Saturday, October 23, 2010
Ok, the clever man comment...
Well, I was asked to sing "With My Own Two Hands" this evening at the Stephen Lewis event. I haven't been that nervous in quite a long time. It was a total honour to share the stage with Mr. Lewis. I had hoped to impress him by using some big words. In the end, just before I sang the song, all I could come up with, in front of everyone, was "It's just really cool to sing at the same event that you are speaking at." Wow. And then, to top it all off, as Abe was taking a picture of me with Mr. Lewis, Mr. Lewis said to me, "You're comments were very clever". And, yes, like a twit, I said, "You're pretty clever too." Sheesh. Oh well. He seemed to take it all in stride. What a total thrill this evening was for me, and I think for everyone that was there. Here are a few pics (we were asked not to take pictures during the event itself, so the pictures were taken after the evening was over).
Friday, October 22, 2010
A clever man, with an amazing vocabulary!
Hi everyone. Just home from a really inspiring evening listening to Stephen Lewis talk about AIDS in Africa, the Grandmothers who are raising their grandchildren and other orphans, and the fatigue of donor nations, both in the private and government sectors, in giving to the crisis of AIDS.
Mr. Lewis spoke for almost an hour to more than 500 people, and highlighted 6 important points from the most recent International AIDS Conference in Vienna this past July.
1. Treatment as prevention - putting people on antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) before they exhibit full-blown symptoms of AIDS lowers the viral load to almost undetcable levels which means that someone who is HIV+ and on ARVs is unlikely to pass on the virus if they have unprotected sex. Treatment is prevention.
2. Microbicide for females. It has been shown that male circumcision either as an infant or an adult reduces the chances of infection by up to 60%. A microbicide for women, which is applied to the vaginal area 12 hours before sexual intercourse and 12 hours after, reduces the rate of infection by up to 54%. A vaginal ring is being developed that can be inserted and will release the microbicide over a period of three months. Around the world women do not have the power to refuse sex. And sexual violence, particularly as a weapon of war, is sadly more and more common. The ring will prevent infection for young girls and women. 75-80% of young girls who are HIV+ were infected through sexual violence.
3. 2010 was named as the Year of Universal Access to Treatment, Prevention and Care. Sadly, promises from G8 countries were not met. More than $20 billion was promised, which would have given the Global Fund the money and resources to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Currently 5.2 million HIV+ people are receiving treatment. At least another 10 million people require treatment. The world raised only 11.7 billion dollars. A death sentence to millions of people who will now not receive treatment. The main reason? The recession. And yet trillions of dollars are spent on bank bailouts, encouraging economic growth, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
4. The rate of HIV infection is soaring worldwide. The reality of poverty, hunger, injustice, stigma and inequality create desperate situations for many, many people. Young girls who have children due to sexual violence are faced with watching their babies die, or selling their bodies for sex so that they can feed their children. In Uganda, there is a bill before parliament, not yet passed, that would sentence practicing homosexuals to death. And if you if you fail to report such behaviours to the authorities, you could be sentenced to five years in prison. This means parents will report their own children. Right wing conservative churches in the US are supporting this legislation.
5. Sexual violence - Transmission of the virus is 2 to 3 times more likely if the perpetrators are more HIV+ and also because the sexual violence is so brutal that there is direct blood contact. Over the past decade more than 600,000 women in Congo have been raped as a strategy of war. Worldwide, 150 million girls have suffered sexual violence.
6. Pediatric AIDS. A single dose of the drug Nevirapine, given to a mother during child birth, will reduce the chance that her baby will be infected by 50%. A 50/50 chance. It has been discovered that Nevirapine actually reduces the effect of ARVs down the road for the women that take Nevirapine during child birth. So, their babies will have a 50/50 chance of not being infected with the virus during child birth, but the mothers will die because Nevirapine reduces the effectiveness of ARVs they are taking. In North America, people who are HIV+ are generally put on a triple full course of ARVs. If women are taking the triple full course, and give birth, the mother to child transmission of the virus is reduced by 99%.
An amazing evening. A bit discouraging. Enlightening. Completely inspiring. 500 people attended. I think it's safe to say that all of us walked away feeling more passionate about working to address the crisis of AIDS worldwide.
Mr. Lewis spoke for almost an hour to more than 500 people, and highlighted 6 important points from the most recent International AIDS Conference in Vienna this past July.
1. Treatment as prevention - putting people on antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) before they exhibit full-blown symptoms of AIDS lowers the viral load to almost undetcable levels which means that someone who is HIV+ and on ARVs is unlikely to pass on the virus if they have unprotected sex. Treatment is prevention.
2. Microbicide for females. It has been shown that male circumcision either as an infant or an adult reduces the chances of infection by up to 60%. A microbicide for women, which is applied to the vaginal area 12 hours before sexual intercourse and 12 hours after, reduces the rate of infection by up to 54%. A vaginal ring is being developed that can be inserted and will release the microbicide over a period of three months. Around the world women do not have the power to refuse sex. And sexual violence, particularly as a weapon of war, is sadly more and more common. The ring will prevent infection for young girls and women. 75-80% of young girls who are HIV+ were infected through sexual violence.
3. 2010 was named as the Year of Universal Access to Treatment, Prevention and Care. Sadly, promises from G8 countries were not met. More than $20 billion was promised, which would have given the Global Fund the money and resources to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Currently 5.2 million HIV+ people are receiving treatment. At least another 10 million people require treatment. The world raised only 11.7 billion dollars. A death sentence to millions of people who will now not receive treatment. The main reason? The recession. And yet trillions of dollars are spent on bank bailouts, encouraging economic growth, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
4. The rate of HIV infection is soaring worldwide. The reality of poverty, hunger, injustice, stigma and inequality create desperate situations for many, many people. Young girls who have children due to sexual violence are faced with watching their babies die, or selling their bodies for sex so that they can feed their children. In Uganda, there is a bill before parliament, not yet passed, that would sentence practicing homosexuals to death. And if you if you fail to report such behaviours to the authorities, you could be sentenced to five years in prison. This means parents will report their own children. Right wing conservative churches in the US are supporting this legislation.
5. Sexual violence - Transmission of the virus is 2 to 3 times more likely if the perpetrators are more HIV+ and also because the sexual violence is so brutal that there is direct blood contact. Over the past decade more than 600,000 women in Congo have been raped as a strategy of war. Worldwide, 150 million girls have suffered sexual violence.
6. Pediatric AIDS. A single dose of the drug Nevirapine, given to a mother during child birth, will reduce the chance that her baby will be infected by 50%. A 50/50 chance. It has been discovered that Nevirapine actually reduces the effect of ARVs down the road for the women that take Nevirapine during child birth. So, their babies will have a 50/50 chance of not being infected with the virus during child birth, but the mothers will die because Nevirapine reduces the effectiveness of ARVs they are taking. In North America, people who are HIV+ are generally put on a triple full course of ARVs. If women are taking the triple full course, and give birth, the mother to child transmission of the virus is reduced by 99%.
An amazing evening. A bit discouraging. Enlightening. Completely inspiring. 500 people attended. I think it's safe to say that all of us walked away feeling more passionate about working to address the crisis of AIDS worldwide.
Stephen Lewis event
Hi everyone! Well, I am gearing up for this evening. Six MCC Alberta staff are going to hear Stephen Lewis speak at a Grandmothers to Grandmothers (a program of the Stephen Lewis Foundation) event. I'm excited to hear Mr. Lewis speak! A few days ago I received a call from one of the organisers asking me to sing a song at the event. Foolishly, I said "Sure!" Now I'm getting seriously nervous. Where are you Darryl??
Anyway, I will haul my guitar, my voice, and a dictionary to the event (Stephen Lewis has the most amazing vocabulary!), and I know I will come away inspired and energised by the evening. If you are not familiar with the work of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, check it out online.
We'll take some pictures of the evening and post them this evening.
Kim
Anyway, I will haul my guitar, my voice, and a dictionary to the event (Stephen Lewis has the most amazing vocabulary!), and I know I will come away inspired and energised by the evening. If you are not familiar with the work of the Stephen Lewis Foundation, check it out online.
We'll take some pictures of the evening and post them this evening.
Kim
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Sweet Interlude
We enjoyed singing at Sweet Interlude, a fundraiser at Menno Simons Christian School in Calgary. The highlight for us was definitely singing four songs with the students:
- With my own two hands
- Glory Bound
- Take your place (at the table)
- The House
Here's a rough video of us singing Take your place (at the table), with them. Stick it out until the end... you can finally hear them singing. Up on the stage, it was awesome.
Take Your Place with Menno Simons singers from darryl on Vimeo.
- With my own two hands
- Glory Bound
- Take your place (at the table)
- The House
Here's a rough video of us singing Take your place (at the table), with them. Stick it out until the end... you can finally hear them singing. Up on the stage, it was awesome.
Take Your Place with Menno Simons singers from darryl on Vimeo.
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