Pubdate: Fri, 07 Jun 2002
Source: Herald, The (SC)
Copyright: 2002 The Herald
Contact:  http://www.heraldonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/369
Author: Andrew J. Skerritt of The Herald

RATHER THAN SUFFER IN SILENCE, ROCK HILL MAN OFFERS WARNING ABOUT DRUG USE, 
UNPROTECTED SEX

Living with HIV/AIDS can be a lonely existence. The disease still carries 
an unmistakable stigma, say those infected with the illness and those who 
care for them.

Thus it would have been a lot easier for Rock Hill's Gregory Doster to 
suffer in silence. But challenged by his Sunday school teacher that those 
who undergo adversity have a responsibility to give something back, he 
spoke up at Gethsemene Church one recent Sunday morning. He felt like 
telling fellow church members why they hadn't seen him at church much.

"I started talking about the disease and how I was HIV-positive. People 
really accepted me. I had young people running up to me and hugging me," 
said the 50-year old Doster, the former owner of Gregory's Southern Diner 
in Rock Hill. But even as he went public with his illness, he felt a twinge 
of fear. "I hadn't told my mother-in-law yet," he chuckled. "We had to 
leave church and get to her house before the phone started ringing."

Emboldened by the congregation's initial response to his public statement 
about AIDS, Doster returned with members of his Regional AIDS Interfaith 
Network (RAIN) support team and put on a complete HIV/AIDS awareness seminar.

Based on the success of that event, the New Orleans native applied for and 
secured a $1,800 grant from the Catawba AIDS Prevention Network to conduct 
six Empowering Ourselves For Change programs - three in churches and three 
in community centers - over the next year.

"No one else is speaking out," said Doster, who will direct his energy 
primarily toward black churches and community groups but never turn down 
any invitations. His warning: unprotected sex and intravenous drug use is 
dangerous.

"All these pregnant young women out there are not having safe sex," Doster 
said."They don't know who they are having sex with."

According to state health department statistics, African-Americans make up 
79 percent of HIV/AIDS cases in S.C. African-American babies make up 80 
percent of pediatric AIDS cases. Because of the heavy toll the disease is 
taking on the black community, Doster makes a suitable spokesman to warn 
others of the dangers that lay ahead.

"He's willing to be a public speaker. It's something we don't see a lot," 
said Paula Whisonant, program director for the Catawba AIDS Prevention 
Network, which this year has distributed about $10,000 in grants to 
individuals and groups throughout York, Chester and Lancaster counties. 
Whenever Whisonant conducts HIV/AIDS education programs, participants 
usually want to hear from people with personal experience dealing with the 
disease.

"The number one thing people want to see is somebody who is HIV-positive. 
They want to talk to them one-on-one about what their day to day life is 
like," said Whisonant, who added that there is no shortage of HIV-positive 
people who don't mind speaking in settings far from home but won't speak in 
public locally for fear of exposing their children, spouses and relatives 
to being shunned.

Doster already has dealt with that issue, she said.

"His strongest selling point is his personal testimony," Whisonant said. 
"He's godsent."

Doster's story begins in Rochester, N.Y., where he lived for 17 years 
before moving south in 1988. That same year he underwent two months of drug 
rehabilitation to kick a longtime heroin and cocaine addiction.

In 1991, while working as a cook in Rock Hill he met his wife, Sandra. 
After Doster suffered through bouts of shingles, bronchitis, diarrhea and 
other illnesses in 2000, his physician recommended an HIV/AIDS test. He 
tested positive and had a viral load that indicated the disease had 
compromised his immune system.

"I should have been dead," said Doster, who remembers not being overly 
concerned about his condition. "The only thing I was worried about was my 
wife."

Thus far his wife has tested negative, he said. Over the past two years, 
his weight dropped from 146 to 98 pounds and later rebounded. Now on 
disability, his focus is on his new purpose. He recently spoke to senior 
citizens at Calvary Baptist Church about HIV/AIDS. His message is 
unequivocal; it's hopeful. AIDS kills, but medical science can prolong life.

"This is not a death sentence," he said. "It's a life sentence as long as 
you take care of yourself."
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