Reviews
Clouds move endorsements
Anne Lebethe
Openly Positive trustee and person living with HIV for 12 years
"I really enjoyed the honesty and openness of this book. It is a fearless disclosure of the most intimate details of Derrick's life. Hopefully this book will encourage us to disclose living with HIV to our loved ones and communities when we feel ready. Society needs to understand that disclosure is a process and that people living with HIV need not feel criminalised before they disclose their status.
Above all, this book is a reflection of how HIV/AIDS stigma should be eradicated. HIV and AIDS should be thought of like any other condition. Unfortunately, South Africa still has a long way to go.
People living with HIV and AIDS still have challenges to access treatment even though treatment is available. Our friends are still dying because of a lack of treatment and access to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment. We still need to be informed long before we make the decision to be on treatment about the side effects of ARVs. However, we should always remember that the benefits of taking ARVs far outweigh the disadvantages linked to their side effects.
Derrick's story shows that access to treatment gives us hope for the future and lightens the burden of living with HIV. People living with HIV and AIDS can still have the quality of life that they deserve and aspire to."
Dr Ashraf Grimwood
Executive Director: ARK and community HIV specialist
"Derrick in his unique and clear way writes about the passing of shadows cast by fear, ignorance, bigotry, prejudice, denial and betrayal through honest dialogue. Our humanity is what survives and helps us overcome these, but we have lost precious time in dealing openly and positively with this epidemic in South Africa.
Derrick describes the rejection, missed opportunities, multiple grief and loss of our fallen heroes in this war against HIV, without losing hope and faith in who we are. Through his own life experiences, Derrick moves us out of the darkness of our own challenges to examine who and where we are in this momentous battle we are all part of. All life is precious, our time is transitory - yet do we live it to its fullest as Derrick so aptly shares?
This book is not about personal challenges and loss, but about finding ourselves and being true to our conscience, while continuing to be true to the love we share with our partner, family and what this country's democracy stands for.
Derrick is able to reconcile his cultural background with that of his life partner, Andile, as they both meet the challenges that life has cast their way with complete openness and equanimity."
Dr Masias Makhalemele
Director: Project Footprint and person living with HIV for 14 years
"When I first worked with Derrick he had not told me or anyone I knew that he was living with HIV. I didn't see him again for quite a while until we came together to work on another project – only this time it was for and by people living with HIV. It was after we had been sharing our stories that he told us his. In the time from first meeting him to that moment, Derrick had crossed to the other side of the mountain.
Earlier in 2007, I lost a good friend of mine to the effects of AIDS. In my grief, I sent an email to all my friends expressing my feelings about her death. Derrick responded, as he also knew her and felt her loss. When we met up at the South African AIDS conference in Durban, we spoke more about our dreams, our relationships and life in general. We discovered that we had both got married, just one day apart, in December 2004.
When Derrick came to England on a visit with his partner Andile, we spoke again about his vision as a writer. Now, instead of sharing about how bad things were in South Africa, we were talking about how we, as people living with HIV, can live our lives more creatively and allow younger people to learn from us.
Clouds move is a very personal story, but it's also a powerful story about people from all walks of life. The lessons and questions for discussion will empower people to take more control and make decisions based on the experiences in the book. It is also a love story, which you will not find in most books written for and by people living with HIV.
Clouds move encourages us to communicate positively and live our lives beyond the boundaries of HIV. Derrick's story motivates all of us as people living with HIV to begin to own our stories and to learn from each other. Thank you once more for giving and sharing yourself to the world."
Brian Joss - Athlone News
Brian Joss - Athlone News: Read of the Week
(28 November 2007)
"What Fine does in Clouds move is to remove the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS, and it is fitting tribute to those who have died and to those who are living with HIV. It should be compulsory reading for those who still have no idea of the disease or who still believe you can get AIDS by shaking hands with an infected person."
Vivien Horler - Cape Argus
Vivien Horler - Cape Argus: Across My Desk
(3 December 2007)
"Derrick Fine, a Capetonian, has written a memoir, full of pictures, cartoons and poems, of being gay, the challenges of coming out, the search for love, the further challenge of accepting his HIV positive status and then coming out with that too. It's the first book published by The Openly Positive Trust, a trust that aims to help build a supportive, stigma-free environment so that people living with AIDS and HIV can disclose their status and live a positive life."
Jo-Anne Smetherham - Cape Times
Jo-Anne Smetherhan - Cape Times: A Fine account of the truth about life with HIV and love
(14 December 2007)
"The first step in breaking the deadly grip of HIV/AIDS on society is to talk about it freely and with no sense of shame, Derrick Fine believes. So he started with himself. Derrick has just published Clouds move, a deeply personal - and political - account of living with HIV. He wrote it to help others who feel as scared and alone as he once did... Derrick wrote his story after several of his friends died of AIDS-related illnesses because they did not get the support and medication they needed in time. His book is in large part a tribute to these friends...'Yes, life is fragile but it's about saying I can get around that big fluffy cloud above my head and find a bit of sunshine'."
Natasha Shepherd - Health Watch on Summit TV
Natasha Shepherd - Health Watch on Summit TV
(18 December 2007)
Response to interview question from Natasha Shepherd: "Your book touches on a lot of personal issues - why did you decide to put it out there like that?"
Derrick Fine: "I'm part of a group called Openly Positive, and we feel that the visibility of people living with HIV is the key to trying to reduce stigma and discrimination... We have to speak for ourselves as people living with HIV, and through our experiences help other people to make their paths a little bit easier... I think self-acceptance is the key to visibility and realising that you can live with and manage HIV."