The SAN Back-to-School Reading List: 6 Books You Should Read to the Children in Your Life

Talking to children about sexual health and HIV may not always be the easiest. However it is vitally important for parents and teachers to gradually broach these subjects. This is important not just to reduce HIV prevalence down the line, but perhaps more importantly, to mitigate the stigma and discrimination associated with it. 

One of the best ways to impart such knowledge in a lighthearted way is during story time. We recently found Bill and Melinda Gates’ Reading List with books that help children to think globally and be inspired to effect change. In the same vein, we have created a SAN Back-to-School Reading List with books that help children begin to understand the subject of HIV and AIDS, as well as how to support those living with or who have family living with HIV.

Here is our list of 6 books that should help you to get talking about HIV with the kids in your life: 

1. My Dad Has HIV by Earl Alexander

"My Dad Has HIV is a children's book told from the point of view of Lyndsey, a 7-year-old girl in the second grade. Lyndsey is based on Earl Alexander's own daughter Lyndsey. With an easy-to-read style and fun illustrations, this book is a great way to really educate children about the real nature of HIV/AIDS." [1]

This book was written by Earl Alexander, a father living with HIV, for his daughter Lyndsey, and "all children whose lives have been touched by AIDS." [1] Alexander initially struggled "to accept his condition" but ultimately "he resolved to devote himself to educating everyone, especially the youth, about the dangers of sex, drugs, alcohol, and disease." [1] 

2. Alex, the Kid with HIV by Linda Walvoord Girard

"When a new boy who has AIDS joins Michael's fourth-grade class, Michael reluctantly becomes his work partner. He soon learns, however, that Alex is funny, creative, and mischievous. He says he can do anything he wants because "I'm sick," so the two boys write an insulting poem about their teacher. Alex's wish to be treated like everyone else is granted--both boys are disciplined, but their friendship is strengthened." [2]

3. I am HIV-Positive by Wendy Flanagan

"The story looks at the basic facts of HIV/AIDS through the eyes of a child. It explains in the simplest terms transmission, infection and the do's and don't's of prevention. It looks at practical ways of caring and coping. Young adults are more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS than anyone else. Lindiwe's explanation should empower learners to lower the risk of getting sick and increase their resilience to the virus. This is one of the JAWS HIV/AIDS readers developed for primary school learners.The story conveys both the basic information about HIV/AIDS (health promotion) and the subtle psycho-social dimensions of the pandemic affecting learners' lives (personal and social developement). It can be used as a reader, or to help teachers introduce subject matter that is difficult to manage in the classroom." [3]

4. Little Feet, Big Steps by Brit Sharon

"Little Feet, Big Steps is a coming of age story about a young girl that, with the help of her encouraging mother, takes on a huge project by signing up for the AIDS Walk in her city. She turns to her community to fundraise and is completely unstoppable on her journey to make a difference. Throughout the story, Gabby comes to terms with what AIDS is and why people come together to support causes that effect others. This story steps away from traditional storyline of a helpless female character waiting to be rescued by prince charming, and instead, empowers young people to take action in their communities, causing them to be leaders on the planet." [4]

5. Medikidz Explain HIV (Superheroes on a Medical Mission) by  Kim Chilman-blair

Understanding the impact of HIV on children worldwide "Dr. Kim Chilman-Blair and Dr. Kate Hersov teamed up with a leading graphic novel artist to create a series of comic books explaining health conditions to young people from a medical viewpoint. Each comic is written by doctors and peer-reviewed by leading specialists in each respective therapy area. Medikidz is a resource designed to educate not only young patients, peers and their parents, but also to aid practitioners and educators in explaining health conditions as effectively as possible. The books follow a team of five larger than life superheroes from outer space, with each Medikidz specialising in explaining a different part of the body. What's Up with Jason? is an engaging way to educate children about the medical facts behind HIV and how it can be prevented." [5]

6. Be a Friend: Children Who Live with HIV Speak by Lori ed Weiner

"In these writings and drawings, children with HIV infection and AIDS who have come to the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, tell how it feels to be different from other kids, how they face rejection if people learn they are sick, and what it is like to lose friends and loved ones to AIDS. Simple and powerful, the writings and drawings express all the youngsters' hopes and fears." [6]

See one you want to read to the child or children in your life? 

We think this is a great collection of books on HIV and AIDS which discuss the subject from diverse angles in a way that would help a child understand this condition, as well as how to be supportive and non-discriminatory toward people living with HIV or AIDS. 

Here's to a generation free of HIV stigma! Let's all contribute to its making!

New HIV Campaign: My Status is Not A Secret by Josh Robbins

This post originally appeared on Josh Robbins' Blog

Conversation-starting think tank behind “Knowing” and “Open” partner with top visual agency for new engagement platform and interview series by wanting everyone to say “my status is not a secret”

The creative collective The Advisorie Group, the peeps behind “Knowing” and “Open“, never cease to get my happy-wheels turning easily.  But, this time, the championship HIV campaign might have just been taken when they partnered with Parker Trewin (AIDS/LifeCycle participant) and the hot creative agency Column Five to launch “My Status Is Not A Secret.”

“If people are going to be motivated to get tested and, if needed, get treatment, we need to bring conversations about HIV/AIDS out of the dark and into the light,” Trewin says. After living with HIV for 10 years, Trewin only recently came out to his family as HIV-positive. He adds that, “We can each play a part, which is just one reason for me to finally tell my story—and why my status is no longer a secret.”

This year, Trewin rides in the AIDS/LifeCycle with an ambitious fundraising goal to give back to two organizations that have existed since before HIV had a name: the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the LA Gay & Lesbian Center. To support Trewin in his efforts, the My Status Is Not A Secret site offers opportunities for visitors to help fund AIDS/LifeCycle participants.

But that’s the obvious of the new HIV campaign launched 4.2.14.

For me, I’m always interested in the “why” of things.  Maybe it’s the inherent reaction I have that dates back to my childhood, when I would always ask my parents the question: “But, why?” and they would always answer: “Because.” — driving me insane.  But, I’m curious.  So, I asked the team to answer my “why” questions. They agreed.

Here are the players chatting– Parker Trewin (Inspiration for the site), John Saint-Denis (The Advisorie Group), Ian Klein (Senior Producer, Column Five and all around cool guy) and mentions of Jason Lankow (the King guru/CEO/Co-founder of Column Five). And, well, I’m Josh Robbins– and I run a cool HIV blog.

ISJ:  Why the campaign? Why the website?

Parker:  The campaign started from an ask for the AIDS/Lifecycle – a 545-mile charity bike ride. I asked Jason if Column Five, who I had worked with, would donate some funds to get me on my way.  Jason said he thought it would be more powerful to donate some time. (Actually a lot of time.)  He assigned me Ian and Andrea Bravo and we investigated two reasons why I was so passionate about my efforts: getting a second chance at life and combating stigma. We thought “stigma” was the more powerful theme and what started out as a fundraising site grew into something we think is much bigger. What makes it unique are the stories, which are incredibly powerful and are told from a very personal perspective – from gay, straight, positive, negative, men, women, white, latino, african american, middle eastern. It was important to me that we explore in the widest range possible why people (and why people don’t) know their status and share their status. I was interested in not the choices people make but why people make those choices. And if we lead by example couldn’t we then help people be more empowered to make better choices? It was a way to give back.

"What makes it unique are the stories, which are incredibly powerful and are told from a very personal perspective – from gay, straight, positive, negative, men, women, white, latino, african american, middle eastern."

ISJ:  Where did the tag come from?  Who came up with it (My Status Is Not A Secret)?

Ian:  Once there was a boy and his whiteboard…no really, I was holding a brainstorm session with our copywriter Katy French and Director of Production Andrea Bravo and it was still at that point in the meeting wherein the room wasn’t quite heated up. We were still discussing things like “desired outcomes” and company mission statements—important cornerstones to be sure—but we didn’t quite know what structure we were building. At these types of meetings, I can usually be found at the whiteboard with a pen in hand. I started writing out some of the commonly shared statements one might come across in dating applications—particularly gay ones as Parker had previously shared one he didn’t like seeing: DDF UB2 (drug and disease free, you be too). He felt that this “requirement” was a result of precisely the kind of stigma we were looking to help eradicate with this campaign—the kind of stigma that precluded people from not discussing status openly. I thought, “what would be something I’d want to hear someone say in regards to their status?” “My Status Is Not A Secret.” I wrote it without saying it out loud. Nobody said anything at first. Katy, Andrea, and I all looked at it, each other, and finally said, “Yeah. This is it.”

“Yeah. This is it.”

ISJ:  Why won’t this campaign become more of the same (i.e.: similar messages to HIV campaigns already launched and already at times exhausted)?

John:  The campaign is to educate and to open hearts, not to throw out a bunch of cold facts without context.  We sought to educate through testimony, through story, and that makes it different.  Especially in that we assembled a group of such engaging and honest participants, both for the videos and for the written testimonies. I think de-stigmatizing HIV while still encouraging folks to keep themselves and their sexual partners safe can be achieved best through compassion, and I think it’s very easy to feel compassion and love for the people revealing themselves on this site.  I also think that keeping the people in your life safe isn’t just about preventing HIV transmission, it’s about fostering safety to be honest, to feel safety in support, in being taken care of and in being loved unconditionally. Is that fluffy?  I hope not.  I found out my negative status for the first time in 1987, and have tested negative over and over since, but I am quite sure that we are all living with HIV. I’ve had long time partners who are positive.  I’ve lost many friends.  I’ve learned about living in the moment and of living in courage like no other generation of gays.  We are all in this together.

"Is that fluffy?  I hope not"

Parker:  I think its the perspective and the vulnerability of those that have stepped up to share their stories.

ISJ:  Why the social element of sharing reader submissions?  Where does it all go? 

Ian:  Knowing one’s status is an act of taking responsibility for one’s body and mind. Gay or straight, positive or negative, the ability to own that knowledge is empowering. With that knowledge an individual has the choice of whether to share one’s status with others. We wanted to have a place where people of any race, gender, sexual orientation, or HIV status could go to demonstrate that power and self-confidence. At the moment, those quotes live on the My Status Is Not A Secret site as a repository for diverse thought and opinion on knowing and disclosing status. Who knows—in the future, there could be even more paths for those stories to take.

Parker: For me it’s all about sharing. This is one way people can engage and make their own statement – which is the most powerful of all.

ISJ:  From the agency perspective, share the ‘creative’ process and how you hope it resonates.

Parker: We started with a lot of trust from the get go.  And I’m not the easiest client. I have a lot of opinions and it’s not easy for me to let go of control — especially control of my story. But I had a lot of faith in the team.

John:  The Advisorie Group, which is my agency that partnered with Column Five, came in late in the process, when we got to the videos.  We decided early on that this was only going to resonate if I were to personally sit with each of the interview participants, one on one in a small room and develop a relationship with each of them on film.  In the editing process we removed my voice asking the questions to make it all about them.  I hope that makes viewers feel like they are the ones interacting with the folks on the films.  Although that was the overlying creative process, each person’s interview was a very different experience.  Some talked nearly non-stop for up to an hour each.  Others had conversations with me and asked me questions about my own experience, which I loved.  Who could ask for a more satisfying creative endeavor?

Ian:  We approached the project in a similar fashion to other projects gathering inspiration, wireframing*, scaling and rescaling to budget, and many rounds of content, but always with a conscious eye toward elevating the human element and a respect toward people’s personal choices when it comes to HIV treatment and prevention efforts.  I’d enjoyed working with John Saint-Denis of The Advisorie Group before on a series of short films for the Impulse Group so I brought him on board as soon as it became clear we were going to be producing video. It wasn’t until the day of shooting that we decided it would be more than just one short piece. We realized in the midst of interviews that the richness and honesty contained in the stories people were entrusting us with were too precious to relegate to one video. Out of that a 45-minute documentary was born along with individual interviews that will be rolled out over the first few weeks of the campaign. My hope is that people start to think differently about HIV in that testing doesn’t have to be so frightening, that HIV can be a manageable disease for those with access to care, and that having conversations about status can lead to more intimate experiences.

"My hope is that people start to think differently about HIV in that testing doesn’t have to be so frightening, that HIV can be a manageable disease for those with access to care, and that having conversations about status can lead to more intimate experiences."

Check out this engaging and awesome HIV campaign now! 

My Status Is Not A Secret was designed and built by Column Five.  Interviews were produced by The Advisorie Group, Mimi Fuenzalida, Ian Klein, John Saint-Denis and Parker Trewin.

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Thank you to Josh for allowing us to share this post. If you would like to know more about Josh's work you can follow him on twitter here.

Will HIV Ever Be Safe Enough for You?

This post originally appeared on Mark S. King's Blog.

There is a classic episode of Oprah from 1987 that can still raise my blood pressure. That year, the tiny town of Williamson, West Virginia, became part of a national discussion about AIDS when Mike Sisco, who had returned to his home town to die of the disease, dared to step into a public pool.

The community freakout was immediate. Sisco was quickly labeled a psychopath (rumors emerged accusing him of spitting into food at the grocery store), and the town pool was closed the next day to begin a Silkwood-style pressurized cleaning.

Soon thereafter, Oprah Winfrey arrived with cameras for a town hall forum about the incident.  Fear was the order of the day. “If there’s just one chance in a million that somebody could catch that virus from a swimming pool,” the town’s mayor told Winfrey’s worldwide audience, “I think I did the right thing.”

Sure. Why not react in the most extreme way possible, if there is a chance in a million?

Williamson citizens were not swayed by health officials who calmly explained the established routes of HIV transmission and the impossibility of infection from a pool. “The doctors can say you can’t get it this way,” a woman countered, “but what if they come back someday and say, ‘We were wrong?’”

Indeed. What if? If there’s a chance in a million…?

That broadcast might have remained a sad footnote in HIV/AIDS history, an instructive example of people ignoring scientific fact to protect a satisfying fear, if history didn’t enjoy repeating itself so much. Today, though, the willful ignorance isn’t coming from uneducated residents of a southern town you can barely find on a map.

It’s coming from gay men. And they are just as threatened, frightened, and dismissive of science as the townsfolk of Williamson were thirty years ago.

Recently, research known as The PARTNER Study was presented at the prestigious Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). PARTNER proved something HIV advocates have long suspected: people with HIV with an undetectable viral load are not transmitting the virus to their partners. The study included nearly 800 couples, all involved in an HIV positive/negative relationship, gay and straight, with the positive partner maintaining an undetectable viral load. Over the course of two years, more than 30,000 sex acts were reported and documented (couples were chosen based on their tendency to have sex without condoms).

Not a single HIV transmission occurred during the study from someone with an undetectable viral load. If PARTNER had been researching a new medication, they would have stopped the trial and dispensed the drug immediately.

The PARTNER results bolster the prevention strategy known as “Treatment as Prevention” (TasP), meaning, a positive person on successful treatment prevents new infections. To date, there is not a single confirmed report of someone with an undetectable viral load infecting someone else, in studies or in real life.

Just don’t tell that to a sizable contingent of skeptical gay men, many of whom took to their keyboards to dismiss the PARTNER findings. Phrases like “false sense of security,” “positive guys lie,” “junk science,” and “if there’s even a small risk” appeared on Facebook postings and in web site comment sections. The people of Williamson must be slowly nodding their heads.

Resistance to the PARTNER study corresponds with stubborn doubts about PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis, or HIV negative people taking the drug Truvada to prevent infection). Although virtually every nervous argument against PrEP has been overruled by the facts, naysayers continue to either reject the evidence outright or make moral judgments about the sex lives of HIV negative gay men on PrEP.

Yes, there are unknowns. There always are when scientific studies meet the real world. And every strategy will not work for every person. But the vehement rejection of such profound breakthroughs suggests there is something more, something deeper, going on in the minds of gay men. What is it?

Our collective memories of AIDS horror are hard to shake, and that’s a good place to start. On a gut level, any study suggesting that HIV could be neutralized is met with a weary doubt. Good news is no match for the enduring grief that has shadowed us for 30 years.

The PARTNER study also threatens the view that positive men are nothing more than risks that must be managed. The study kills the HIV positive boogeyman. It means positive gay men who know their status might actually care enough about their health to seek out care, get on treatment, and become undetectable. And, once the positive partner is no longer a particular danger, both partners would bear responsibility for their actions. What an enormous psychic change that would require in our community.

It’s tough to do that when fear creeps in and “what if?” fantasy scenarios take hold. What if my partner missed a dose yesterday and, even though HIV meds stay in the bloodstream for extended periods, his viral load has inexplicably shot up? What if he isn’t being truthful about his viral load? What if he doesn’t know?

The greater threat, folks, isn’t positive guys who think they are undetectable but are not. It’s men who think they are HIV negative but are not. But we’d rather stay focused on the positive person being at fault, because, well, people with HIV lie a lot. We miss doses constantly because we have a death wish or we’re too busy finding our next victim.

I have some “what if?” questions of my own. What if these unrealistic fears were meant tostigmatize and isolate HIV positive people? What if I am undetectable and feel no responsibility to discuss my status with a sex partner because I don’t care to engage in a science lesson? What if everyone availed themselves to prevention options that worked best for them? What if my HIV status were none of your damn business?

These risks could be alleviated, of course, if everyone simply protected their own bodies when having sex with people they don’t know or trust. But that would place an equal burden on negative men, and what a bother that is.  Better to leave that discomfort to those with HIV, vectors of disease that we are. Just consider us criminals, lying to you about our viral loads and spitting in the food in Williamson, just waiting to infect you when we get the chance.

FACE OFF -- An HIV+ Man Faces His Accuser 

As long as we’re giving undue attention to fantasy scenarios we’re not focused on the real threats. The rates of STD’s are up. Young gay black men in the United States don’t have proper access to healthcare and have infection rates worse than any developed country. Our community is plagued by  alcoholism, addiction, and mental illness. Do we want to debate established science or should we devote that energy to other challenges to gay men’s health?

If you still have the arrogance to believe you could win the HIV Powerball Lottery and be the one person who gets infected in ways science has disproven, you’re perfectly entitled to that point of view.

Here are some helpful instructions, however. Carefully step away from your computer and don’t touch the cords because 50 people die of product related electrocutions each year. Walk slowly to your bedroom, being mindful of debris in your path because slip-and-falls kill 55 people every single day. Once there, refuse food or water because, well, you never know. Now slip into your bed of willful ignorance and try to make yourself comfortable.

The good people of Williamson are keeping a spot warm just for you.

Mark

p.s. In the time it took you to read this article, the number of people who were infected by someone with HIV who had no viral load was zero.

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Thank you to Mark for allowing us to share this post. If you would like to know more about his work, you can follow his twitter feed here.

Supporting Social Change to Curb Violence and Eliminate HIV in Guyana, by Anne Stangl of ICRW

By Anne Stangl

*This blog originally appeared on ICRW

As I fly home from the humid, vibrant and bustling Georgetown, the capital city of Guyana, I am a bit overwhelmed by the daunting task the country faces to address the high levels of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, child abuse and suicide in the country.

Over the last week, my colleague Jocelyn Lehrer and I had the privilege of speaking with people working at community-based organizations throughout the country who are an integral part of tackling these challenges. Peer educators, social workers, nurses, counselors, people living with HIV, LGBT advocates, and survivors of violence all took time from their important work to speak with us about their efforts to create a path forward for Guyana.

My visit to the South American nation was the kick-off trip for ICRW’s grant work under Advancing Partners & Communities (APC), a USAID funded project, implemented by JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., in partnership with FHI 360. ICRW is assisting in the implementation of the project in Guyana over the next three years, helping to strengthen the capacity of local organizations in Guyana to provide HIV prevention, care and treatment services to key populations at heightened risk of HIV infection, including women, men who have sex with men, transgender individuals and sex workers. Reaching these populations is critical for eliminating new HIV infections in Guyana, but extremely challenging, as these groups face high levels of stigma, discrimination and violence in society.

Given mounting global evidence that sexual assault and partner violence are directly linked with HIV infection, it is crucial for Guyana to tackle these key drivers of the HIV epidemic head-on.

During the trip, I learned of the great work these organizations and individuals are doing to support survivors of gender-based violence and to ultimately break the cycle of violence so that no woman or girl has to experience it in her daily life. From training police to be gender- and LGBT-sensitive, to supporting abused women, men and transgendered individuals in accessing justice, to sheltering women and children when their homes are unsafe, I could see firsthand that change is coming to communities in Guyana.

And while these conversations gave me great insight into the powerful individuals working to reduce violence in Guyana, I did see something worrying.

In interview after interview, themes began to emerge: Gender-based violence is pervasive. Services for survivors are limited or very difficult to access. Marginalized populations such as men who have sex with men, transgendered individuals and sex workers are at heightened risk of experiencing violence. Resources are limited for carrying out community- and national-level programs to change harmful gender norms and break the cycle of violence.

The stories shared by these frontline workers were reinforced daily by headlines in the local newspaper: a police officer charged with sexually assaulting a young man with a wooden police baton; a 23 year old who murdered his 14-year-old girlfriend and then hung himself. 

Despite these challenges and the ubiquitous headlines, I am cautiously optimistic about what we can accomplish.

On our final evening in Georgetown - the country’s largest urban center- we attended a production of “Before Her Parting” at the National Cultural Center. The play was written by Mosa Mathifa Telford, directed by Tivia Collins and staged by Merundoi Incorporated - a community-based organization that utilizes entertainment to educate the public, affect individuals’ attitudes and behaviors, and shift social norms. The gripping drama portrays a reality that’s all too common in Guyana in which young woman is murdered by her husband, who then kills himself. The plot could have been ripped straight from recent headlines.

The play also explores the intergenerational cycle of abuse that fosters violence generation after generation in Guyanese society: A woman is abused by her husband and is violent toward her son; her son grows up to beat and ultimately murder his wife, and the cycle continues. The play was followed by a facilitated discussion with the more than 400 audience members, ranging from students to teachers to civil servants, and a panel of speakers from various government institutions. It was heartening to hear these young Guyanese demand both action to reduce violence and expanded services to support survivors.

It is my hope that though USAID’s Advancing Partners and Communities Initiative, ICRW and John Snow International will be able to strengthen the capacity of local organizations so they are better equipped to respond to gender-based violence in Guyana and can continue to facilitate social norm changes to reduce violence and reduce the spread of HIV infection.

Above all, from my time in Guyana, I saw hope and determination. Hope that the next generation will not see the type of endemic violence that has pervaded Guyana for decades, and be determined to tackle these problems head-on. It’s important that those of us in the global community echo that hope and determination, too. We need to ensure that community workers and advocates have the tools to end these human rights violations as well as to empower women and girls to live free from fear of violence or abuse.

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Thank you to Anne for allowing us to share this post. If you would like to know more about what Anne does at ICRW, check out her twitter feed.