Project Kengikat

Life Kits…Respecting People with HIV and AIDS

// September 22nd, 2009 // Uncategorized

When I was on the streets one of the hardest things was not being able to keep up with good hygiene, even though I would take what I call a “whore bath” in the bathrooms of parks, beaches and libraries, doing this with no soap or deodorant was still pretty rough. Not to mention the fact that most times I had no tooth paste, mouth wash or any of the basic things that most of us take for granted.

So I came up with something I call a Do Something Kits. Do Something are the first two words of the outreach for homeless people, low income families, seniors and children that I created while I was homeless. All it is a basic hygiene pack geared towards helping people in need, but unlike other places and organizations that hand them out, mine is really geared toward helping a person who is homeless not just with the items inside the kit, but at making sure I dont create too much extra weight for a person who is already carrying all that they have left of their life in backpacks, duffle bags or other ways that are used. More importantly the goal is to restore dignity and respect, so I make certain that all items are new and not used. I even create Do Something Kits geared toward men and women. I was homeless for 29 months, so I know first hand what it is like and the types of things people give thinking they are helping when in reality they are being insulting and to be honest down right rude and disrespectful.

Shortly after being told I was HIV positive I started finding ways I could reach out to people who are homeless, but also are battling HIV and AIDS.  Unlike regular homeless people, if there is a such thing, homeless people who have HIV and AIDS have many more challenges in front of them, most of which are health related, so it becomes even more important that all is done to find ways to support this very large number of people as well and to do it in the same way I’ve started….. with RESPECT.

April 3, 2009 I created Unpluggin HIV~empowering a positive life as an outreach geared entirely toward people with HIV or AIDS, just like Do Something Saturday~that empowers people the main goals are to restore dignity and respect and to do all I can to stand in the gap for those who are suffering and have less and to do so in love and without judging people or by placing any restrictions or “cut off” points. People have asked me why I dont have “cut off” points or why I dont create rules and conditions as to how long I will do all I can to help someone. The answer is simple. God doesn’t have “cut off” points for me or you, so who am I to create them for others. Furthermore who am I to judge what the progress of a individual is? Who is anyone to do that? I guess what I am saying is that I do not want to be the next person in line reminding someone of what “I” my think is right or wrong, again who am I to judge this?

Life Kits were created as a way to support people who have HIV or AIDS and are also homeless or low income. When I created the Life Kits I teamed up with my then case manager from AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES to make them available to people in need through her and other case managers. Right away the Life Kits were a huge success and through the awesome relationship that I have with my former case manager the Life Kits have reached people in need as far as Lancaster California and throughout Los Angeles. Thanks to this cool friendship I am still able to provide Life Kits to AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES through my former case manager Tiana, who in my opinion fully understands and does all she can to help people with HIV and AIDS. Not just help them, but also RESPECT them as well. She is an excellent example of someone who is doing all she can to restore dignity and restore dignity, respect and positive touch to people living with HIV and AIDS

Life Kits have also been provided to my former HIV clinic at USC, as well as Common Ground in Santa Monica and Being Alive in West Hollywood as well as to people who I know are living on the streets of Los Angeles while battling HIV and AIDS.

Just like my awesome friendship and relationship with Tiana from APLA, I also have an awesome friendship and relationship with Bart from Being Alive LA. He is also my peer support person or what I like to call my “go to man” for love, support, advice and direction when I need it. Bart made working with Being Alive LA easy and has made getting the Life Kits to people who need them very simple. Like Tiana he fully understands that simply sitting at a desk with a title means nothing when you dont apply and do all you can to really show up and help people. This is what I really love about Bart, he has been someone I can go to and not be afraid to talk to and just be who I am with. He is someone I know I can call anytime and he will not make me regret doing so. He is just an awesome friend and I am so glad I am able to work with him in getting Life Kits to men and women in need.

About two weeks ago Bart called me to let me know that he was out of the Life Kits I given him when I interviewed him for Conversations with Kengi for my YOUTUBE channel. It felt so awesome to get the call from him asking for more and how he let me know that he was out passing them out and shared  his experience in passing them out. Last week while preparing for the while preparing the Unpluggin HIV outreach down on Skid Row I was able to put together 6 Life Kits to hand deliver to Bart of his weekly Young and the Restless support group for people with HIV and AIDS. A support group that I now have attended three times.

Last week I also made a call to Tiana to see if I could come see her. I really miss her a great deal andsince I am no longer a client at APLA, I do not have the chance to speak with her like I use to, but she was someone who has been a good friend and someone I love and respect. While seeing her she too expressed that she needed more Life Kits and she even shared how people say they are helpful. It’s awesome to know that something I’ve created is helping people right here where I live, impacting lives of people who need support now, not later how they have gone as far as Lancaster California through her efforts.

One of the awesome things I remember of cooking for people was how my food was touching lives, creating great memories for people that will stand. Once while I was cooking for a high profile award show I looked out into the room and I saw someone take a bite of my food and I saw how their face just lit up and the huge smile that came over their face. The coolest thing about the Do Something and Life Kits is the look on face of someone who gets one. How they just lights up and how right away they are so blown away that someone thought so highly of them to do this. “Thank you” are never far behind after I hand out the kits and smiles are endless.

I recall being told I could never help homeless people or people with HIV and AIDS, there have been times that people who sit at fancy desks in air conditioned buildings have made me feel like what I have created is far less then what they do. Many have been rude and dismissive of my efforts and to be honest I dont think many people in such places has an ounce of respect for what I have created and how it really does help people. To be very honest some places have refused to accept the Do Something or Life Kits  saying “we already do that” but when you look at their websites they ask for the very same items that I am offering to them.

Do Something and Life Kits are just a very small way I do all I can to help people in need. Thanks to people like Tiana and Bart I am able to reach far more people with the Life Kits which in my “backwards thinking” does my good for people then sitting in judgment on them like I someone hold the keys to heaven or hell or that I am in control of the outcome.

This week I will deliver 9 Life Kits to AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES.

I love what GOD has allowed me to create and love that the very little I am able to do with what little I have and the amazing people in my life who do all they can to help me whenever they can because like me, they see the good in HUMANITY and will do all they can to encourage, inspire, uplift, empower and RESPECT it.

These Life Kits would not have been possible on just my little funds alone, but thanks to this awesome friend who has helped me provide them to people in need, so you I say THANK YOU for believing in what I do and looking past my many flaws and seeing my heart. YOU ROCK.

TIANA and BART, THANK YOU both for allowing me to “be of service” to my brothers and sisters with HIV and AIDS who are in need and THANK YOU both for the amazing friendships you have extend to me without “conditions” or “cut off” points. I love you both.