ONEVOICE

After many debates with the Francophone community, about whether the Anglophone community REALLY needed a separate newsletter from VIS `A VIH (the francophone newletter), it was agreed that a separate newsletter would better service the Anglophone/Allophone PWA's (People With AIDS) and their community. On the other hand, our counterparts in the Francophone milieu are our resourceful allies and should not be taken for granted.

As Anglophones/Allophones, we must realize in Québec, we are a minority. As a minority, we must stand and fight together for the same cause. Our cause, in this case, is to survive and fight against AIDS.

Right now, the Anglophone/Allophone community is split, each organization contributing to the fight against AIDS, but doing it on their own and not keeping in touch with other organizations. With the creation of ONE VOICE, we hope to unite these small groups and colectively allow them to express themselves.

ONE VOICE does not mean only a single voice, but it represent one voice among many others still to be heard at CSAM (Comité SIDA AIDE Montréal). ONE VOICE was created so people can express ideas and visions of their society as PLWAs (People Living With AIDS), to help develop a common spirit among English speaking PLWAs, to unite the Anglophone/Allophone community services available to PLWAs and to work as a team for the same cause.

If we succeed in the above ogjectives, then we can join the majority of our province to survive and help fight against AIDS and to lesson the impact of discrimination in ALL communities. If the Anglophone/Allophone and Francophone communities can unite, then, remembering that we are all sailing in the same boat, we can join together and help fight in the same battle that we are all struggling to live with in our lives. If we all unite together as a team, we will be that much stronger in this battle, but if we continue to sit back and remain in our individual cliques, voicing our ideas and feelings separately, then we will continue to be the minority that remains marginal. ONE VOICE wishes to advance the cause and spirit of many people at the front of the AIDS battle and our community includes many who have been touched, directly or indirectly, by AIDS.