Sharing the Sculpture - Day One - Afro-Canadian Network

Here we are - on the other side of the water - really on the way across the country.

We can share the sculpture - people can see it nicely wrapped inside the truck. No amount of shrink wrap seemed to make it small enough to easily load and unload, so it will stay protected for the long haul.  The little spike out the top of the truck allows it to be stabilized for road motion - but takes about thirty minutes to screw down into the dwarfed sculpture.

Fortunately, the long stem is separate and sturdy enough to take out and share conversation around HIV medications. And wow, did it get the conversation rolling last night! We have some great videos to share down the road.

Below, Patience and Peggy share a moment, as Peggy pulls out the almost life-sized poster of the sculpture.

Putting up the poster in a house was a problem, as it takes a large wall.  We selected the window which let light shine through it, but still allowed people to appreciate the size of the erected sculpture. And we used our new Stanley thermos as a hammer - worked really well. Thanks to our construction crew for knowing we would need it.  Haven't backed over it yet, but goodness knows we just might. And NO - I would never actually hit Patience with it - we were just hamming it up.

I also made 35 prints, 8 x 11 images of the process of creating the sculpture and the steps involved in erecting it. I shared these with members of the Afro-Canadian Network last night after a delicious dinner.

We had such a good time last night - there were intimate stories, many from Africa, as all the people in the group that gathered last night, have come to Canada recently.  We talked about stress, about the psychological impact of an HIV diagnosis, about the side-effects of medications and family issues related to HIV. Then we danced and prayed. We'll share some of those moments when we learn how to upload a video.

There was so much laughter as we looked at pictures of some of the members performing at a gathering in Vancouver. We also shared laughs when we heard about poor Jean who was asked to go to St Paul's Hospital Pharmacy and collect a bag of medication for Peggy. Neither Cathy nor Peggy were inclined to drive the cocktail glass into Vancouver's rush-hour traffic. Blessings fell upon us when it seemed there was a dear friend who could pick them up and deliver them to Surrey.  She was ill, so called Patience, asking if perhaps she knew someone who could do it. Since Patience had an appointment in the downtown area, she offered to do the pick-up herself. When that appointment was canceled, the job fell to Jean. He received a large brown bag - but it was too light. "Hey, these pill  bottles are empty!" he discovered before he left the pharmacy. "That's just what Peggy wants." he was told. "Strange lady" he thought. I likely confirmed his suspicions.

Thanks so much for the warm welcome we received from the Afro-Canadian Network. You set the stage for an amazing journey.