Seniors at the Providence Academy of International Studies work on their AIDS quilt as part of their senior project. Theirs represents Pedro Lamora, a Cuban who was on MTV’s Real World. Lorena Ortiz, left, works on the quilt with Raisa Garcia, center, and Johannis Foster, right. In the background is Lorie Chavez.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

PROVIDENCE –– Born in Kenya, Winnie Oluoch’s favorite color was maroon. She loved cooking, swimming and romance novels. She had two sons, one of whom died before his second birthday. And she had AIDS.

Yesterday, several teenage girls put the finishing touches on a quilt for Winnie, who died of AIDS five years ago. The panel will eventually travel overseas, where it will become part of a national AIDS quilt in an African nation. Made of maroon felt, the quilt reflects some of Winnie’s favorite things: a Kenyan flag, two felt cut-outs of children, and spaghetti.

At a neighboring table, other girls are putting together a quilt honoring Pedro Zamora, a Cuban AIDS activist who appeared on MTV’s Real World. With its black-and-white diamond pattern, the quilt is supposed to resemble a giant television screen. On the “off” button is the date of Zamora’s death. A rainbow, the symbol for gay pride, adorns one corner of the panel; a Cuban flag adorns the other. Two sailboats symbolize Zamora’s risky voyage to the United States while a red ribbon symbolizes his cause.

The AIDS quilt is part of the senior project required of students who graduate from the Providence Academy of International Studies, one of the district’s smaller, theme-based high schools. At PAIS, seniors choose one of four topics: poverty, AIDS, human trafficking and immigration. For their senior project, students must defend a thesis, write a short research paper and produce a campaign for social change.

On May 23, each senior will defend their thesis before a panel of judges composed of teachers and members of the community.

The school believes that students must demonstrate their competency in real-world skills like problem-solving and public speaking, skills that are necessary in college as well as the workforce. Senior exhibitions are one way that school districts can satisfy the state’s new proficiency-based graduation requirements, which take effect this year.

Students worked closely with AIDS Quilt Rhode Island, which educates students about HIV/AIDS and honors local residents who have died from the disease.

Peter Quesnel, the school librarian, whose brother died of AIDS, has been involved with AIDS Quilt Rhode Island and thought that the quilt would make an interesting advocacy project for his students, especially those who were researching AIDS.

“I had a lot of ideas about AIDS advocacy,” he said. “When I brought Beth here and invited the students, almost all of them said, ‘This is what I want to do.’ ”

The girls were particularly moved by Zamora’s story, because they said that he risked everything by going public about his homosexuality and HIV status.

“He was so brave to go on television and advocate,” said Raisa Garcia, a senior. “He was fighting a lot of prejudice.”

Another girl described how Zamora wanted to be a voice for youth, adding that the young man’s mission was to stop the AIDS pandemic.

“He was a hero,” said Johannis Foster, who survived leukemia. “He promoted a healthy lifestyle for others.”

Nearly every student said that the quilt project, along with their AIDS research, has made them much less tolerant of homophobic remarks by their peers.

The Zamora panel will be displayed in Rhode Island before becoming part of the national AIDS quilt in Atlanta, which now weighs more than 54 tons and, if placed end to end, would stretch from Providence to Boston.

At the end of yesterday’s class, Beth Milham, the coordinator of Anna’s Workshop, part of AIDS Quilt Rhode Island, asked students to form a circle and join hands. Then she asked to remember the lives lost to the disease:

“We will never let the world forget that your lives were full of meaning and purpose.”

lborg@projo.com