Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Education

So I rented a DVD from the library recently. It's been a hard video to watch. It was produced by PBS and Frontline.
It's called The Age of AIDS

You can watch it HERE

Here is a snippet of what they say on the PBS site:
On the 25th anniversary of the first diagnosed cases of AIDS, FRONTLINE examines one of the worst pandemics the world has ever known in "The Age of AIDS." After a quarter century of political denial and social stigma, of stunning scientific breakthroughs, bitter policy battles and inadequate prevention campaigns, HIV/AIDS continues to spread rapidly throughout much of the world, particularly in developing nations.

It's a 4 hour series so I have been breaking it up, besides it's really hard to watch.

It starts at the beginning and brings you to 2006 when it was published. There are so many things I had no clue about. In the beginning I was just a kid/teen and really had no real idea about what was happening. I knew bits and pieces but really didn't know what to think about it all and to be honest didn't really care. It didn't affect me, I wasn't a gay man and I didn't do drugs...and that's the sad reality of what happened with millions of people that ended up infected.

I had no comprehension of the political or social implications of this disease at the time or even really until recently.

This series is thought provoking, educational, infuriating, terrifying, overwhelming and only occasionally hopeful.

I can say I am more than a little bit thankful that we live with this disease now and not even just 5 years ago. I was moved to tears more than once seeing the dispair and anguish, and utter lack of response from so many governments, including ours. And how many still lack response.

It's so sad how many people are still being infected, even in areas where education is being done. There have been some great strides made in Uganda and the U.K.... but we are still so very short here in the U.S. and there are so many infections still happening.

If you have the time...lol I recommend watching it. It will certainly make you think....

1 comment:

Marissa said...

It really was a well done program. I found it really painful to watch and had to step away for days at a time to continue watching it. It made me angry, horrified and sad at the same time.

Thanks for putting this out there. I hope more people watch it.