28 : Stories of AIDS in Africa

There are 28 million people living with HIV in Africa. How can we begin to make sense of this vast number? Here, in 28 powerful, unforgettable stories, we see the human faces behind the statistic.

From the woman doctor who is dodging bullets to run a makeshift clinic in war-torn Congo to Nelson Mandela’s decision to go public about the cause of his son’s death, and from the trucker who has spent a lifetime picking up prostitutes on the lonely highways of East Africa to the Botswanan beauty queen proud to be crowned ‘Miss HIV Stigma-Free’, here we meet 28 people whose lives have been affected by Aids.

Their stories touch upon famine, genocide, government corruption, foreign aid, sexual politics, and the brutal economics of drug treatment, and together build into a compelling portrait of a continent at crisis point.

And yet, not a single one of these inspiring individuals could be described as a victim, and in giving this catastrophe a hopeful human face, Stephanie Nolen’s eloquent and sympathetic book makes it impossible to ignore and impossible to forget.