From Abbotsford, we drove along the freeway towards Hope. After 20 minutes we cruised into Chilliwack to visit a family friend. The tourist information centre has a great flag shop where we bought small flags for each province en route, and proudly hung our BC flag on the mast that holds the sculpture securely in the truck. Within an hour the flag was looking bad, but that was OK because 48 hours later it was gone completely with no sign of the electric tape that was used to secure it in place. So far that's the only casualty of the trip.
We arrived in Hope a day earlier than our initial schedule (but as posted on this blog), stopped at our host and hostess’s home, picked up Virginia, and headed to the Blue Moose. As we set up, one of our audience reported that he’d heard about the trip on CBC radio! Word had already gotten out that a couple of crazy women are driving a seven foot cocktail glass across the country.
Opening the back doors of the truck allowed us not only to pull out our oversize banner, but also to show off the packed sculpture. We were greeted by curiosity - the greatest learning tool. We spent a pleasant afternoon in the sun, sipping coffee and talking to those passing by.
We had a remarkable conversation with one woman whose life changed when she got a cancer diagnosis. She spoke of her two-year search for alternatives to ‘the knife’. As she spoke her eyes sparkled with the realization that she was taking care of her body and learning what made it function best. It has been two years since her diagnosis and she’s completely avoided pharmaceuticals. We talked about the stranglehold the industry has on research, people practicing medicine and our ability to better understand the importance of organic healing agents - herbs - weeds as a healer who stopped by referred to them. The conversation was initiated by the sculpture.
In the evening, after an intimate dinner party, we watched the movie - Positive Women Exposing Injustice. We were all outraged that so many people are incarcerated in Canada - the crime often labeled 'aggrevated sexual assault'. This situation creates more stigma around HIV. We watched the documentary in disbelief, as a Montreal woman told us her story. She went to the police after he hid in her apartment, attacked her, threw her from a second floor mezzanine and broke her son’s arm when the son tried to protect her. Her 'ex' retaliated with a claim that she did not disclose her HIV status to him. The courts appeared to see her as a less reliable witness - due to her HIV infection? It will take time to ease the stigma of HIV under these conditions. And people won't want to be tested.
No one in Hope came up and spoke openly about their HIV status. Is it surprising?
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