edited by David G Taylor with Jon Keay, Email news, listings and product info to us at eye@positivenation.co.uk
REMOTE CONTROL
For
the last 13 years,
photojournalist GIDEON MENDEL has powerfully documented the
effects of Aids in Africa; on individuals, families and entire communities.
For his latest collaboration with Guardian Unlimited, Mendel focuses on a
remote clinic in the rural region of Lusikisiki, on South Africa’s Eastern
Cape. Lusikisiki is home to SIYAPHILA LA (We Are Living Here)
run by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without
Borders) South Africa, the Nelson Mandela Foundation
and the local health department. The project provides antiretroviral drugs
to the sick and is a rare example of ARV provision in a remote area. Currently,
HIV drugs are only available to around eight per cent of HIV positive Africans.
Mendel’s image (below) shows 15-year-old schoolgirl Nomfumaneko
Yako, featured in the recent Guardian Christmas Appeal. Despite receiving
treatment, Nomfumaneko died in late 2004, shortly after this picture was taken.
For many others, Siyaphila La remains a lifeline. View Mendel’s interactive
images at www.guardian.co.uk/aids/answerinafrica.
To find out more about Siyaphila La, call 0800 064 0212 or visit www.msf.org.
More of Mendel’s work can be seen at www.who.int/hiv
as part of Voices of Hope, a World Health Organisation, International HIV/AIDS
Alliance and Christian Aid collaboration documenting the stories of people
with HIV in Africa, Europe and Latin America
WRITE STUFF
www.tcellchronicles.org
“I
am alive. And getting better. Dare I believe I’m getting better? Dare
I?” writes Eliza, a woman living with HIV on new website, T-CELL
CHRONICLES. This site reaches out to people in the worldwide HIV
community, inviting them to share their stories about life with HIV, disclosure,
discrimination or whatever else moves contributors. Managed by volunteers
living with or directly affected by HIV, the website challenges myths and
stereotypes with unedited blogs from people living with the virus.
“It’s about humanising issues,” says T-Cell Chronicles spokesman,
Andrew Hanuman.
“Whether we are personally infected or affected, we are in this together.”
LAST CHANCE TO SEE...
J onathan Harvey’s award-winning yarn about young gay love,
BEAUTIFUL THING, returns to London for a limited run until
11 Feb. Set on south London’s Thamesmead Estate, it
tells the story of Jamie (Andrew Garfield) and his chav neighbour Ste (Gavin
Brocker), and how one hot summer their blokey friendship turns into
a passionate love affair, set to a soundscape of classic tunes from the Mamas
& Papas. Heartwarming stuff.
Beautiful Thing is at Sound, Swiss Centre, 10 Wardour Street, London W1. Tickets
£10-£20, available
from 0870 890 0503 or online
at www.seetickets.com
A BABE IN THE BUSH
Panto season is here… oh no it isn’t… oh yes it is! Maisie
Trollette (standing in for the late Phil Starr), David Rumelle, Lee Tracey,
David Rumelle, Jason Prince, Cosmic, Kitty Litter, and more star in the ‘alternative’
(ie camp) panto BABES IN THE BUSHES at the Pavilion Theatre,
Brighton, 13-19 Feb. Throughout the run there will be a bucket
collection for The Sussex Beacon.
Tickets £15, available from 01273 709 709
LOVE LIKE THE ROMANS
Controversy
still reigns over the origins of St Valentine’s Day.
But one version says this day of romance has its origins in third century
Rome when batty Emperor Claudius became frustrated that so
many married men were unwilling to join his armies. His draconian remedy was
to ban marriage. Valentine was a priest who ignored this
law and married people in secret. He was eventually caught and sentenced to
death for his crime. While incarcerated, many young people threw notes and
flowers through the bars of his cell to lift his spirits. Valentine formed
a strong friendship with the daughter of his jailer and when he died on 14
February 269 AD, he left a note for her signed ‘Love from your Valentine’.
Hence the tradition of exchanging love messages, poems and
simple gifts like flowers was born. Aww JK
* Boots handmade bouquets available at www.bootsflowers.com
or call 0871 989 9749. Bouquet shown: ‘Quattro’, £39.99.
* Valentine’s card from Paperchase, £1.75
ROOTIN’ TOOTIN’
Photographs by Jamaican-born Londoners Armet Francis, Neil
Kenlock and Charlie Phillips currently feature in
a free exhibition at the Museum of London. ROOTS TO RECKONING
exhibits 100 images that chart black life from the 1960s to the present day.
The show features images of iconic events like Black Panther demonstrations
and Bob Marley’s visits to Britain as well as scenes of everyday life
and portraits of greats like Muhammad Ali and Peter Tosh.
Runs until 26 Feb at the Museum of London,
0870 444 3852, www.museumoflondon.org.uk
CLEAN AND SERENE?
Are you concerned that your drug or alcohol use is out of control? If you’re
HIV positive, this may have a serious effect on your health; further suppressing
your immune system, not eating or sleeping properly, missing meds or drug
interactions. For free and confidential information 24-hours a day, call TALK
TO FRANK on 0800 77 66 00. If you use crystal meth, www.lifeormeth.com
(left) contains shocking images of the drug’s effect on the body.
Useful websites
www.lifeormeth.com
www.talktofrank.com
www.downyourdrink.org.uk
www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk
STRIP TEASE
EastEnders is full of doom and gloom so why not check out a new weekly online
soap opera instead, courtesy of Positive Nation’s fabulous illustrator,
David Shenton. Log on to www.dscomics.co.uk
every Wednesday for each instalment of GET HER!, a full-length
comic strip ‘drag psycho-drama’ serializing the life of Des, a
wannabe singer who gets sucked into a maelstrom of glamour, kidnap and deviancy.
Beats Albert Square. Calvin Holbrook
www.dscomics.co.uk
DAD’S THE WORD
Determined
to challenge the myth that HIV and parenthood are incompatible, two charities
have teamed up to produce a new publication on HIV positive dads. Fulfilling
Fatherhood, ExperiencES from HIV Positive Fathers is a collaboration
between the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and
GNP+ (Global Network of People Living with HIV).It features honest
and candid stories from 13 diverse HIV positive fathers from around the world
who are open about their status. The stories relay their hopes, dreams and
desires and reaffirm their pivotal role in shaping the lives of families and
positive prevention. The publication aims to increase awareness of positive
prevention and the reproductive health needs of HIV positive men and fathers.
You can download a copy of the publication at www.ippf.org/downloads/HIV/FulfillingFatherhood.pdf
THE RIDE OF YOUR LIFE
CYCLE LONDON TO AMSTERDAM is a chance to use pedal power to raise
money for ACTIONAID. The four-day sponsored bike ride from
London Stanstead to Amsterdam starts in the Essex countryside and takes in
the overnight ferry to Holland, the Hague, Heemskerk, finishing in Edam, famous
for its cheese. Round off your trip by sampling the colour and culture of
Amsterdam’s museums, art galleries and cafés.
The ride runs 28 April until 1 May. Registration costs £99, with
a minimum sponsorship of £1,000. To take part or for more information,
email maria.photiou@actionaid.org
DARLING,DEAREST,QUEEREST READER OFFER
With
gay ‘marriage’ now legal and registry offices around the UK throbbing
to the sounds of Donna Summer and Steps, we suspect a fair few gay boys and
gals will be tying the knot this Valentine’s Day. With this in mind,
Superdrug has become the first mainstream retailer to offer a wedding gift
for same-sex marriage, aptly named Darling, Dearest, Queerest.
We’re giving away two of its beautifully boxed His & His and two
Hers & Hers towel and soap sets… and you don’t even have to
get hitched to be in with a chance of winning one. Simply send us your name
and address stating ‘His & His’ or ‘Hers & Hers’
on a postcard by 14 Feb when we will draw the four lucky
winners.
* Darling, Dearest, Queerest boxsets available
from selected Superdrug stores for £10 with
£1 donated to the Elton John Aids Foundation.
DIARY
•
PACE launch Positive Hub, a monthly group for all
HIV positive men in London on 29 Jan. It will be a place
for ‘connection, honesty, laughter and exploration’. Call 020
7700 1323.
• On 3 Feb CLUB KALI, a night for LGBT south Asians
and friends, returns to London’s Dome. www.clubkali.com
• CHELWEST +VE PATIENT FORUM is open to service users
from the Kobler, Victoria and Nkosi
Johnson Unit. It’s a space where patients can give their views
about their experiences of HIV services, plus help with decision making. First
meeting 7 Feb, 6-8pm at the Kobler
Clinic, St Stephen’s Centre, Chelsea
& Westminster Hospital, London. Email shaun.watson@chelwest.nhs.uk.
• CHANGE OF HAART is a new educational website (right)
packed with info about advances in HIV treatment. Visit www.changeofhaart.com.
• LGBT HISTORY MONTH (1-28 Feb) is
already upon us. To register talks, performances, workshops and events, visit
www.lgbthistorymonth.org.uk.
• WINTER PRIDE is a week of queer happenings taking
place 4-12 Feb in Brighton, including culture, clubbing and
comedy. Call 01273 775 939 or visit www.brightonpride.org/winter-pride.
• STAFFORDSHIRE BUDDIES AND BODY POSITIVE want PN readers
to know they are still in business despite
losing local PCT funding to THT this year. The charity offers counselling,
alternative therapies, treatment info and general advice. Call 01743 350 075.
• IT’S SO EASY TRAVEL INSURANCE has expanded
its services to include HIV positive life assurance, mortgages, loans and
online shopping. However, if you’re travelling abroad in 2006, one thing
you won’t want to leave home without is its travel insurance for positive
people. Visit www.hivtravelinsurance.com.
• Steps2health.org.uk is a new site set up in response
to rising HIV rates in the West Midlands. It speaks directly to Black African
communities in Birmingham about HIV and offers steps for people to find out
more about HIV.
• Under-27s living with HIV should check out a new website specifically
for them. The HEALTH INITIATIVES site includes details of
the UK’s only weekend support centre, AIM-HI. Visit www.healthinitiatives.org.
•
CARPHONE WAREHOUSE and NATIONAL AIDS TRUST (NAT)
have teamed up to raise money for HIV. Every phone, including the
new, limited edition Motorola V3 Razr (right) bought via
www.natter4nat.com
will mean £30 for NAT.
• A new group, IRAQI LGBT UK, has been set up to protect
the human rights of all gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Iraqis inside
and outside Iraq. To join, or for more info, call 07981 95 9453 or email iraqilgbt@yahoo.co.uk.
• GMFA want to hear from African or Caribbean gay men
and their mothers who have struggled to accept their sexuality. It’s
for a Mother’s Day media exercise. Email donal.heath@gmfa.org.uk.
• BARNET POSITIVE GAY MEN’S GROUP meet every
month, providing a friendly atmosphere in which to share experiences. Call
David on 07726 932 932 or email barnetgaypoz@hotmail.com.
