Poetry

Published in 2010 by the UNESCO office in Jakarta, Indonesia, this poetry book was realized with funds from UNAIDS under the framework of EDUCAIDS, the UNESCO led Global Initiative on Education and HIV & AIDS, which seeks to promote, develop and support comprehensive education sector responses to HIV and AIDS. It is a compilation of 100 poems produced in the national language, Bahasa Indonesia, by students and youth who participated in the poetry design and writing competition sponsored by UNESCO in collaboration with Indonesia National Commission for UNESCO. Up to 700 youth from the formal education sector (secondary schools, including UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network) and non-formal education sector (Local Community Learning Centers or Pusat Kegiatan Belajar Masyarakat PKBM) were invited to participate in the competition. *There is no English translation for the attached book*

This poem was posted by Kimberly (age 18, United States) in 2008 on the Youth Media Exchange website: http://www.ymex.org. As Kimberly says, "It's a poem about the death that HIV/AIDS bring. It talks about those who know the dangers and still think it won't happen to them. Its ask the question to me about what I'm doing to help and if I'm ready to take a stand and I am." (All info was taken from http://ymex.org/writing/view.html?ID=488)

"In My Life" is an edited volume of writing by 14 young people from several township schools in the Western Cape, South Africa, on the subject of HIV/AIDS in their everyday lives. It was published in 2003 by the Centre for the Book (South Africa) and McGill University (Canada). "In My Life" investigates how HIV and AIDS plays out in the lives of the youth participants, in their homes and their communities. It is striking in the finished work to see the enthusiasm and the dedication of the youth to come up with new and inventive ways to tackle the AIDS pandemic and to keep 'getting the word out' in their communities, schools and peer groups. This book is part of that ongoing dedication, and will hopefully serve to inspire and raise awareness in other youth.

The poem “BIOGRAPHY” is a message of hope. Hope and courage in the face of the HIV/AIDS onslaught. It is a “victory song” that tells us that living with HIV/AIDS is not the end of life or happiness and that taking responsibility for one’s life and thoughts and actions is the greatest weapon against the disease.

“A IS FOR AIDS” is a call for human beings to, quoting from the poem, “Infect [ourselves] / With a little / Common sense” and shun the foolishness, irresponsibility and carelessness that so often characterize human sexual behavior.