Supporting young people with HIV in Brazil to share their stories
29 January 2008
A project in Brazil by the Alliance and the NGOs Saber Viver and Pela Vidda, has led to the production of a magazine in which young people share their experiences of living with HIV. Brazil is one of the few low-income countries with significant numbers of young people living with HIV since childhood. As antiretrovirals that prolong people’s lives become more available, the number of people who have been living with HIV from childhood is increasing.
Since March 2007, the Alliance, Saber Viver and Pela Vidda have been working with adolescents in Brazil on a project called ‘Thinking about the future’. The year-long project has been supporting 13 to 18 year olds, many of whom have been living with HIV since childhood, to share their experiences of living with HIV.
The project has arranged arts and literature workshops in Rio de Janeiro and Niterói for young people, and one of the outcomes has been a magazine called Saber Viver Jovem (Living young).
The second issue of the magazine, in which the young people involved in the project write about their experiences, is now available. The latest issue includes information about the workshops, questions and answers about HIV, a section on HIV treatment, personal stories, rights and responsibilities, and friendship.
“We hope this magazine will help many youngsters living with HIV like us, to realise that we are like all the other young people in the world,” said three of the project’s participants, Bianca, Suellen and Wallace. “We also hope that this magazine reaches and touches those who discriminate against people with HIV. Get a life! What nonsense!!”
Saber Viver Jovem is available in English and Portuguese, and is being distributed in Brazil and other countries where the Alliance works.
