STDs

I've been seeing how much fun Laura has been having making posts, so i thought i'd give it a dance and give you some insight into my life. I'm currently working for Valley Mental Health at a day treatment facility for mothers that are in recovery from drug and alcohol addictions. My job in the program is to facilitate relationship building between the mothers and their children. And who better to help them than someone with no children, right? Part of their treatment is to attend groups taught by therapists and case managers on prevention and recovery skills, health and nutrition, prenatal classes, and love and logic parenting. It's been an interesting experience, and i've seen such great changes in these womens' lives. It has also helped me to really appreciate my family and the impact which positive influences, especially the Gospel, can have in our lives.

Anywho, the reason for this post is to share with you all an interesting group that i sat in on this morning. I heard there would be a two hour presentation on STDs and AIDS, and that all clients and staff were invited to it. Always eager to learn more about things i know very little about, a coworker and I decided to attend. Little did i know what i was in for...

First, let me explain the scene here. I'm one of two men in this group occupied by 25 women, some with newborn babies (i've discovered that this man/woman ratio is pretty typical in social work, which could be a future blog entry). The presenter begins by holding up a gallon sized ziplock bag filled with made-for-men contraceptives and explaining that we should not be shy and grab however many we want. Without going into too much detail, the scene that followed was reminiscent of giving a primary class a bag of candy. The presenter then spent the next hour and a half talking about and showing pictures of syphillis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea along with their causes and treatments...YIKES!! Again, to spare our newfound readership of the awful comments, invasive questions, and awkward situations which i witnessed, i will tell you that it was an informative presentation. I now know more than i ever thought i would regarding something that is such an ever-present force and circumstance in so many these clients' lives.

I just read this post again, and feel i must apologize for making my first post about STDs. Most people talk about how cute their kids are, the trips they've taken, or recently gained spiritual insights. But i've been told that it's entries like these that blog readers enjoy, so in a way, you asked for it. So as a consolation, and to begin a Dan-posting tradition, i'll include a picture.

This is from my sisters' wedding, where none of us had STDs. That is all.