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| Lecture - Jose Araujo |
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| Smiling Jose Araujo transcends his HIV status |
Two years after the first Brazilian person with
AIDS died in 1983, Jose Araujo discovered he was HIV positive. He
was 28 years old. Now this man who spends much of his time educating
people about HIV/AIDS is 45 and still living an incredibly fulfilling
and active life. Jose had been brought up by his illiterate grandparents
after his parents abandoned him, but left home at 12 for the brighter
lights of Sao Paulo, where he lived on the streets for some years.
He claims that at the time of being diagnosed, he didn't know that
much about sex, let alone sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such
as HIV. For six years, Jose kept his HIV status to himself, but finally
decided to join a therapy group for people living with HIV. Using
a slide show, Jose introduced the Peace Boat audience to some of his
closest friends from the therapy group including a philosophy professor,
a drag queen, and a parent of two children. Jose related the pain
of watching so many friends die over the years; he stopped counting
after 87 members from the group died. Jose has been receiving anti-retroviral
(ARV) treatment, provided free of charge by the Brazilian government
since 1996. There are currently 14 types of drugs that make up ARV
treatment, nine of these are produced domestically while five are
imported due to patent law. Although Jose is careful not to exhaust
himself and become susceptible to infections and illnesses, it is
clear that his ability to inspire and educate people through his HIV/AIDS
activism and campaigning is not compromised. While on Peace Boat,
Jose displayed a series of educational posters, some of which he featured
in through his advocacy work with the Brazilian NGO known as 'GIV',
which translates to 'Giving Hope to Life'. |
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| Peace Boat's
40th Voyage index |
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PEACE BOAT is an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. |
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