{"id":46841,"date":"2023-12-01T07:11:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T07:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/?p=46841"},"modified":"2024-05-15T12:16:33","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T12:16:33","slug":"our-stories-told-by-us-celebrating-the-african-contribution-to-the-uk-hiv-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/46841","title":{"rendered":"Our Stories Told By Us: Celebrating the African contribution to the UK HIV response"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Review by Simon Collins, HIV i-Base<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Launched in May with a limited first run, this celebration of the power of friendship and community is now available online in Kindle, paperback and limited hardback editions. [1]<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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More than 250 pages, illustrated in colour with uniquely designed African prints, the book compiles the experiences of more than 40 activists involved in the African response to HIV in the UK.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The five authors \u2013 from Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe \u2013 are all Black African women who are proudly living with HIV. They are also some of the most prominent, respected and popular HIV advocates in the UK. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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These women have known and supported each other for many years, including through a virtual reading group during COVID. Their decision to write about their own experiences, rather than just reading others, was inspired by their friendships, which also unites all the other contributions.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For more than two years, the group collected stories from the diverse communities of African people living with HIV and included allies. The contributions cover life before and after coming to the UK and before and after learning about their HIV status. One of the few criteria for inclusion involved being visible in your communities.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Many of the contributors claimed asylum in the UK because of persecution in their home countries, some were just joining family members here as part of their life plans. Most only learned about HIV later, often without realising that their HIV was already advanced. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A common response was to develop community networks that could provide support, to learn about HIV treatment and to become community educators to help others.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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All contributors talk about having to overcome stigma both in the UK and in their home countries. They talk about the harm this continues to cause today and of the freedom from deciding to live openly, and the importance of everyone being able to now benefit from the medical breakthroughs in effective treatment. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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If you get a chance, come to one of the talks being organised across the UK, with European dates planned. Or better still, get in touch via their website, to organise one yourself for your own organisation – you will not regret it.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The website also includes related news and podcasts and direct links to Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Waterstones. [2]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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These stories will inspire you. They are direct and easy to read. Delight in their humour and learn from their wisdom. And any friends lucky enough to borrow or be gifted a copy of this beautiful book over the holidays will also thank you for making their winter a little warmer. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For transparency, Simon Collins was lucky to be included as a contributor, and is proud to be an ally of such inspiring activists.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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References<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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  1. Angeline Namiba, Charity Nyirenda, Memory Sachikonye, Rebecca Mbewe, Winnie Ssanya Sseruma. Our stories told by us: Celebrating the African contribution to the UK HIV response. ZZUK Press,\u200e 256 pages ISBN-10\u200f: \u200e 1739462211, ISBN-13 \u200f: \u200e 978-1739462215. (29 August 2023).
    \n<\/span>https:\/\/www.amazon.co.uk\/Our-Stories-Told-Celebrating-Contribution\/dp\/B0CGYPVLG3<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Website for the book.
    \n    https:\/\/ourstoriestoldbyus.com<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    \n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Review by Simon Collins, HIV i-Base Launched in May with a limited first run, this celebration of the power of friendship and community is now available online in Kindle, paperback and limited hardback editions. [1] More than 250 pages, illustrated …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46841"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46841\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47746,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46841\/revisions\/47746"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/i-base.info\/htb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}