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!

An Open Letter to Africa's Leaders - Joachim Chissano, former president of Mozambique

H. E. Joaquim Chissano is the former President of Mozambique and current co-chair of the High-Level Task Force for the ICPD (International Conference on Population and Development)

Read the original post in its entirety here, at The Africa Report: http://www.theafricareport.com/Soapbox/an-open-letter-to-africas-leaders-joaquim-chissano-former-president-of-mozambique.html

This is a transformative moment for Africa – and indeed, for the world.

Decision-makers from across the continent, under the able leadership of Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, are finalising a crucial document outlining a common position for Africa on the development agenda that will replace the Millennium Development Goals after 2015.

It is a strategy that has empowered us in many ways. And it means that our voices will be heard when the framework that will guide governments, donors and development partners for years to come is negotiated. So we need to be careful what we ask for.

Since the 1990s, Africa has gained considerable strength in international negotiations by sticking together and forging consensus on important issues.

I urge our leaders to draw from the lessons of the past, but also to heed current realities. And to look ahead to what the future is calling forth – because this new development agenda will affect the lives of millions of our people at a very critical time for Africa.

I encourage leaders to take a strong stand for fundamental human rights, and advance the trajectory for basic freedoms.

This means pushing for three priorities that lie at the heart of sustainable development: the empowerment of women and gender equality; the rights and empowerment of adolescents and youth; and the sexual and reproductive health and rights of all people.

These interlinked priorities and their policy implications have been carefully analysed by the High-Level Task Force for the ICPD that I co-chair.

We have found that they represent not only human rights imperatives, but smart, cost-effective investments to foster more equitable, healthy, productive, prosperous and inclusive societies, and a more sustainable world.

Sexual and reproductive health and rights, in particular, are a prerequisite for empowering women and the generations of young people on whom our future depends.

This simply means granting every one the freedom – and the means -- to make informed decisions about very basic aspects of one's life – one's sexuality, health, and if, when and with whom to have relationships, marry or have children – without any form of discrimination, coercion or violence.

This also implies convenient, affordable access to quality information and services and to comprehensive sexuality education.

We can no longer afford to discriminate against people on the basis of age, sex, ethnicity, migrant status, sexual orientation and gender identity, or any other basis – we need to unleash the full potential of everyone.

As an African who has been around a long time, I understand the resistance to these ideas.

But I can also step back and see that the larger course of human history, especially of the past century or so, is one of expanding human rights and freedoms.

African leaders should be at the helm of this, and not hold back. Not at this critical moment.

The international agenda that we will help forge is not just for us here and now, but for the next generations and for the world.

As I think about these issues, I am reminded of the words of our recently departed leader, who gained so much wisdom over the course of his long walk to freedom.

"To be free is not merely to cast off one's chains," Nelson Mandela reminded us, "but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

Let us live up to his immortal words.

• H. E. Joaquim Chissano is the former President of Mozambique and current co-chair of the High-Level Task Force for the ICPD (International Conference on Population and Development)

Read the original post in its entirety here, at The Africa Report: http://www.theafricareport.com/Soapbox/an-open-letter-to-africas-leaders-joaquim-chissano-former-president-of-mozambique.html

National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day: A Guest Blog by Daniel Bauer

Special Thanks to Daniel Bauer for sharing his work with the Stigma Action Network, 

in celebration of National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

To view the original blog entry, click here.

As a very out and proud gay man and 10 year warrior living with HIV/AIDS, I stand tall in an effort to bring a greater awareness to this year's National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on September 27, 2012.


This morning I was searching the internet to see how this year's awareness day is shaping up; and to find elements of hope that would not only inspire me but also lend a voice to a call to action. In my search, I came across the following powerful statement by Frank J. Oldham Jr., President and CEO of the National Association of People with AIDS. I believe he sums up what I is a very necessary call to action as a gay man - a call to action I feel I must embrace and put into motion. In his words, I share this with you:


"We have a responsibility. To the quarter-million brothers and lovers we have buried. To the allies who have supported our fight for treatment access and civil rights. To ourselves.

We have a responsibility – to know our own status. Every gay man who is active with multiple partners (or thinks his partner may be) needs to get tested every three months.

We have a responsibility – to know how to protect ourselves and others. We’re excited about the potential of treatment-as-prevention and PrEP, but we all still need to keep our condoms handy.

We have a responsibility – to be as open as we can be about being HIV-positive. Sometimes disclosure isn’t safe, and safety comes first – but our brothers need to know they know people just like them who are living with the virus. And any new partner needs to know our status before the clothes come off.

We have a responsibility – to demand access to healthcare for ourselves and for all Americans. It’s not just a human right, it’s common sense. It costs the public sector more to ignore epidemic than to deal with it, and we need our elected officials to know we know that.

We have a responsibility – to demand to be treated as “normal.” We are normal. We should insist on marriage because it’s our right, and because it forces our neighbors to reconsider the homophobia that gave the HIV epidemic its opportunity to explode in the gay community and move on from there.

We have a responsibility – to love. Last year on National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we gave a Positive Leadership Award, NAPWA's highest honor, to Alvin Collins and John Sullivan. Alvin had been one of the unlucky few who, despite the best modern treatment for HIV, don't do well. John stuck to Alvin through thick and thin – and Alvin stuck to John. Alvin died this Spring. We have a responsibility to honor that love.

We have a responsibility. We changed the world in the eighties, insisting on treatment and research when Washington didn’t want to hear us. Today we have the medical and behavioral prevention tools we need to make new HIV infections a thing of the past. We insisted then. We can do it again."

So on this day - I will embrace these words and calls to action above! I hope you too will join and follow me!

I am Daniel and I am living pozitively! Thank you for following my blog!