Thursday 28 April 2016

Love (well....) so much missed; Interrogating my masculinity

                           Nicole met me at the Bernal Heights Park in San Francisco CA and we instantly synched. She asked me out but I first declined, politely. After all, where I come from it is a man, who asks a woman out. But, then again, I consider myself a liberal. We continued meeting, we started having pecks and touches (simply hand holding. Don't get silly ideas. This is America. Loose hands may be mistaken for assault and around here women are powerful litigants). Ask me about Nicole. A white girl who is from Edgartown MA but came to do her University in San Francisco. She is fluent in Italian, Spanish, French and German as well as English. She plays the guitar and she wears high strapping leather boots with those very minimal shorts. One day, I remarked if she was chased out of her house by a fire. "Duh!" Was the best reply I got out of her. Fast forward, we smooched, hugged, romped and said sweet goodbyes to each other. She went to Europe for the summer, their families are spread all over. A distant great aunt in UK; a distant great uncle in France; a cousin in Italy; and sisters and brothers to great granny in Germany or something like that. But, she went to Europe as far as i'm concerned and when she came back we were platonic. We still talk about so many things, especially Massachusetts since I spent two years there and travelled extensively around that part of New England.

I love women. Women rock!


                                She then offloaded me over to LaDiamond (Ladee). They are both buddies from Junior High and to them it was normal to share me between them. Hahahahahahaha! So, Ladee proposed that we should change positions. Positions. I hadn't got the meaning until....... Anyway, fast forward. We disagreed on so many things and most especially, on the subject of my 'people selling her people to the white slave massa.' She is a History and Communication major with a minor in literature. I used to present my best arguments basing my premise on the prevailing global forces of the time. As well as positing the fact that the Industrial Revolution had a gargantuan juggernaut so thirsty that Africa alone could quench it. The spears and skin shields were no match to the Matchlocks, killing machines and subsequent subjugation of Africa. She never expected this diatribe. All the while, I spent with her she had figured me as a simpleton. I once told her that in my culture we had a saying: 'the slackness of a chain is its strength.' She still believes that 'rumble, rumble, rumble is show of strength.' We still see each other but, I never switched positions to this day! Oh, I miss a kind of loving!

Monday 25 April 2016

Irresistible!

I am a member of this small network that is engaged in ensuring housing is accessible in San Francisco. I live in a very good neighborhood in San Francisco and am very thankful. I admire the housing and decoration that goes into many of the places I look at in San Francisco. For instance:








All pictures courtesy of Trulia.


Imagine a world without HIV!

That world is possible. Let us work towards it.










Read about the International AIDS Society:




About the IAS

Who we are
Founded in 1988, the International AIDS Society (IAS) is the world’s largest association of HIV professionals, with members from more than 180 countries working on all fronts of the global AIDS response. Together, we advocate and drive urgent action to reduce the global impact of HIV.



The IAS is also the steward of the world’s two most prestigious HIV conferences – the International AIDS Conference and the IAS Conference on HIV Science. These conferences have established a gold-standard meeting that convenes the world’s top scientists, civil society members and policymakers to jointly discuss the fight against HIV.




What we do
We promote and invest in HIV advocacy and research on key issue areas through our strategic programmes, initiatives, and campaigns, which include:



Towards an HIV Cure
An initiative that provides leadership in facilitating more concerted efforts to accelerate global scientific research towards a cure for HIV and in advocating for increased investment in HIV cure research.



Collaborative Initiative for Paediatric HIV Education and Research (CIPHER)
A programme aimed at optimizing clinical management and delivery of services to infants, children and adolescents affected by HIV in resource-limited settings through advocacy and research promotion.



Journal of the International AIDS Society (JIAS)
A peer-reviwed platform to disseminate essential HIV research with the mission to contribute to an evidence-based response to the HIV epidemic and to support research capacity building in resource-limited settings.

Industry Liaison Forum (ILF)
A mechanism to inform and support collaboration and partnership between diverse stakeholders, from both the private and public-sectors, including industry.

Nobody Left Behind
A programme that advocates for services across the continuum of prevention, treatment and care for Key Populations (KPs) in order to work towards the reversal and eradication of HIV.

Youth Voices Against HIV
A one-year campaign created by youth, for youth that was convened under CIPHER. It is aimed at collaborating and engaging young people through a series of in-person dialogues to influence and guide the adolescent needs in the HIV response.

Differentiated Models of ART Delivery
A two-year initiative to scale up differentiated models of ART delivery, focusing on the implementation of key elements of ART programming.

How we do it

Science. People. Progress.

Science. The IAS pursues and supports scientific advancements that positively alter the course of the HIV epidemic and promote greater understanding of these discoveries. The IAS pushes for the full spectrum of scientific achievement – from basic science to implementation research – and use the visibility of its meetings to highlight dynamic, innovative work.

People. The IAS invests in professionalizing and promoting the HIV workforce – particularly the next generation of HIV professionals – to build the skills and resources that are needed to end the epidemic. As a membership body, the IAS understands and represents the interests of its members in all of its work, retaining a global perspective that is relevant at a local level.

Progress. The IAS uses its scientific authority to move science into policy and policy into tangible impact against the epidemic. The IAS advocates for sustained global leadership and increased investment while keeping the fight against stigma and discrimination at the heart of its work.




For more read:

http://www.iasociety.org/Web/WebContent/File/IAS_organizational_strategy_2016.pdf