Whisper not the Movie... at a cinema near you very soon!

Posted by giles in News

16 Openly Positive authors: out, proud and en masse!

Openly Positive now has a DVD! It’s a co-production with STEPS, a regional project using film to communicate social issues around HIV. It’s essentially an education tool, expanding on the stories we tell in our books. The author interviews on our site come from it.

And now, if you’re in Cape Town or Johannesburg, you can see it as part of the next week-long Out in Africa Film Festival (www.oia.co.za), which runs from Wednesday October 19th in Johannesburg and Thursday October 20th in Cape Town.

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Whisper not wows SABCOHA Peer Educator Conference

Posted by giles in Talks

15 authors on our bookmark: Christy-Joy Webster is the last smiling face, Nomfundo Xotyeni the fifth from last portrait.

Two of our authors, Christy-Joy Webster and Nomfundo Xotyeni, represented Openly Positive at the recent SABCOHA conference for South African Peer Educators at the Birchwood Hotel in Boksburg, Gauteng.  Christy-Joy led a session on Supporting the Care-giver, a theme central to her story in our Whisper not collection, while Nomfundo Xotyeni talked about the importance of self-support in the context of her story, The Hero Lies Within You.

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Openly Positive contributes to HAICU Conference at UCT

Posted by giles in Talks

Derrick Fine represented Openly Positive at a University of Cape Town (UCT) Colloquium on Narrative and Nostalgia in HIV Education and Research, hosted by HAICU (the HIV/AIDS Institutional Co-ordination Unit at UCT) on 21 September 2011.

Derrick showed the Whisper Not DVD and spoke on Reflections on using our stories of living with HIV in education. He concluded: “HIV and AIDS stigma, silence and denial is still with us, and we hope our stories will help reduce stigma and encourage other people living with or affected by HIV to disclose and tell their stories when they feel ready.

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OP website update: Durban launch

Posted by Openly Positive in News, Whisper not

Happy Durban panelists: Christy-Joy, Anne, Jan, Elaine and Derrick

Four of our short story authors shared the floor, as we launched Whisper not in Durban at our Satellite Session: No more whispers – sharing our own stories of life and love beyond HIV on Wednesday 8 June at the 5th South African AIDS Conference at the International Convention Centre.

Hall 7 buzzed with warmth, support and interest listening to Elaine Maane and Derrick Fine introduce Openly Positive’s story-telling series and the wonderful diversity of our 15 Whisper not authors. OP trustee, Anne Lebethe, who was also representing the South African Police Service at the Conference, spoke warmly about her story, Vida – a toast to life, and the importance of appreciating life with and beyond HIV.

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CPUT International Candlelight Memorial

Posted by Openly Positive in News

A day to remember

Openly Positive participated in the 28^th International AIDS Candlelight Memorial hosted by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology’s HIV/AIDS Unit at its Bellville Campus on Monday 16 May 2011. We joined CPUT staff, SRC leadership and the Treatment Action Campaign in lighting candles to remember dear people we have lost over the years.

Derrick Fine introduced Openly Positive and our Whisper not authors, and Ann Ray Ray and Marius Harmsen shared their personal stories. Our message was that the best way that we can honour lives lost to stigma, denial and AIDS is to speak out and no longer whisper to ensure that everyone living with and affected by HIV gets access to the information, testing, support, treatment and care they need.

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