attention to Health Education in the African Diaspora (AHEAD), a World AIDS Day event integrating health and African culture in College Park, Georgia.

This conference and its workshop entitled "Our Health, Our Future" was the brain child of Dr. Mummy Rajab from the Prevention Effectiveness Consortium on Health and Education (PECHE) to provide education on public health issues such as HIV/AIDS that exact a huge toll on people of African descent in Metro-Atlanta, Georgia.

"We offered training on stigma, HIV and the many reasons why people don't go to get tested," says Margaret Korto, a Ghana native and one of OMHRC's Capacity Building Specialists.

"There are some 120,000 African immigrants in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area, but we don't know the exact numbers of those infected with HIV/AIDS, because the numbers are lumped together with African Americans. However, the issues are very different, and the needs for outreach and education are also different."

Despite her experience around the country in HIV/AIDS training, Korto was surprised by the crowd. "We were astonished by the lack of knowledge about HIV transmission. Some still believed it could be passed on by drinking from the same cup."

"We need to target the immigrant community in general and the African community in particular with promotion messages they can relate to," insists Korto. "Many in these communities still think of HIV as a disease for gays, prostitutes or promiscuous women, and married women don't see themselves at risk despite being the growing segment of new HIV infections."

Korto believes the event was very successful because it opened a door for dialogue. "Right there, we were approached by two Imams and one Evangelical Pastor who want to do a joint training on HIV education," concluded Korto.

The full-packed day included networking, examination of the global market, panel discussions, a key note address, health screenings, poems and skits, a fashion show, step dance and traditional dances.