Mali UNAIDS Youth Summit On HIV – Day 2, First Point Of Contact

So, somehow I’m now on the UNAIDS ‘Call for Action’ drafting committee… think it comes from sitting by the Massaley Hotel pool last night chit chatting with some awesome UNAIDS reps about their work, this Mali Youth Summit on HIV and what we all wanted to get out of it; a more just and facilitated global system for those living with HIV and AIDS. Now I’m throwing my two cence and more in…



Whilst the ‘Call for Action’ document (set to be published to the delegates and the world on Sunday April 18) is confidential and going through the track changes, I can deliver a teaser that it’s all about mobilising a global movement of young people to rally governments, civil societies, relevant organisations and each other to pump up the work surrounding HIV prevention, HIV education and stigma eradication – along with a mass of other branches that will contribute to various goals ahead of the High Level Summit in June.

How will it work? Who will plant the seeds of this massively important, yet daunting mission? A lot of those answers will come out of the summit, which starts tomorrow (April 15). And I have good reason for optimism. Aside from the obvious highlights – which include preparing to meet around 1000 HIV activists, plus a press conference with the President of Mali – today I got to meet and great just a handful of the inspirational young delegates.



It was by chance really, as I walked into a brief meeting with the bunch at the UNAIDS office in Bamako whilst trying to get a hold of my expenses (which are paying for my lush meals of omelette and salad – the best of the best on the veggie side of the menu). In the sweltering heat, I looked like a bit of a sweaty wreck upon interrupting the session, but it was smiles and handshakes all around as I exchanged introductions with social and HIV activists, youth ambassadors, entrepreneurs and peer educators from Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Mauritania, Canada and North America, Trinidad, Australia, China, Gambia, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and Namibia; each one stating how they were community and youth leaders setting up platforms for their people (regionally and now internationally) in the fight for HIV justice.



Credit: Photographer Kris Krug

And I repeat – this room was just a sprinkle from the buffet of amazing people I’ll be meeting, and working with over the next couple of days.

Much to look forward to. Stay tuned.

Mali UNAIDS Youth Summit On HIV - Day 1, The Plan

So, I’m on a plane at London Heathrow about to set off to Bamako, Mali...

Why?



Two weeks ago an unexpected email floated into my inbox from a woman at UNAIDS; inviting me to attend and facilitate a work group (on traditional media methods) at the Mali Youth Summit on HIV.

Crazy times.

But no time to mull over – 2 minutes later and I practically super-glued my spot at the conference; though I needed to know more about this spectacular event.

The guys at UNAIDS called me up and explained how this summit was a first, bringing together youth ambassadors and facilitators from across the world to network, discuss HIV/AIDS work, and collectively create a ‘Call to Action’ for people everywhere to get on board before the UNAIDS High Level Summit in June (8th to the 10th – falling ever so conveniently on my birthday)

This trip might as well be an early birthday gift though.

I’ve always been a passionate campaigner for HIV/AIDS rights. In 2008 I was part of the Ctrl.Alt.Shift team that carried out the ‘Nothing To Declare’ stunts; where we protested outside the South Korean, Saudi Arabian and Russian embassies in London against the nations’ HIV travel restrictions.

Note: The same Ctrl.Alt.Shift team produced 5 stunning award-winning short films on various social issues; one in particular was called ‘HIV: The Musical’; a satirical look at the shameful stigmas surrounding HIV and AIDS.



I’m also currently a ‘HIV Champion’ at Christian Aid, following and supporting the work of the organisation’s HIV unit.

But perhaps what drives me to care about this now manageable chronic disease (once considered a death sentence in the early 1990s), is my time witnessing HIV stigma first-hand during a reporting trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2008. I met dozens of HIV orphans, abandoned and discriminated against because of their HIV status.

I hate the term (and the ethos of) favouritism, but one boy, 17 year old Congolese football wonderkid Balamika, particularly struck me (with his story and rock hard feet).

He had been thrown out of his home in his early teen years for being HIV positive. He lived on raw mangos and rats, survived in the streets for years before being recruited and rehabilitated by a Christian Aid on-ground project; that taught him the basic communication skills, as well as how to drive and brick lay (opening up his very limited career options).

Tell Balamika’s story in the UK and we have a child services situation, perhaps a local media frenzy (especially if it were a cute defenceless middle class white girl in Balamika’s shoes). However, Balamika remained calm, reflective, and assured he could eventually produce a good life for himself. Nevertheless he still yearns to know why HIV turned him into the ‘black sheep’ of his community, and hopes that others will not have to experience such scarring traumas.

That was 2008. How far have we come? What more must we do? What are the bigger issues we must tackle when it comes to alleviating the lives of those with HIV/AIDS?

Well, 2011 marks the 30th anniversary since the first diagnosis of HIV, and my reading material for this journey towards Mali (and the 40 degrees that awaits me) tells me nearly 30 million people have died from AIDS, and globally over 33 million people are estimated to be living with HIV today.

Balamika is undoubtedly a needle in a global haystack, but the monumental figures aforementioned depict why HIV/AIDS is still our biggest public health challenge to date.

That is why the conversation needs to keep flowing as to how are we can educate people on HIV/AIDS; which includes contraception and prevention, beating the stigma, and how we can really push companies, governments and the public to back the HIV patent pool – in turn making antiretroviral (ARV) therapy and HIV treatment affordable for everyone (regardless of their age, race, class and location in the world).

Approximately 3 million people around the world are alive thanks to ARV treatment. It’s generally a successful process as after two years on the therapy, 8 out of 10 people who started it are still alive today.

Great. Yes?

Yet 10-15 million who need ARVs right now are simply unable to access them; meaning worldwide 2.5 people are infected by HIV for every person that begins treatment. There’s NOTHING right about that stat.

And so, this Mali youth summit and potential ‘Call to Action’ couldn’t have come at a better time. I look forward to seeing what juicy, innovative ideas my peers and I can conjure up – as I promise (more so than hope) that whatever we produce, it will slam a massive speed bump in the vicious circle that is HIV and AIDS injustice.



And we're off.

Review: Volupte Burlesque... Gender Empowerment? - MTV Staying Alive

Recently I rolled down to Volupte burlesque club in central London to review the show for MTV Staying Alive... I know what some of you are thinking - what's that got to do with MTV, and did I really need to be asked twice?

Of course not, free show, free three course meal and a bottle of wine on the house - who you kidding, I'd do it all again just for the hospitality of it. Though aside from those frivolous reasons, I was repping MTV Staying Alive to debate to what extent was the showcase gender empowering (as part of their 'Battle of the Sexes' series) - and how much of it was just tassels and sleaze. My fellow journalist Claire Shrophall joined me to pass her own perspective on the matter.

This is how it all went down. Happy Valentines reading my people:

Voluptuous Empowerment

Dita Von Teeses, tassels, and skin… perhaps what a first-timer would expect from a burlesque spectacle. On February 3, at central London’s Volupté burlesque cabaret club I got no Von Teese, but expectations were ultimately blown out the glittery water…



The lights dimmed, and out came three vibrant, show-stopping acts; Chinese New Year themed performances, “vintage cabaret with an Asian fusion”. The lush food provided by Volupté took a place on the sidelines as I was fully engaged (and completely distracted) by the traditional Chinese dance styles, attire and belly dancing; gyration so close to our table in the intimate venue that they practically shook our wine glasses.

Make room for Marianne Cheesecake (no, not our dessert, but headlining compare for the night). Therein laid the flip to any preconceptions, as Marianne gave up some time after her stunning solo piece to speak of her love for the beautiful and empowering entity that is burlesque.



Passionate and professional pretty much sums up the starlet; having studied in acting, improvisation, clowning and other arts in Toronto before skipping to the UK in 2004 to focus on a job she finds “fun, fulfilling and refreshing”. Is burlesque empowering I asked: “Yes, in all aspects; from the hair style to the make up, costumes and choreography, it’s my choice, my own… I have the creative control.”

What about the ‘sleaze’ perception I hear some naysayers say. The audience in Volupte was respectful no doubt, with a mixture of male and females in applause, including the odd drunk-head shouting “Arriba Arriba!” (Chinese New Year guys, not Mexico Independence Day). But on any occasion a heckler wastes their time to objectify and suppress these women (very, very rare in Volupte), as my friend Jacqueline Campbell (feminist, activist and writer) says, “There has to be some middle ground between suppressing sexuality completely and exploitation, allowing both men and women free choices to indulge in whatever practices they find fulfilling…”

And with men and women in the audience, and on stage in other shows (male burlesque performance being called boy-lesque by Marianne), it seems gender empowerment doesn’t even need to be the issue if the presence of respect and fulfilment is reciprocal. “Come see a show. Don’t misinterpret, or stereotype it” Ms Cheesecake says. “Burlesque is an evolving, always expanding art that keeps me and the audience alive.”

To read the full MTV Battle of The Sexes column, along with Claire's views, click here.

Review: Me Myself & HIV - MTV Staying Alive Campaign - Ctrl.Alt.Shift

Just hit World AIDS Day (December 1), and this is the best HIV-awareness short film I've seen so far...



Review: Me Myself & HIV - MTV Staying Alive Campaign

What is the average day like for a young person living with HIV? Is it different from Africa to the US? CAS editor, Dwain Lucktung, finds out as he watches ‘Me Myself & HIV’; an inspirational short film by MTV Staying Alive for World AIDS Day…

How simple can life be for someone living with HIV? Can you imagine them - the ones with the virus - clubbing, getting tattoos, dating, kissing…?

The answer is very, very simple.

MTV Staying Alive (a HIV awareness initiative) have produced an enlightening short film for World AIDS Day (December 1) which follows two very normal young people, two worlds apart, but both living fulfilled lives despite their HIV positive status.

HIV doesn’t need to a doom and gloom subject – and ‘Me Myself & HIV’ proves that; as we witness 25 year old all-American Minneapolis sweetheart, Angelikah, and aspiring 21 year old Zambian DJ/music artist, Slim, going through all the life challenges we might go through (but they just so happen to have HIV).

Angelikah parties hard, goes to university, has a HIV negative boyfriend (and they do ‘everything and more’ apparently) – admittedly she states “It’s definitely harder to get closer to people with HIV… a lot would see it as a deal-breaker from the beginning”, but that doesn’t stop her and Taylor having a flourishing relationship. They go hand in hand to get Angelikah’s tattoo, a West African symbol that represents “someone who has gone through a lot of crap but come through the other side.” How appropriate for a young woman who insists, ““People need to understand I’m just an average 25 year old girl.”

Ladies - can you sympathise?

Same question to the lads. Look at Slim. He’s the Lusaka boy driving for a record deal, trying to get a girlfriend – a familiar story for some? There’s a few minor differences perhaps - Slim found out he was HIV positive when he was 15; not an easy skeleton in the closet for a young Zambian kid who claims “It’s difficult when you’re (HIV) positive trying to find a girl who will accept you for who you are…”

To read the full review, click here.

Book Review: Politically Correct - Ctrl.Alt.Shift

My book review and recommendation for the month/xmas run - Gareth Allen's 'Politically Correct' - with cover illustration by my good friend, Tom Pritchard...



Book Review: Politically Correct

Having spent the last couple of weeks prepping our ‘Circus of the Invisible’ lobby action stunt, yesterday (October 20) was a barrel of laughs for our Ctrl.Alt.Shift foot soldiers, who had a barrel of tax and climate justice queries (and demands) for our busy buddy MPs…

It was a heavy day all around - as ever, we wonder still what the next steps are for those beyond Parliament’s doors.

Rightly so then, this week we recommend ‘Politically Correct’; a book that illustrates the life and fast times of an aspiring MP; from the campaign brainwaves, to visiting voter doorsteps to election day.

Ever wondered what it takes to become an MP, the journey, pitfalls and real intentions to be in a position of power - and if really, anyone can do it? Gareth Allen’s story tells us that sometimes fighting for your own vision in the system is a trying battle, but one worth having a shot at…

“Running as an independent candidate was always going to be an uphill struggle… but it was the best way to learn about our democracy, and to find out what really makes people tick”

In the general election of 2010, Gareth (35, of Normanton) ran for parliament as an independent candidate, taking on the might of the Westminster establishment - and specifically his local MP Yvette Cooper.

In around 220 pages, Gareth lays out his adventure in politics to all, as he strikes up a formidable campaign with a “shoestring budget”, without a supporting party, no Eton College on his CV or existing MP ‘buddies’. It was his friends and the local people who helped Gareth mould a credible candidate out of himself, as he got out in the community and drew up his manifesto.

Running up to the election, Gareth plunged into full time campaigning - an exhausting trial as he knocked on doors, meeting hundreds of voters, debating the other candidates in set piece Hustings meetings.

But Gareth knew it was always going to far from easy: “Running as an independent candidate was always going to be an uphill struggle… but it was the best way to learn about our democracy, and to find out what really makes people tick.”

For the rest of the review, click here.

Film Preview: Africa United (out October 22!) - Ctrl.Alt.Shift

One for the Rugrats, Stand By Me generation...



The story follows a group of children who make their way across various countries in Africa to audition for the opening ceremony of the South Africa World Cup 2010 - but their journey sees them having to confront any and all of issues that engulf sectors of their nation; from poverty, to conflict, HIV and human trafficking...

The ride of their lifetime begins in Kigali, Rwanda, as football prodigy Fabrice, his best friend and miniature blazer-wearing manager 'Dudu' (not the Brazilian superstar), and Dudu's little sister Beatrice get off to rough start; sneaking onto the wrong bus, and ending up in the Congo without papers or money.

From there they go from refugee camp to HIV clinics, fending off wild animals and trigger happy criminals. It's a 3,000 mile rollarcoaster that spins through Rwanda, the Congo, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa - and not without laughs, a mass of Premiership-heavy football references, and extra players signing up to Dudu's mission along the way (including child orphan Foreman George and sex worker Celeste) - as they band together in a quest to put Fabrice on the 'big stage' he deserves.

Check it out - like the Galacticos, this movie is the 'Real' deal (a terrible footy pun there, but Africa United really is worth a trip to the big screen).

Read the full preview here.