Tonight we attended the launch of the African HIV Policy Network’s new campaign called ‘Changing Perspectives’.
I was extremely interested to get back into the ‘HIV-world’ and meet all these people whose passion it is to see change in the attitudes of people and in the services provided by government.
It is all too easy to blame each other, but the keynote speaker for the evening a black broadcaster called Henry Bonsou, really set the tone for the event saying that he felt terribly guilty that he did not push enough for HIV awareness and that really reminded me that change starts at home. I don’t think we learnt anything new in terms of facts, but the people involved in this campaign are just fabulous individuals who are struggling day by day to fight the stigma and discrimination that they face by simply being infected by the HIV virus. I think we’ve all come to the conclusion that the best way of fighting HIV is by discussing it openly, but to do that you really have to address the issue of stigma, and that is a hard one.
Although the facts are tough there was so much laughter! I haven’t laughed that long in forever - an ‘edutainer’ came on stage and had me in tears, I laughed so hard! Cultures are so funny - now that i am learning so much about the black african cultures, I could see some of my girls and their families and mothers in the comic mimicking that our ‘edutainer’ did tonight. Still, making fun of oneself is a very ‘British’ trait - I would guess that may not see comedians in african countries earning their bread by making fun of their own people! I am having trouble not making typos now, i think it’s time to go to bed.
much love, h
PS - (Stu here)
You thought you could get away without some multimedia… didn’t you!!!?
Well, being the guy I am, I recorded some of the best moments, on video for you. (.3GPP no less.. thanks to mon Nokia 6630!)
(For those of you who dont know what .3GPP is, just open the files with Quicktime 6 or higher. It’s all good.)
African Drumming & Dancing (Ujamma Arts Group)
Video 1 (2.8MB)
Video 2 (2.2MB)
Video 3 (1.6MB)
Blak Twang and K9 (South London Hip Hop Aids Activists)
Video 1 (3MB)
Video 2 (1.8MB)
Video 3 (1.3MB)
Video 4 (840KB)
Kwaku (edutrainer)
Video 1 (5.3MB)
Video 2 (2.6MB)
Oh yes…and we can’t forget our most precious Ije (left), who invited us!!! (We love you!)
Nite E Nite!
