Barbara Bernardo, GUAHAN Project Administrative Officer
“Hafa Adai, everyone, and thank you for taking the time to visit our newly launched website (www.guahanproject.org).  I am so excited to be part of the great and exciting things that are taking place in the organization as we speak.  The organization has come a long way since I started working here and seeing its progress is a true reflection of GUAHAN Project’s hard work and growth.”

“Anyway, just to share a little about myself, I am a blessed mother of two beautiful sons named Keith and Zachariah.  I am the wife of a terrific husband named Bill.  I enjoy spending as much time as I can with them whether it’d be at home, at church, at family functions or even at work.  To me they are the reasons I exist.  When I have free time and money, I love to go shopping and eating out because it’s something we could do as a family.  But if you asked me, I will take a home cooked meal any day.”

“I learned about the GUAHN Project when I was a social work student attending the University of Guam.  I remember feeling this strong passion and desire to be involved with the organization, but at the time I didn’t understand why.  I started volunteering for different events.  I remember feeling this sense of fulfillment afterward.  Then I realized that I wanted to do more with the organization.  I asked Al, our Executive Director, to consider me as a practicum student.  To my disbelief, I was given a better opportunity.  I was offered a job!  I started off as a part time employee doing some clerical work and was part of different programs.  Now, I am a full-time employee who administers programs and I am also a certified HIV/AIDS Risk Reduction Counselor.  I have to say, it is quite exciting.  I have learned so much from the organization.  After over two years, I see how every day is a different day here at the GUAHAN Project.  Whether it’d be a good or bad day, at the end, working to save lives is all worth it.”

Director’s Notes:  The Normal Heart
“The human contribution is the essential ingredient.  It is only the giving of oneself to others that we truly live.”  These are the words of Ethel Perry Andrus.  Words that truly represent the work you are about to witness tonight.  The Normal Heart was just another job I auditioned for as a professional actor.  I played the role of Mickey Marcus.  But I did not realize the impact and the importance of this work as a theatre piece and a message piece.  We learn a great deal about each other based on our histories and actions.  This play is a history on the plague we know as AIDS and is one of most important examples of getting to know what we are up against as activists and people living in the age of this disease. 

The presentation of this play is not as unorthodox as you might think.  Plays go through processes of evolution known as staged readings.  The directors, producers, and playwrights need to see the play “on its feet” and more importantly the actors giving the characters a voice.  We as actors kindly and graciously give you this work as an expression of our dedication to educating the public about AIDS and the prejudice that surrounds it.  The work itself is presented in the simplest form possible – bare stage, uniformed costumes, and basic lighting.  It is now your job to use your imagination to create the scenarios and situations.  We hope to help you in the images you create. 

Now we ask you to contribute and to give of yourself for this cause we feel so strongly. 

Ricky Vergara, Director, The Normal Heart (Read More)