28 Stories of AIDS in Africa is a 2007 non-fiction book by Canadian journalist and author Stephanie Nolen.[1] It tells 28 stories of people who have worked tackling HIV/AIDS in healthcare, as advocates, and people who have been diagnosed as HIV positive and their family members.
In 2003, Nolen, an award-winning[3] Canadian journalist, persuaded her superiors at The Globe and Mail to let her investigate and report on the AIDS pandemic in Africa.[4] She relocated to Johannesburg where she spent four years researching every aspect of the pandemic.[4]
The book profiles 28 Africans who have HIV/AIDS, who have worked in healthcare or advocacy, or have otherwise been affected by the pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa, noting that 70% of global HIV cases are in sub-Saharan Africa.[5]
The book opens with background material about the work of Nolen, an explanation of HIV/AIDS in lay terms, and notes that 28 stories have been chosen because 28 million people had been infected with HIV/AIDS.[5][4]
Each of the 28 stories opens with a photograph of the person that is the subject of the chapter.[5]
Chapter 10 Cynthia Leshomo of Botswana who worked to reduce stigma[4]
Chapter 11 Mfanimpela Thlabatse a farmer in Swaziland who lost his wife and children to HIV/AIDS just months before the treatments became available to his community[14]
Chapter 12 Andualem Ayalew an Ethiopian soldier who lost his job and who was denied the opportunity to study abroad because of his HIV status[15][16]
Chapter 28 Thokozani Mthiyane a South African who manages his HIV thanks to USAID subsidized medications[26]
The book ends with a chapter about how readers can help.[27]
Critical reception
Stephen Lewis described the book as "the best book ever written about AIDS, certainly the best I've ever read".[28]
The Guardian praised the book for focusing on the stories of people in Africa, rather than USA, and also credited Nolen for linking the stories to culture, society and politics.[1]
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation described the book as "timely, transformative, thoroughly accessible" and described how Nolen writes with "power, understanding and simplicity."[29]
Bono called the book a "formidable book of record."[30]
Laretta Benjamin, an AIDS researcher, described the book as one of the best she has read, complimented Nolan for putting a human face on the statistics.[5]
The New Times of Rwanda described the book as probably the best written account of the history of HIV/AIDS.[4]
James Orbinski said of the book "Read. Weep. Rage. And above all else - like those people described in this book - find the courage to do."[3]
Awards
2007 PEN Canada Paul Kidd Courage Prize (awarded to Nolen for her coverage of the AIDS crisis in Africa)[2][31]
↑ Pozez, Gerri. "28 Stories of AIDS in Africa."Journal of International Affairs, vol. 62, no. 2, spring-summer 2009, p. 241. Gale Academic OneFile, Accessed 18 January 2022.
1 2 Comfort, Laura. "Will the" fight" ever end?: a critical reading of the metaphors and discourses that construct HIV/AIDS in an African context." (2009).
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
