Abstract Book Vol. 2 [International Conference on AIDS (14th: 2002: Barcelona, Spain)]

584 Abstracts ThPeF7968-ThPeF7972

XIV International AIDS Conference

Recommendations: in addressing HIV/AIDS epidemic it is important to create social opportunities to allow the dialogue between different sectors including
PLWA
Presenting author: Jorge Fernandez, PO Box 6443, Tegucigalpa, MDC, Honduras, Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone], E-mail: [email protected]
ThPeF7968 Mobilizing HIV-affected young people as a force for
social change
S. Cox. Executive Director, For Us Northwest (FUN), Portland, OR, United States
Issues: Providing a voice for children in the HIV planning process.
Mobilizing HIV-affected and infected young people through peer driven support
programs.
Creating a global sense of solidarity and camaraderie between children in different cultures to more effectively build a sense of support and safety
Descriptions: HIV-Affected young person, Sean Cox, age 25, has built a successful first of its kind non-profit organization to serve children infected and affected by HIV in his community
For Us Northwest (FUN) has grown rapidly in the past two and a half years and
has established partnerships with Nike, Inc. and the internationally respected
Dougy Center for Grieving Children.
FUN has recently established a collaboration with Africa AIDS Response - an organization that works with Portland, Oregon's sister city Mutare Zimbabwe. This
effort is connecting AIDS Affected children in Oregon with their peers in Mutare.
In an effort to bridge the two groups and mobilize their collective strength to empower the children to become the next generation of AIDS advocates and is a
model that can be easily adapted by other NGO's.
Sean is the first HIV-affected youth to serve on the Ryan White Title I planning
council and he was recently recognized by the Mayor of Portland, Oregon USA,
for his work with children.
Lessons learned: Sean will discuss the organizing strategy he used to build a
partnership with one of the largest companies and one of the most respected
children's organizations in the world.
Recommendations: By expanding the scope of programs for all HIV affected
children you can more effectively mobilize the communities resources and best
meet the needs of the community.
This model can be use to create a global network of NGOs, and individuals who
advocate for the needs of both HIV-infected and HIV-affected youth and share
resources, successes and lessons to strengthen global support for children.
Presenting author: Sean Cox, PMB 429, 4110 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR
97214, United States, Tel.: [phone], Fax: [phone], E-mail: sean
@forus.org
ThPeF7969 My Room, My World
S. Janyam, P. Khamkhanan, S. Pasaeng. EMPOWER Foundation, EMPOWER
Foundation, PO. Box 1065, Silom Post Office, Bangkok, 10504, Thailand
Issues: Sex workers are often misunderstood and stigmatized. They are stereotyped as people who indiscriminately spread HIV/AIDS. Because of these misconceptions, they face widespread discrimination in society.
Descriptions: My Room, My World is an exhibit that recreates a sex worker's
room in Bangkok. This room contains all of the objects that a sex worker might
have in her room. Some of these items are tools used by sex workers in their jobs,
but other items are those that might be found in the room of any young woman.
My Room, My World hopes to show the world that sex workers, like all members
of society, want to be safe and healthy Often they are well-informed about the
dangers of HIV/AIDS and act responsibly to ensure their safety as well as the
safety of their clients. A sex worker uses condoms in her workspace to promote
safety for herself and everyone who enters her room.
One interesting item inside this room is a map of the world and many small flags.
Audience members will be asked to place flags on the countries around the world
where they think sex workers can be found.
Lessons learned: This exhibit was created by sex workers who are members
of the EMPOWER Foundation, a non-governmental organization supporting sex
workers throughout Thailand. By sharing a glimpse of their lives with the public,
the women have learned that they are able to break down some of the stereotypes and misconceptions surrounding their work. Audiences have learned that
sex workers are extremely concerned about the spread of HIV/AIDS in their community and that HIV/AIDS prevention is a top priority for sex workers.
Recommendations: Education and awareness encourage tolerance in society.
The EMPOWER Foundation plans to share this exhibit with a wide range of audiences. Hopefully, it can help to break down barriers and end the discrimination
often experienced by sex workers and their families.
Presenting author: Surang Janyam, EMPOWER Foundation, P.O. Box 1065,
Silom Post Office, Bangkok, 10504, Thailand, Tel.: [phone], Fax: +66-2 -
632-7902, E-mail: [email protected]

ThPeF7970 From "Crescere Insieme" to "The Red Wall": the
evolution of an educational project to support HIV
infected/affected adolescents
C. Novello1, S. Casella2, S. D'Alberto2, S. Oletto2, G. Bartoli2, A. Mundo2,
0. Rampon2, F. Ebo2, F. Fregonese2, C. Giaquinto2. 1Fondazione Franco
Moschino, Fondazione Franco Moschino, Dipartimento di Pediatria, Via
Giustiniani, 3, 35128 Padova, Italy; 2Dipartimento di Pediatria, Padova, Italy
Issue: to lay the basis for supporting a group of adolescents infected or affected
by HIV. This means to make them share their experiences and their condition of
adolescents and to build up full awareness of their illness.
Description: "The Red Wall" group, set up in 2000, is made up of 5 HIV infected/affected adolescents, 2 educators, 2 volunteers. The group springs from
the "Crescere Insieme" educational project conceived by some educators in 1998
in co-operation with the Paediatric Aids Center of the Dept. of Paediatrics of
Padua. That project envisaged monthly meetings of the adolescents, where some
evenings or week-ends were organised. On those occasions, the adolescents
shared their experiences of young people living with HIV and increased their
awareness of the discrimination and social obstacles they have to face. The "Red
Wall" group decided to promote tolerance by creating an anonymous website for
other young people. The website includes an introductory part on the group and
its aims and an informative part made up of a test concerning legal and prevention
aspects of HIV.
Lessons learned: The creation of a website and the drawing up of an informative test required a series of meetings with experts and gave the adolescents the
chance to improve their knowledge and awareness of their HIV status. During the
group meetings, the issue of responsible sexuality was dealt with and the need
was raised for the group to go over their stories with the help of the adults' memories. The group meetings helped the adolescents to build up their self-esteem
as they were an occasion for the adolescents not to feel victims, but rather to play
an active role against social stigma.
Recommendations: The setting up of a group of HIV infected adolescents requires constant attention to avoid seclusion feelings. It is important that the group
work is compatible with the daily life engagements of the participants, and even
that it favours their social introduction.
Presenting author: Chiara Novello, Fondazione Franco Moschino, Dipartimento
di Pediatria, Via Giustiniani, 3, 35128 Padova, Italy, Tel.: [phone], Fax:
+39.049.8753865, E-mail: [email protected]
ThPeF7971 Stigmatization as experienced by a group of people
living with HIV / AIDS in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
J.F Riziki, C.B. Corrigan. PASADA, PASADA, P 0 Box 70225, Dar es Dalaam,
Tanzania
Issue: The HIV /AIDS pandemic has evoked different responses from both infected and affected people in Tanzania. People who are HIV positive experience
both social and self stigmatization. Often the community reacts with fear, rejection
and denial or discriminates against those who disclose their sero-positive status.
Such responses a) force HIV positive people to hide their serostatus b) kill the
spirit of the ones helping those who are infected c) challenge the whole meaning
of encouraging people to go for voluntary HIV testing when support systems are
not in place.
Part of the cause of these responses is the negative perception of human sexuality by society. The negative societal response exerted against PLWA in turn
damages those who are not infected as it causes HIV/AIDS transmission to continue silently, hidden and unrelentlessly.
Descriptions: This paper gives the experience of a group of PLWA cared for by
PASADA, as they have shared their life experience, through individual interviews
and group discussions. When society rejects them they come to see the caring
agency, PASADA as a home where they are understood, loved, cared for and accepted as they are. Public campaigns encourage people to have HIV tests and
yet the very society calling for this rejects HIV positive people thus causing the
further spread of HIV /AIDS.
Lessons learned: and recommendations. If we are to take a part in the war
against the spread of HIV /AIDS we are challenged to become involved in a) redressing the negative perception of human sexuality and b) in the fight to end
rejection of PLWA by civil society or they will continue to cry "I am afraid to tell
you who I am, because if I do you may not like who I am, and it is all I have"
Presenting author: Jovin Riziki, PASADA, P O Box 70225, Dar es Dalaam, Tanzania, E-mail: [email protected]
ThPeF7972 A positive Woman's perception on the Indian
media's approach to HIVIAIDS
P. Periasamy. Positive women Network, 23, Brindavan Street, West Mambalam,
Chennai, 600033

Messages about HIV/AIDS gathered momentum in the year 1995 when the Government took steps to propagate more about the disease to the common public.
Television, radio, posters newspapers and other audio and video media were used
to propagate messages related to HIV/AIDS. Initially the messages that were
passed around produced fear for the disease and stigma for the positive people. The stories told by the positive people turned as narratives of hatred against
the positive people. There was a clear damage done to the positive people as