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"I said, 'Bite me? You can't put your mouth on everybody.' And he said, 'What? You got a disease or something?'"
In response, she said to the man, "Did you forget? I told you I was diagnosed with HIV."
His reply was, "Oh, I can't fuck with you."
Devondia didn't get angry, she didn't curse back at him, she simply said, "Oh, that's cool." Then she hung up the phone.
Episodes like this don't happen to her often. Devondia says that she's met the most compassionate people in Charlotte and other places around the country.
"What they say and do behind my back, only God knows," she says.
In a 2006 study commissioned by Compassion International, Americans were found to be 'ambivalent' about HIV and AIDS. According to an article in The Raw Story, nearly two-fifths admit to having difficulty sympathizing with victims.
Devondia has been lucky enough not face those people who judge HIV and AIDS victims.
It's about time for Devondia to get her daughters from the bus stop. Her oldest will be home at 2:30 p.m. and about an hour later her youngest will be arriving home.
"I think it's a blessing to be here when they come home from school," says Devondia.
But before her daughters get home, Devondia has to take a nap.
"I'm just like a kindergartner," she jokes.
Devondia likes the winter, saying she has more energy when the mercury drops. But when it gets hot, she's lethargic and freezing everyone in her home because she has her air conditioning blasting and ceiling fans moving the cold air around.
Following her nap, Devondia is ready to meet her daughters at their respective stops. They exchange stories about how things went at school and things of that nature. Despite Devondia's advocacy and the fact that she has gone public with her status, she says her daughters don't face any problems at school or any judgments in the community.
In fact, a classmate who wanted to interview Devondia for a school project approached her oldest daughter. The girl asked if she was Devondia's daughter and if she thought her mother would allow her to interview her for the project. Of course, the traveling advocate said yes.
And her youngest daughter may be an advocate in the making because she takes information about HIV and AIDS to school to pass on to others.
Once her daughters get home, it's time for homework, dinner and other things that parents and kids share. As day becomes evening, Devondia is about to head to bed. She turns in every night around 9 p.m.
Five in the morning is right around the corner and she has another day to look forward to, another day to spread the word about HIV and AIDS and possibly save someone's life.
Footnote: On Jan. 10, 2007, Devondia says that her last visit to the doctor produced great results. HIV was undetected in her body, and she says the doctors who initially told her about her diagnosis are amazed at her progress.
In North Carolina 77 percent of AIDS cases reported are female.
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