HIV/AIDS is real and life changing. We have all had moments in our lives where situations or circumstance has caused us to think, how will I ever get over this? Remember as a child when your best friend didnt want to be your friend any more, when you broke up with your first love, you didnt get the grade you expected, or you got fired from your job. You probably felt as if the ground had moved from under your feet and the earth had just gobbled you up. But look at us know, we bounced back and now these are things we laugh about with friends and family. That is not the stories told by individuals in this book; the bounce back was not so easy and laughter with family and friends is not the least bit funny. Lives and families were altered in some cases beyond repair but each person found the will and spirit to live beyond their wildest imagination. The lost of ground in their lives was replaced by a trampoline and they bounced back. They began to live again. As you read their stories try to remember that they are mothers, sisters, aunts, brother, uncle, children, friends and families of someone who care and cherish their simple but unique existence. I want you to think of your life and remember it is no longer business as usual: Its Personal.
A British medical journalist offers a meticulously researched look at HIV and its potential source, discussing the history of this lethal epidemic, analyzing a number of theories concerning its origins, and investigating current scientific inquiries into HIV, AIDS, and the search for a cure. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.
THE 4 PAINFUL LIFE STORIES: How We Contracted Hiv/aids Virus.An Interesting and Thought Provoking Read.Life can at times be mean, if not cruel. We all dream of good and blossoming present and future existence. But what happens when life confronts you with its ugly side, and in a flash, repossesses all that glitter? Would you stop living? Angela, James, Elizabeth and Anne are phony characters, with imaginary real life-like stories, about how they each got infected with the Hiv/Aids virus: Angela: was infected through his college boy friend.James: Got infected from the Berber shop.Elizabeth: Was infected at a night club.Anne: Infected from a road accident.We all know of various ways through which one can contract the deadly Hiv/aids virus. However, The 4 Painful Life Stories, exhibit some of these ways, through well crafted stories of the three ladies and James. These unique stories, best drive home the message; that anyone, anywhere can be in danger of being infected with the virus. Therefore, it is a rallying call to the world, to embrace and support those infected with the virus. In most cases, most people end up being unknowingly infected.Sometimes when life looses its 'real meaning', some people readily resort to committing suicide. Before doing that, this material provides The Suicide's Checklist; which anyone who intend to commit suicide should carefully go through. And in its finality, the Six Common Misconceptions about sex and Hiv/aids are presented in bare form. i.e that; having sex with a person, who is virgin, may help cure anyone infected with the Hiv/aids virus etc.
When the queen is murdered in her own palace at Tarangar, by those who believe they can govern the land to a better future, they initiate albeit unwittingly the destruction of their world. Evil workings, begun by the arcane weavings of one twisted mage, quickly spread across the land in the form of dragon fire and a mercenary army, operating from a huge fortress, built by the sweat and blood of countless slaves. Only the Sky-Water Dragons can save mankind, but they, too, have been caught up in the mage's workings, their Caller murdered, leaving his apprentice of seven months to unlock the secrets and break the spell a task for which he his woefully unprepared. A huge army, formed at Tarangar by the High Council, is intercepted by the Fire-Water Dragons only a few days march from the palace. For the survivors of this mindless slaughter life soon becomes a series of nightmares from which they cannot awake. While most hide in fear of their lives a brother and sister search for a way to bring the Sky-Water Dragons to their aid. If they fail the land will be lost and mankind become extinct.
Life can at times be mean, if not cruel! We all dream of acquiring all the beautiful things that this life can offer, but in the process, forget that even the beautiful of roses have thorns. What would you do when life confronts you with its ugly side and in a flash scatters all your dreams? Angela, James, Elizabeth, and Anne are all phony characters, with life changing fables, about how they were each, caught up in the hiv/aids' trap. The 4 Painful Life Stories is a compilation of their individual accounts. Why would God allow anyone to go through such ugly, heart-breaking and life threatening challenges? The answers are inside this book. In such ugly moments; when everything may seem dark and the world appear to have crumbled, most people would readily, give up, and happily, look forward to committing suicide. However, this read offers a Suicide's Checklist; a deep analysis as to why anyone should never attempt to commit suicide, regardless of their ugly life's predicaments. It then proceeds to present the six notorious common beliefs and misconceptions about sex and hiv/aids i.e. is it true that having sex with a virgin may cure someone of hiv/aids?. Note: Proceeds from the sale of this book will be channeled by the author towards Hiv/Aids related projects in Kenya and the rest of Africa.
Dow and Essex tell the true story of lives in Botswana ravaged by AIDS. Witness the actions of community leaders, medical professionals, research scientists, and educators of all types to see how an unprecedented epidemic of death and destruction is being stopped in its tracks.
With over 25 million dead, AIDS has pounced on the world like a medieval plague, ranking among the greatest killers in history. Despite billions of international aid dollars, the development of effective medical treatments for HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), and the efficacy of condoms in preventing the spread of HIV during sex, 6,000 people are dying daily, and over 15 million orphans have been left behind. Perhaps most surprisingly, many educated westerners are only vaguely aware of AIDS as a disease threatening gays or Africans, and do not believe it has any relevance for them. Few have noticed the “feminization” of AIDS, taking AIDS from a disease primarily infecting gay men to one infecting more women than men. Women are at the forefront of the fight against AIDS in many parts of the world, nowhere more so than in Sub-Saharan Africa. The authors of this book make a clear case that HIV and AIDS form the most critical crisis facing the human race in this century by providing the reader a deeper understanding of the root causes of, and plausible solutions for, the AIDS pandemic. They include several engaging human-interest stories of real people impacted by AIDS. Table Of Contents Part I: What Is AIDS and Why Should I Care? Chapter 1: Nikiwe’s Story: Why AIDS Is the Global Challenge of the 21st Century Chapter 2: Sinikithemba: What Exactly Are HIV and AIDS? Chapter 3: Say No to Sugar Daddies: From Rare Infections to Global Pandemic Part II: AIDS Trumps Foreign Aid Chapter 4: Life and Death in Zimbabwe: Why AIDS Is Easy to Solve—On Paper Chapter 5: But for the Grace of PEPFAR: The World Heard and Responded Chapter 6: Mama Africa’s Burden: The Limitations of Money Part III: How AIDS Can Be Defeated With Your Help Chapter 7: Bophelong Hospice: Some Things That Actually Work Chapter 8: The Softer Side of Capitalism: A Suggested Path Forward Chapter 9: Use What You Have: How You Can Play a Part in Defeating AIDS Excerpts from the foreword to the book, written by Dr. Helga Holst, CEO of McCord Hospital in Durban, South Africa, are given below: It was in Boston, on February 10, 2003, that the Sinikithemba Choir from Durban, South Africa, performed at the opening of the Tenth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), and shared the stage with the keynote speaker, President Bill Clinton. This Zulu choir of HIV positive men and women were part of a much larger group of mostly infected women, who worked together at McCord Hospital on beadwork projects to support their medical care, and who sang as they worked. They used what they had, their powerful and beautiful voices, to bring hope, unity and resources to their communities. One of the choir members, a beautiful and eloquent young woman, shared the poignant story of her own journey with AIDS, and brought tears to the eyes of many of the world’s top scientists, researchers and clinicians as they were reminded of why they had committed their lives to finding the answers to this devastating disease. She shared what she had, her own story, and it impacted the hearts of thousands! By the time I took up the position of Medical Superintendent at McCord Hospital in Durban, in 1993, AIDS was more common, but there was still no affordable treatment available. In the mid 1990’s we started several social support programs, of which the income generating beadwork projects were one. Social clubs, consisting mostly of women, were formed. They supported each other through times of hardship, illness and death, and cared for the children. The Zulu people, amongst whom we work, have been gifted by the most beautiful voices. The women would often sit in the parking areas at the hospital between the cars with their hands speedily busy on beadwork orders, chatting and laughing, while keeping a
"Cameron brings us closer to understanding the complex emotions and fragmented, sometimes self-serving decision making of the victims of this twentieth-century plague, and teaches us that in helping them to tell their stories we may help prevent others from being infected. . . . It is clear throughout this remarkable work by an interviewer new to the practice of oral history that her questions helped her subjects think their way through their own problems. Living With Aids can be a guidebook and a source of strength for AIDS victims because of Cameron′s use of what she calls "ethical listening and what experienced oral history practitioners often refer to as "non- judgmental" or "empathic" interviewing techniques." --Oral History Review "The author′s skillful eliciting and selection of these simple and direct expressions of the human conflicts arising from this epidemic will be thought-provoking for people who want to understand it better, whether they are familiar with the issues or not and whether they are health care workers, ethicists or lay people." --Journal of Medical Ethics "This two-hundred page paperback provides a fascinating portrait of some of the many questions, concerns and problems with face those with chronic HIV infection and AIDS. . . . The book is fascinating and eminently readable for its account of life for those with HIV infection AIDS. It will be useful for researchers, social scientists, health care workers and, probably above all, people whose lives are in some way affected by HIV." --Medical Sociology News "This is an excellent book for practicing nurses and nursing students because it invites the reader to be part of each PWAs personal life. It moves the reader far beyond a technical, intellectual approach to AIDS. One is aware of the very human dilemmas facing each of the persons interviewed. . . .It is, in fact, a book for all who are concerned about the world today. For this is a book about the people who are being decimated by the plague of the 1990s. For ′they′ are we." --Journal of Professional Nursing "Cameron describes with sensitivity the struggle of patients with the meaning of life and the search for a good life in the face of death. Because of the fundamental nature of the questions, the author′s descriptive ethics are not only interesting for people dealing with AIDS. The book illustrates the need all chronically-ill people have for emotional support, understanding, and communication." --Religious Studies Review "[Cameron′s book] contributes to the study of descriptive microethics and to nurses′ increasing involvement in studying ethics. She defines ethical questions broadly and covers a variety of ethical and existential questions that people with serious chronic or lethal disease face as they try to manage their lives. . . . [This volume] is a novel addition to the emerging literature in ethics in nursing." --Contemporary Sociology "In a fascinating new book by Miriam E. Cameron, Living With AIDS: Experiencing ethical problems, persons with AIDS discuss a relatively unexplored aspect of their lives. . . . This book is recommended for providers of health and other support services to PWAs (and persons significant to them) and to anyone who wants to better understand the moral dimensions of the AIDS epidemic. It uniquely describes what it is like for persons with AIDS to face ethical conflicts and the choices and decisions they make." --Ethics News "Living With AIDS presents with astonishing clarity ethical dilemmas faced by the socially disadvantaged with AIDS. Their accounts, compared with accounts from the socially advantaged, highlight the universal seriousness with which patients seek to live life and resolve its inherent ′ethical′ dilemmas. Patient accounts also highlight the magnitude and spectrum of ethical dilemmas faced by an increasingly diverse AIDS population. Presented and interpreted from the perspective of several ethical theories, patient accounts will enable health professionals to appreciate stages of life and provide adequate counsel to patients with different backgrounds who are searching for ′the right thing to do." --Nancy C. Lovejoy, D.N.S., R.N., Teachers College, Columbia University Persons with AIDS experience particularly difficult ethical problems because AIDS is life threatening, communicable, chronic, and stigmatizing. And even though ethicists and clinicians have written extensively about ethical problems related to AIDS, scholarly literature lacks research on the actual lived experiences of those facing such problems. Living With AIDS presents real-life problems and solutions as told by actual people living with AIDS, in their own words, and authentically illustrates their moral difficulties and resolutions revolving around such issues as relationships, sexuality, personhood, chronic illness, death, and discrimination. Their stories show how living with AIDS and its accompanying difficulties can lead to ethical living and creative problem solving on an individual level--as well as institutional, professional, and societal levels. Living With AIDS will appeal to health professionals who wish to better understand the experiences of PWAs, to see their connection with HIV-infected persons, and to be more knowledgeable and effective advocates. This illustrative volume will also be of immense value for instructors teaching courses in AIDS, health, and ethics.
HIV remains a life-altering disease despite the fact that antiretroviral medication can prevent death from AIDS. The stigma against people with HIV is still entirely real, and many HIV positive individuals live isolated lives while coping daily with chronic medical problems. That HIV cycles in and out of public awareness, and is currently a hushed topic in North America compounds these problems, as silence can make people forget who they are, what they love about themselves, and why they live. A Method, an Imprint, a Link, and a Breath is a collection of personal narratives, poetry, and transcriptions of spoken word by HIV positive individuals living in south central Pennsylvania. This book gathers the voices of people with HIV in effort to circulate their words through public venues and into personal conversations. The aim of this book is to become part of a larger movement to make public health about personal experience and the voices of communities facing the reality of a stigmatized disease.
