Saturday is for Funerals
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In the year 2000 the World Health Organization estimated that 85 percent of fifteen-year-olds in Botswana would eventually die of AIDS. In Saturday Is for Funerals we learn why that won't happen.Unity Dow and Max Essex tell the true story of lives ravaged by AIDS—of orphans, bereaved parents, and widows; of families who devote most Saturdays to the burial of relatives and friends. We witness the actions of community leaders, medical professionals, research scientists, and educators of all types to see how an unprecedented epidemic of death and destruction is being stopped in its tracks. This book describes how a country responded in a time of crisis. In the true-life stories of loss and quiet heroism, activism and scientific initiatives, we learn of new techniques that dramatically reduce rates of transmission from mother to child, new therapies that can save lives of many infected with AIDS, and intricate knowledge about the spread of HIV, as well as issues of confidentiality, distributive justice, and human rights. The experiences of Botswana offer practical lessons along with the critical element of hope. Publishers Weekly The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Botswana is explored with sensitivity and scientific rigor in this heartening book from Dow, a Botswana High Court judge and novelist, and Essex, a Harvard professor and medical researcher specializing in HIV/AIDS. The authors offer an empathetic account of everyday life in a country where the disease infects one of every four adults—the constant funerals, the heroism of community workers and activists—and miniature narratives from the lives of the suffering and surviving: a teenager raising his siblings after being orphaned, a newlywed's discovering that her new husband is HIV-positive. In broad strokes, the authors cover the transmission and diagnosis of the disease, how drugs are researched and introduced on the market, and the humble and elaborate initiatives that have been so successful in Botswana: circumcision as well as HAART (Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy). Although occasionally repetitive, this richly informative book dispels much of the mystery still surrounding HIV/AIDS, revealing how life goes on for those infected. Readers overwhelmed by (and even numbed to) the images of desolation that accompany coverage of the epidemic will find a realistic but optimistic assessment of a society successfully tackling the problem and a model for other afflicted nations. (May)
PrefaceIntroduction1. A Family of FuneralsThe Epidemic2. I Know You Still Love MeSexual Transmission3. Masego and KatlegoMother-to-Child Transmission4. Mandla Gets TestedDiagnosis of HIV Infection5. The Death of Mma MonicaAIDS Disease in Adults and Availability of Treatment6. Naledi and Her Nephew ShimaAIDS in Children7. It Is theWill of GodHIV and Tuberculosis8. Walking Skeletons and Hesitant HugsToxicities and Resistance to Drugs Used to Treat HIV/AIDS9. The Page Is Turning RedBlood Transfusion as a Risk for HIV Infection10. A Tribal TraditionMale Circumcision to Prevent HIV Infection11. A Matter of CommitmentDevelopment of an HIV Vaccine12. Ancestral ControlEvil Spirits and HIV as the Cause of AIDS13. He Died in ChinaFear and Stigma14. Opelo's RebellionIssues of Adolescents and Women15. Desperation for PonoOrphans of HIV/AIDS16. Government Action Makes a DifferenceA Nation RespondsGlossaryFurther ReadingIndex
