Dana Boraas is expected to use her years of experience as an HIV/AIDS educator when she joins the Peace Corps and heads to sub-Saharan Africa where her recruiter has recommended she be sent
Quest carries AIDS educator to Africa
Kate Kompas
Staff Writer
Caption: Dana Boraas, a past member of the Fighting AIDS Through Education program, talks Thursday about her coming Peace Corps trip to Africa to help with AIDS/HIV education. Her mentor, Susie Wistrom, looks on. Times photo by Kimm Anderson, kanderson@stcloudtimes.com
Dana Boraas wants to help people in one of the areas of the world that has been most devastated by HIV and AIDS.
Boraas, 22, is expected to use her years of experience as an HIV/AIDS educator when she joins the Peace Corps. The St. Cloud native could leave as early as October, and sub-Saharan Africa is where her recruiter has recommended she be sent.
"I'm ready to do whatever I need to," she said.
The news is exciting for Boraas, a recent graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead and a Technical High School alumna. It's also exciting for Susie Wistrom, who runs FATE, the HIV/AIDS education program Boraas joined in high school.
FATE, or Fighting AIDS Through Education, is run through the Central Minnesota American Red Cross. It's composed of high school students who travel to area schools and talk candidly to classes about the fatal disease, how it is spread, its myths and what to do to avoid it.
Many dynamic students have been a part of FATE through the years, Wistrom said. But Boraas stands out because every summer after she graduated from high school she came back to St. Cloud to continue her HIV/AIDS education training.
"She's the one who chose to keep it up," Wistrom said.
Her experience in FATE helped Boraas feel confident she can handle whatever she will confront while working for the Peace Corps. It helps that she's well traveled, having spent time in India, Greece and Germany.
Boraas definitely isn't afraid to adapt to different surroundings.
While traveling in foreign countries, she's washed her clothes outside and pounded them against stones. She is fine with wearing long skirts if she's in an area where tradition calls for them. A vegetarian, Boraas has started to eat meat again because it's a part of many cultures' cuisines.
She doesn't know yet if she'll teach HIV/AIDS education or work directly with patients.
"I do believe HIV is a disease that can be stopped entirely through education," she said. "If people know about the precautions, it's 100 percent preventable. There aren't many diseases you can say that about."
