28

In a previous post I talked about going to hear Stephen Lewis speak and the tremendous impact that he has had globally in the fight against AIDS.
During his speech, he mentioned that there was a book coming out that was absolutely "astonishing" and incredibly written. Praise indeed.
He said that it was the most well researched writing on AIDS to date...if you want to learn all about the pandemic, read this book.
It is called 28 and is written by the renowned Globe and Mail reporter Stephanie Nolan (a Canadian!) living in Jo'Berg, South Africa.
Her years of living in Africa and researching AIDS in many of the African countries has given her a unique insight that many people do not have.
She has titled her book 28 because to date there are 28 MILLION people living with HIV/AIDS in Africa alone. That's 28,000000...a lot of zeros there.
Check out this link to read more about Stephanie Nolan and her work in Africa. There are lots of links on the right hand side when you open this, that you can go to. They are incredibly moving to read/listen to/watch.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/generated/realtime/aidsStories.html

We also have a great show here on CBC called "The Hour" and Stephanie Nolan was interviewed there recently. (Incidentally, another favourite speaker of mine was recently interviewed, Tony Campolo, it was a very good show...)
Check this link out too, she is well worth listening to.
In this link, make sure you also check the related video files...you will be able to hear Stephen Lewis speak (free!) and there is a clip on children living in Northern Uganda...one of the hardest places in the world to be a child.
http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1549
Do take the time to check these out, please.
Just as an aside, an important aside, but an aside nonetheless...Dave and I went to see the movie, "Amazing Grace" the other night.
I actually wasn't that keen as I'd heard it was "slow" and "ponderous".
For people who don't know the premise, it is about William Wilberforce, an English politician in the 18th century (I know, it sounds boring, hear me out!) who devoted his ENTIRE life to the abolition of the slave trade in England. His friend, William Pitt, who becomes the Prime Minister is completely supportive of this dream and at one point, Pitt asks Wilberforce,
"Do you think that just because there are only 2 of us, we can't change the world on this issue?"
I almost cheered out loud! I LOVED this movie. I want to buy it because for me it embodied what can happen when God puts a dream and a passion into someones heart. Wilberforce just kept going, defeat after defeat, but he couldn't let it go.
Stephen Lewis says something similar when asked how he keeps going.
He says that he does get exhausted at the enormity of the problem and the seemingly endless defeat, with little hope of glory, but you grit your teeth and carry on because you have to.
We have to educate ourselves and be smart about the ways that we can be involved and make a difference. We too, need to grit our teeth and carry on because 28,000000 is all made up of 1's.
People die one at a time.