“I light this candle for you brother. I will miss you.”
These are the words of Georges Malunga, a young Zambian man who shared the story of his brother who lost his battle to AIDS. According to Georges, when his brother learned that he was HIV positive, he just hid his status believing that everyone would run away from him. As a result, the condition of his health became more and more critical and, by the time he revealed his status to his family in order to get help, it was too late.
Like Georges, many people have shared their experience of loss and hopes for an HIV cure in an online diary to commemorate the International Aids Candlelight Memorial. The diary was developed by Speakaids, a youth-led organization that provides HIV information using social media. The objective of this ten page diary was to use new information technologies in order to give people an opportunity to express themselves and to share their story of loss, pain and grief. The stories were collected over a month and also provided an opportunity to send advocacy messages relating to reaching zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS related deaths.
The album was released on the eve of the International Aids Candlelight Memorial, a world event that aims to remember those who have died of AIDS, to express solidarity towards people living with HIV and to provide a platform for community advocacy.
