Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Miami Herald - October 13, 2005
Jerry Berrios, jberrios@herald.com
With conga drums and soulful voices, Louis and Rosalia Curbelo are trying to save the lives of Hispanic men and women at risk for HIV and AIDS.
Louis was diagnosed with HIV in 1987. He met Rosalia -- who does not have HIV or AIDS -- seven years ago through volunteer work, and in 2004, they were married.
"I didn't see him as a person with a virus," Rosalia said. "I saw him as a man I liked."
The Fort Lauderdale couple, both of Puerto Rican heritage, started their band last year. Playing the conga lifted Louis' spirits, and he decided to make music with a message. So they sing.
As a duo called Los Doctores -- The Doctors -- they fold their lyrics about AIDS prevention into salsa, Spanish hip-hop and plena beats that take listeners on an island trip.
Louis and Rosalia have co-written and copyrighted 40 songs, in Spanish, English -- or both.
"We always want to play something with a message of prevention, education and hope," said Louis, 50. ". . . The music is what helps us bring the message. No music. No message."
Louis pounds and slaps and taps the congas and bongos, and Rosalia sings lead vocals. She also plays the keyboards, strikes the cowbell, and shakes "maracas" made from prescription bottles filled with rice. A walker doubles as a keyboard stand. A homemade banner trumpets their name.
Sample lyric: Cond<=n no muerde, pero el SIDA s . In English: A condom doesn't bite, but AIDS does.
Through their music, the couple is trying to overcome barriers to testing and treatment within the Hispanic community. Those include a belief that marriage is protective; machismo -- the idea that it's the woman's job to worry about safe sex; a belief that the disease only affects homosexuals; and limited knowledge of how the disease is spread, said Manuel "Manny" Rodr guez, program manager for HIV/AIDS Health Education for the Broward County Health Department.
Hispanics who are undocumented mistakenly believe if they get tested, their names will be turned over to authorities, said Maria Moreno, an outreach coordinator for Center One, a Fort Lauderdale-based nonprofit that deals with AIDS issues.
Hispanics will be receptive to Los Doctores, Rodr guez said.
"Latinos react to the rhythms -- salsa, plena, merengue," he said.
Moreno gave them their first gig and provides them with weekly practice space.
"Without her opening those doors and trusting us, we would not be here," said Rosalia, 46.
Los Doctores performed at one Thursday night meeting of Moreno's Hispanic support group, and the members wouldn't allow them to stop. They finally left at 10 p.m. -- two hours late.
"We didn't want to leave," Moreno said. "We forgot everything -- the time, the hour. We had fun."
Louis and Rosalia hope to expand their local performances to nursing homes, schools and other venues, Rodr guez said. They dream about playing in New York's Puerto Rican Day Parade and in Puerto Rico.
"Their songs are not only songs," Rodr guez said. "They are advice."
As a child, Louis pounded out rhythms on his mother's calderos and pans. When he suggested the band, Rosalia signed on immediately, saying, "S , Papi."
Louis's infection forces Rosalia to take an annual HIV test. Condoms are 99 percent effective, but she realizes there is a tiny window for infection.
"If it happens," I have to accept it," Rosalia said.
"I wouldn't want that day to ever come," Louis said.
"That's why we keep protecting ourselves," Rosalia replied.
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