I lived and worked in a rural mountain community in Alberta. It’s also one of the largest tourist destinations in the world. This creates some unique demographics and social issues. My placement was at an HIV organization in Jasper, AB. You wonder why HIV in a small town in the Rockies? Alberta is experiencing an unprecedented economic boom and as a result thousands of Canadians have migrated to the region for work. Northern Alberta is home of the Tar Sands, and during my summer in Jasper, the finishing touches were being put on a pipeline right through the National Park. This project created jobs and brought young, mostly single men to the town. Jasper has a resident population of about 5000, but this number doubles in the summer when migrant workers come to spend the summer working during the tourist season. Some work for Parks Canada, but most of the jobs are in the service industry, serving at restaurants, bars and cafes, working for tourist companies as raft guides, or in hotels as maids or front desk staff. Nearly all of these jobs are filled by young people on their summer holiday from school, often away from home for the first time. With little options for housing in town, many of the seasonal workers live in staff accommodations with their co-workers, an environment very similar to first year residence life. Surrounded by striking scenes of beauty and opportunities out of doors, a large majority of these young people spend their nights at the local bars where they might meet some of the almost two million visitors to the National Park each year. All of these factors lead to risky behaviour, drinking, promiscuity, and fun!
What are the results? The rates of sexually transmitted diseases in Alberta have more than doubled and are increasing much faster than that of the rest of Canada. The province also has the highest rates of gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis in Canada. Certain parts of the province are experiencing a syphilis epidemic. Most STI’s are undetectable and often an infected person shows no symptoms of the infection. For example, half of infected males and almost three quarters of females show no symptoms of chlamydia infections. STI’s also increase the risk of acquiring HIV, the virus that causes AIDS and which has no cure. We played an important role in the community distributing condoms, creating awareness of STI’s, HIV and sexual health and making good choices, educating the youth in the community, and setting up clinics for people to get tested. I was also fortunate enough to be able to help present a Sex Ed workshop to the Gr. 8 class, in which I wore a condom hat on my head and said things like, "Welcome to Safe Sex Airways....This is your Captain speaking, we're going to go over a few safety tips...." Working for an HIV organization at home brought the issue of HIV/AIDS in the world a lot closer. We really are all affected and it’s not just something that happens to somebody else. Don’t be silly, cover your willy!