Miami Herald - April 18, 2005
Monica Hatcher, mhatcher@herald.com

Tall, tan, well-built, Volmir Menezes is the picture of robust health and vitality.

But appearances can be deceiving, the 37-year-old Miami Beach resident frankly admitted.

"Look at my back," he said, pulling down the neck of his tank top, revealing scores of small, pink lesions on his brown skin.

"I've been [HIV-] positive for 14 years," he said.

Menezes was handing out sunscreen samples as a volunteer for the 17th Annual AIDS Walk Miami Sunday morning. More than 3,300 walkers, runners and in-line skaters set out on the 3.1-mile course that wound through the streets of South Beach. Actress Rosie Perez was the grand marshal.

The money raised will fund various HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs run by Care Resource, a locally based nonprofit AIDS organization.

Deborah Ally, director of marketing and development for the organization, said the group had raised $182,000 before Sunday.

Many of the walkers said the battle to end new infections was far from over, with some saying the fear of catching the deadly virus had diminished with the development of more powerful, life-prolonging medications.

Rupert Rodriguez, 53, who was set to embark on the walk with his dog, has seen the attitude change since AIDS was first identified in the early 1980s.

'The attitude back then was, `If fooling around is going to kill me, then I'm glad to go,' " Rodriguez said. ``But those people were gone before they had a chance to know what was going on."

Close to 40 million people worldwide were living with the virus at the end of 2003. Florida ranks third in the nation in infected individuals, according to the Florida Department of Health.

NEW CHALLENGE

After more than 20 years of drumming the message into people's heads about the risky behaviors that lead to contracting the virus, educators face a new challenge, he said.

"Young people feel that since we can live with it, it's not that bad," Rodriguez said.

In Florida, AIDS-related illnesses are the fifth-leading cause of death among young people between 20 and 24, according to Care Resource.

Kevin Spinozza, 20, a sophomore at the University of Miami, was walking with a group of fraternity brothers.

He said the threat of contracting the virus is taken seriously by young people -- with some exceptions.

"I know that for some friends, it was a really long couple of days to get their test results after they got drunk one night and things got out of hand," he said.

TOUCHES EVERYONE

Florida International University student Chris Sclafani said it was likely that no one's life has gone untouched by AIDS in Miami, a city consistently ranking among the highest for HIV/AIDS cases.

"You may never know if someone has AIDS unless they choose to share it with you," said Sclafani, 21.

Menezes learned that the hard way.

He got the virus from a boyfriend who knew he was positive but didn't tell him out of fear of rejection.

"It's better to assume everyone around you is positive, that way you'll be extra cautious," he said.

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