Jasmine is 17. She lives in her new apartment in Toronto. She has a temporary job at Voices of Positive Women. She is attempting to attend university. She is HIV positive.
Jasmine grew up in Ottawa, with parents she describes as narrow-minded. In her eyes, her mother's duty was to be a perfect housewife, while her father brought home the money. She was taught to believe she wouldn't be good enough, that she was stupid and inferior. Her brother, with the lower marks at school, was always praised and commended for his excellent work. Her parents had told her she was a mistake, the result of a bad acid trip.
During her childhood, Jasmine had a blood trans- fusion. She needed the transfusion after an operation.
Around her birthday, turning 12, Jasmine started experimenting with drugs. She first tried marijuana, acid, and hash. Then she used cocaine and heroin. Jasmine started sharing needles and abusing these substances. It was through the blood transfusion or the drug use that Jasmine contracted HIV. When she was 15, Jasmine went in for a HIV test. She was nervous and alone. When the results returned, they were positive. Jasmine told her mother that afternoon, and was booted out of the house for good. She hitchhiked to Toronto, where she lived on the streets for about 6 months. Jasmine realized it was time to get her life back into shape. She went to Evergreen, an organization dedicated to helping street youth. They helped direct her to other organi- zations, and from there she was guided to Voices of Positive Women.
Over the past 2 years, Jasmine's life has been turned upside down. Through the organizations like Evergreen and Covenant House, she has managed to regain control of her life. Yet, it's still difficult for her to balance the pressures of her life. Jasmine does a lot of speaking to schools and community agencies about HIV and AIDS. She spends a lot of time doing this kind of work as a way to cope with her disease. Jasmine enjoys educating her peers about the virus. She believes that the key to stopping prejudice against AIDS patients is education. Jasmine hopes that through her speaking and educating, she can help dispel the myths and prejudices against people with HIV or AIDS.
Chi Nguyen
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