Doing This Work the Way I Wanted To: Damone Thomas

One in a series of profiles of the 2013 Fellows in the Black AIDS Institute's African American HIV University's Science and Treatment College.

The Caribbean region has the world's second-highest rate of HIV infection. USAID/Jamaica estimates that 32,000 people in Jamaica, a nation of 2.8 million, are living with HIV, and as many as 50 percent are unaware of their status.
Damone Thomas, 26, has been an HIV/AIDS advocate since high school in his native Kingston. "There's always been not enough time or resources to devote to the work," says Thomas. "I have continuously prayed about it, as I've always wanted to do more. But because of a 9-to-5 job, I didn't have the time to venture into this work the way I wanted to."

His prayers appear to have been answered.

Thomas, 26, is one of the 2013 Fellows selected by the Black AIDS Institute to attend its African American HIV University (AAHU) Science and Treatment College in Los Angeles. Sponsored by the Institute and the UCLA Center for World Health, Fellows learn to promote high-quality care in HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention by developing HIV/AIDS science literacy and learning treatment strategies.

In 2012 Thomas founded Healing With Hope (HWH), a faith-based organization in Kingston intended to reduce stigma and provide HIV/AIDS outreach, treatment and support. Thomas' primary goal is to ask at least 50 church leaders to read In His Shadow: A Devotional for Christians Living With HIV, in which author Joan Yorba-Gray tells the story of how faith provided her with hope and comfort after she contracted HIV from her unfaithful husband. "It's a great tool to use with the leaders of a church, showing them how to make a difference addressing the feelings of despair, anger and alienation, owing to the disease's social stigma, that HIV/AIDS victims experience," he says.

Thomas started HWH after participating in the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C. "Attending the conference gave me a better idea of what other countries were doing, what was working," he says.

But an experience while obtaining his visa to attend the conference gave him a sign that the time had come to pursue his passion. The person handling his application told him how much people in Kingston appreciated his advocacy work and inquired whether he hoped to return to the U.S. in the future for additional HIV/AIDS training. To his surprise, Thomas was granted a rare 10-year visa, enabling unlimited travel from Jamaica to the United States.

In a strange twist of fate, Thomas' job was terminated unexpectedly when he returned from Washington, freeing him to devote himself to his vision. "I immediately made a personal commitment not to seek another job until Healing With Hope was formulated, structured, built and is working," he says.

While most of the other Fellows have returned to their respective cities, Thomas, the only international participant, is working on his deliverables from Los Angeles through the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition, which works on behalf of PLWHA, until November, when he returns to Jamaica to resume his work with HWH and his church.

"Now when I read The Lancet or other medical journals, I know what they are talking about," Thomas says of his training. "I have learned things that made me more capable of helping so many people."

Thomas also believes that he is better-equipped to help create a more friendly and open atmosphere that will encourage more people to get tested and access the treatment and tools they need to take care of themselves. "It's a sacrifice; I'm not being paid from a job back in Jamaica while I'm in this training," he says. "I'm working with a vision, and I'm running with this vision."

AAHU's Science and Treatment Fellows will be blogging about their experiences. To read the blogs, go here.

As told to Glenn Ellis, a health writer and radio commentator who lectures nationally and internationally on ethics and equity in health care.