SAN JUAN — It had been 10 years since Wally Cantu stepped foot inside the Basilica Of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle.
He was emotional Wednesday as he recalled visiting the basilica in his youth with his grandmother.
But on this particular occasion, Cantu was visiting for reasons beyond spirituality.
Cantu, the CEO for Valley AIDS Council, and a few fellow organizers were visiting the basilica for a Mass commemorating World AIDS Day, while also taking the opportunity to spread awareness about the deadly disease.
“The more people know about HIV, the more people know where they can get tested, the more people can get on PrEP (Pre-exposure Prophylaxis) to keep from getting HIV,” Cantu said. “If they do have HIV, they can get on medications earlier, and it will do less damage to their bodies.”
Cantu shared some statistics about the disease and its impact on the Rio Grande Valley. He said that 255 Rio Grande Valley residents have died from HIV and AIDS since 1987, including nine so far this year. There are currently 2,388 people in the Valley living with the disease and 220 people were diagnosed this year.
“As a gay person growing up in the 80s, it was impacting myself and my friends,” Cantu said.
Misinformation can make it difficult for individuals to get the help that they need, which is what Valley AIDS Council is attempting to do, he said.
“Unfortunately, because of the stigma and discrimination that’s here in the Valley, about half of the diagnosis that we get are for advanced HIV,” Cantu said. “What that means is that they’ve had HIV for five to ten years, and they didn’t know. So it’s been doing damage to their bodies.
“Part of the reason is because there’s a lot of misinformation and a lot of stigmas, so people don’t get tested,” he continued. “When they get sick and go to the emergency room, they go to the emergency room multiple times before somebody even thinks about getting an HIV test. We need to educate people about getting tested because the sooner people find out, the less is done to their bodies and less opportunities to transmit it to somebody else.”
Steven James Cano, the community mobilization coordinator for the Valley AIDS Council, said that being able to host Wednesday’s event at the basilica was extremely special to him.
“Here in the Rio Grande Valley where we have a lot of individuals who are of faith, it’s kind of showing our community that faith, what was once kind of not as accepting of the HIV and AIDS world especially with the LGBTQ community, I believe that having the event here is just showing that there is a bigger picture,” Cano said. “This is not just a disease that affects LGBTQ community members, predominantly gay men, this is a disease that affects every single person.”
Father Horacio Chavarria delivered the Mass prior to the presentation that included various speakers and a candlelight vigil.
“It’s part of the life of the church to be present to the sick and dying, at all instances,” Chavarria said. “This is part of the sick ministry to our friends, family and survivors.”
One of the speakers was Francisco Mendez of Mission. Mendez had long been an advocate for HIV and AIDS awareness before his own diagnosis in 1992. Throughout his own battle with the disease, he has continued to organize events such as Wednesday’s.
“It’s an honor to bring the spiritual aspect of this situation to the community,” Mendez said.
He was told he would die from the disease in 1988. At the time, he weighed a mere 72 pounds, and he was not only fighting for his life, but against the discrimination he faced.
“It was hectic, very hectic,” he said. “I confronted a lot of stigma, a lot of hate, a lot of prejudice.”
As he recalled his tribulations, he suddenly seemed to be overcome with shock and emotion.
“Oh my God,” he said repeatedly. “Oh my God, I just got chills.”
He struggled for a moment before finding his words. Two women in red dresses had captured his attention. One of the women was Velda Villarreal, a nurse who had cared for Mendez when he was in the hospital with HIV. The other woman was Demmae Theis, Mendez’s friend since first grade.
He rushed to the two women and embraced them in a tearful hug.
“We’ve come full circle,” he said.
“It means a lot (to be here) because I was there all the time when he was diagnosed,” Villarreal said.
“I’m very emotional, but these are tears of joy,” Theis added.
For more information about HIV prevention, education and testing services, visit www.valleyaids.org, call (956) 428-2653, or visit one of their three clinics in McAllen, Harlingen and Brownsville.
View Monitor photojournalist Delcia Lopez’s full photo gallery of World AIDS Day being commemorated at the Basilica Of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle below:
Photo Gallery: World AIDS Day commemorated at San Juan Basilica
