Last month, we reflected on the importance of AHF Affinity groups in improving the healthcare and uplifting the voices of marginalized communities when we dove into Impulse’s achievements in supporting gay men around the world. This month, we celebrate SOMOSLOUD (Latino Outreach & Understanding Division), the affinity group that promotes well-being and fights HIV in Latinx/e/o communities.
According to the latest statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, HIV impacts Latinx/e/o populations disproportionally as they account for over 30% of new HIV cases yearly despite making up only around 19% of the U.S. population. The HIV crisis reaches beyond borders and in Latin America, new HIV cases are on the rise, especially among key populations like men who have sex with men, transgender women, and sex workers.
SOMOSLOUD works devotedly to provide guidance and safer sex knowledge to Latinx/e/o people in the U.S. and Latin America since its founding in 2013 and has made incredible strides in empowering and educating AHF clients and their neighbors. The group spans the Americas with 17 chapters across four countries, Argentina, Mexico, Peru, and the U.S., with nearly 100 volunteers driving successful advocacy campaigns centered around the pillars “advocate, educate, motivate.”
In 2024 alone, SOMOSLOUD reached over 250,000 participants and held 135 events where over 56,000 condoms and nearly 3,000 HIV tests were distributed. Each group chapter’s events and marketing are created to be culturally relevant and focus on the specific needs of the chapter with the mission to drive behavioral change, aid members in preventing HIV/STIs, and improve well-being through meaningful connections with other members.
The affinity group directly acts towards reducing social disparities and fighting HIV through partnerships with corporations, entertainers, faith leaders, and non-profit organizations that reach beyond politics to mobilize around critical issues such as health equity, housing, and mental health. SOMOSLOUD vibrantly inspires change from within and proudly recognizes the worth of Latinx/e/o people through the power of community
One of the group’s major campaigns advocates for protecting the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program from termination by gathering outstanding and dedicated local leaders to keep elected officials accountable and combat bigoted, unjust attacks against the program that provides vital administrative relief that protects eligible immigrants who come to the United States. SOMOSLOUD named the path-paving campaign DACA Despierta, meaning “To wake up and show them who we really are!”
Last year, another significant campaign was launched to support native communities in Latin America that HIV/AIDS disproportionally impacts by providing education and testing services in remote portions of the Amazon rainforest. Eighteen volunteers, trained by AHF’s Public Health Department and AHF Peru, run the campaign and they aim to expand into more locations this year.
To learn more about SOMOSLOUD and see their extraordinary work in action you can visit their website at somosloud.org.
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