Mumbai (Bombay), India
Dr. John visited 20 year-old Sayeeda, an HIV positive mother of three children. Until her young husband was diagnosed with AIDS at the time of his death, she had never heard about the disease. Her neighbors shunned Sayeeda and her children so Dr. John visited her home in the shanty town outside Mumbai. He purposely touched Sayeeda and held her HIV+ baby, Arbaz, in front of startled neighbors. |
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Running Time:
01:03 Min. |
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Durban, South Africa (Scene 1)
Dr. John engages youth directly in his mission to educate teens' thinking about sex and HIV risks as their bodies mature. Two PeerCorps volunteers Lloyd and Gugu spoke to their young countrymen about Dr. John's ABCs of AIDS (click here). It was amazing to see how they captured the young teens' attention because they were role models doing this work as volunteers. The government has had a mixed record fighting HIV among youth, preferring to shy away from the medical facts. South Africa has a major AIDS problem. |
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Running Time:
00:34 Min.
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Durban, South Africa (Scene 2)
In the outlying townships of Durban, youth in poor black neighborhoods hear very little about HIV prevention. Many myths abound. Dr. John, Gugu and Lloyd found interested youth wherever they did “AIDS Attacks.” Many people are surprised that we walk the streets, visit their homes -- and aren't doing religious proselytizing. |
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Running Time:
00:35 Min.
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Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
There is something sad but vibrant about Sarajevo after the brutal war tore the city asunder. Bombed out buildings reminded me of the killing yet little kids play without harsh memories. Four older youth remember all too well, each having a friend or family member who died. Dr. John tells these youth that AIDS is now their generation's battle. |
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Running Time:
01:54 Min.
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Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Scene 1)
Home to one of southeast Asia's fastest growing HIV infections, Cambodia also boasts some very dedicated youth leaders who work with Dr. John. A group of PeerCorps volunteers gather in the morning to make plans. Chhavelith Vathdana (in the white tee shirt) works with Dr. John as leader of the volunteers. He now serves on our Global Advisory Board. His friend Sorn Soth (in the yellow shirt) lives with AIDS. |
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Running Time:
00:52 Min.
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Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Scene 2)
The Russian hospital in Phnom Penh is where many AIDS patients finish out their lives. Chhavelith's group visits and distributes food and small gifts like soap. TeenAIDS donated warm rice, fresh fruits and water each visit. Showing great compassion, the PeerCorps volunteers helped change the bedding and clean the sweat and soil off their tired bodies in the humid tropical heat (hospitals provide only a very few basics). |
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Running Time:
01:26 Min.
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Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Scene 3)
Taking our lifesaving message to poor neighborhoods where most youth don't attend school, is one of TeenAIDS' main missions. With land in and around Phnom Penh growing scarce, people living on the edge (and often with AIDS or another ailment, find refuge in swamps. That's water they bathe in and cook in, when they can't afford to buy chlorinated water. Some of their stories about living with AIDS are heart wrenching; they had a powerful impact on the teen volunteers. |
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Running Time:
02:35 Min.
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Saigon, Vietnam
On every visit, Dr. John speaks at Sunday English language clubs throughout Saigon (HCMC). The government run Youth Union hosted this visit and “youth of every age attend the sessions where they also break up into small groups to practice conversation skills. When I'm the speaker, they learn about English and AIDS. Good for me and doubly good for them. |
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Running Time:
02:06 Min.
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Kathmandu, Nepal
The scene opens with a human cremation by the river, an almost everyday occurrence in Nepal. I first met Sabitha (20, in white and blue dress) at a school where she taught. Together with her friends Namita (16) and Pratima (15), we walked the streets talking to women who knew nothing about this preventable disease. I admire these young women volunteers for going against social norms to help inform others. Returning to the car, I caught the taxi driver yelling at them for being bad Muslim girls. The papers they passed out were written in Nepalese. |
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Running Time:
02:01 Min.
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Oaxaca, Mexico (Scene 1)
Stop Action Theater is used by Dr. John wherever he goes. Taking to the parks, trainees put on improvisational skits to tell the story of AIDS in a very public and accessible way. It is called “stop” action because anyone can jump into the scene, taking the place of one of the street actors and add their opinions. Often funny, the serious message gets through to hard-to-reach youth. The skateboarding boys on the bench were skeptical at first but soon participated with gusto. |
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Running Time:
04:57 Min.
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Oaxaca, Mexico (Scene 2)
This night scene was filmed after the sun had set on the Stop Action role-playing. The teens all had questions because none of them could ever recall someone explaining the danger from HIV before. I notice that I had more hair then (2000). |
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Running Time:
00:30 Min.
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Manaus, Amazon, Brazil
In the Amazon region of Brazil, travel to remote villages is by boat. Their homes, even the local school, is on a boat that can rise and fall with the river levels to avoid seasonal flooding. Fa was my first volunteer, her English was excellent; and Allen Roosevelt was a semi-pro soccer player who wanted to teach about AIDS. Another of our regular volunteers was Alexandre who can be seen bringing supplies on the boat. Oh, don't put your hot and tired feet into the water because the piranhas love wiggling toes. |
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Running Time:
05:11 Min.
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NECN TV, Boston, Massachusetts
Regional report from New England (Boston)
Upon Dr. John's return from the first-ever Global Walk to empower youth to learn the medically accurate facts to help save their peers, his “Walk of a Lifetime” had introduced the TeenAIDS-PeerCorps message to 70,000 to 90,000 youth in 40 countries. Additional tens of thousands heard about the volunteer mission on TV. Dr. John sees the media as a tool to educate youth in taking responsibility for their generation's war against Youth HIV/AIDS. He had great successes and serious problems - including arrest in one Caribbean country, his informational business cards confiscated in East Asia, and secret police surveillance (!?) in an eastern European country.
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Running Time:
03:49 Min.
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