Cora Zabala
This memorial was written by Elias Santiago
en español
Cora Zabala was a woman who tested HIV+ during some blood tests for an operation. At first she was shocked with these news, since she never used drugs, and never had any sexual relations with anyone except her husband (who wasn't HIV+, as confirmed later). But she accepted her fate and decided to help others who were also HIV+.
She made every effort possible to educate people in the best ways to treat and comfort HIV+ patients and their families. Her family supported her in every way.
The fact that she could die before her grandchildren grew, made she request a very special favor from a local TV channel. She wanted to make a series of videos, titled "Letters to my Grandchildren" where she explained to her grandchildren how she lived with this condition and how she would have liked them to treat other HIV+ patients. The local TV channel, TeleOnce (ch. 11 in Puerto Rico) accepted her request and arranged for a section in the news every Friday. After that, she became a local hero, especially for HIV/AIDS patients.
In her section, she always spoke to her granddaughter (newborn), but she always spoke in a calm yet firm voice, talking about the prejudgments people almost always make and how she (her granddaughter) could understand this people and make them comprehend that we first must change our hearts and then we'll be able to help people with HIV/AIDS who need us and want to live every second they have. Thru this section in the news, she became a hero, an educator, a voice for HIV/AIDS patients, an exemplary mother and grandmother.
She passed away a few months ago, but her teachings will be with us forever...
My prayers go to this exemplary person, for she captured the hearts of the people of Puerto Rico, and for becoming a "voice" for people with AIDS here in PR. God bless her.
August 1995