:: THE DOCUMENTATION

Chapter 1

| The Conference Chair | Listen To The Beat Of My Heart | The Conference Map |
| Voices Of The Conference | Topics And Time-Table |

I N T R O D U C T I O N "Highway to HIV/AIDS Awareness" by T H E     C O N F E R E N C E     C H A I R

A Selection of African voices put in a psychodramtic framework to introduce the "Highway". Behind the stage: Jimmy Ouma, MAAA Kenya (voice) interluded by Usiku Usiweke, Beware Of The Darkness, Member of Watu Wa Watu, Tanzania (drums and flutes).

I am the conference chair I am a source of information and integration. Please listen to me and my suggestions. Please open a dialogue with me. I am a new born african citizen. My parents live like most Africans in a rural area. They are poor farmers. We get only one meal a day. They do not know much a bout the world. They follow the teachings and rules of their ancestors. I do not know yet anything about Aids. And all the other problems. I do not know if Aids has already entered my body. Will I reach the age of ten years....? Will I be one of the millions of orphans...? I am a young student. I have to obey my teachers - I believe in what they say. I wash my uniform every Saturday. I want to learn about life and the society and how to survive. People are talking about this disease Aids and God and the condom. I want to understand everything, but I am afraid to ask about the whole truth. Will I also be a victim..? I am scared. I am a student in secondary school and I know everything about the condom, because I have read magazines together with my friends secretly. I want to keep away from sex and marry the girl I love. But my desire is a big problem – I do not talk about it - it is inside. I am ashamed and disturbed - will I be punished? I am a girl of 14 years age. My parents do not send me to school. My big brothers cost them a lot of school fees. Every day in the morning I sweep the floors of our home and the grounds in front of our house. I help my mother with cooking meals and cleaning the dishes. To learn tailoring is my big dream. I am a teacher student There are so many problems in our society and in the world. I will teach my future students to build a strong and healthy society. My headmaster is very strict. I have to be careful to express my opinions, because in our culture only the elders speak loudly in public. I am a youth leader. We are youth. With my peers I can discuss critical issues. We are open to each other and confident. We feel save in our own circle. I am responsible for each of us. We support each other and tackle problems together to make a better world. How can we reach our fellow youth outside of our meetings who are looking for the same experience? I am a spiritual leader. I deal with many youth. They listen to me. I am close to God and I know the truth. We have been preaching abstinence for many centuries. My congregation is dying. Everyday, we as spiritual leaders burry Catholics, Lutherans, Pentacostals and Muslims - because of Aids. We do not talk to each other. We do not talk to the governmental leaders or the scientists. Their faith is weak. They believe only in the condom. Most scientists do not understand God, they have closed their hearts. My religion is higher than any other religion or discipline. Everybody should read the bible and understand it - like concrete. Jesus Christ is LOVE and FORGIVENESS, I am his servant. I am an artist. I see the world in many colors and shades. God has given me the gift to express different aspects of the truth. I want to show the people what is beauty, what is meaning, what is value. I want to make them laugh about their own human nature and give them joy. Aids is causing a limitless ocean of suffering and my heart is beating with the living and the dying. I am a conference attendee. I left my home to travel and come to the green slopes of the Kilimanjaro which is rising above the African continent and the clouds, majestically, displaying its beautiful face and healing power to all visitors. I have learned many things and have reached my level of understanding. I put my body, mind and heart on the "Highway To Awareness" to share my views and experience and contribute to the efforts to create a better, aids-free future. My great concern is our youth, the seedlings of our common future. How can I stand, live, play and learn together with my fellows in this difficult age of fast change, of uncertain transition? How can I as leader teach my peers to use our common strength and create a spirit of openness, dialogue, respect and mutual understanding, the basic tools to eradicate suffering, greed, ignorance, aggression and hatred, and thus help to heal our inner and outer wounds of division and free us from emotional and mental slavery? Aids and other destructive forces only have a chance if people are kept in a sleeping state. BEING AWARE OF AIDS Is, As timeless wisdom teaches us: "The deeper you listen the deeper you will hear. The deeper you hear the deeper will be your understanding." ASANTENI SANA - THANK YOU Back to the top