The École Publique Héritage gymnasium was full of energy today for the launch of the six-week long Partici-Patrick program.
Children dances and sang all in memory of Patrick Fortin, a young man from North Bay who contracted HIV at age seven through tainted blood and died in 2001 at the age of 23.
Aside for the energized gymnasium the students watched a video about the life of Patrick, which included sad photos in from his final days.
“Well it’s like a wake up call, it’s like ‘oh my gosh this can happen to somebody?’ It is a little dramatic when you see his photograph near the end and so it’s a bit jolting but it’s also reality and this is what happens when you are affected by that kind of disease,” stated Bob Sampson, the Executive Director for Patrick4Life.
The goal of "Partici-Patrick" is to make students aware of the importance of physical activity and healthy choices and to make them aware of the realities of HIV/AIDS while doing character and self-esteem building activities.
The program which is not funded by any government agencies, has been around for more than a decade. Sampson says a pair of university studies have indicated the program is making a difference.
“We are discovering that the kids are emerging from the program with a higher sense of self-identity, they are more resilient, they’ve got more self confidence and that’s contributing to the mental health that the school boards are really trying to address today because the incident rate of children with mental health problems is increasing so they see our program as a means to deal with that issue,” he said.
The event will wrap up on June 5th for the Partici-Patrick walk which will take place at the Steve Omischl Sports Complex.
