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Our next presenter is from the names Project Canada, La Project, Deno, Canada. That's so beautiful. I brought my own cheering section. It's always very moving, listening to cleave. And it, of course, reminds me why we why we are all here. [00:00:30] And sometimes when we're working away at all the administrative functions that are associated with the quilt, I, along with our volunteers, take out some of the panels to look at them again, to just remind us why we're really here. Because it's very easy to get caught up in a lot of the other issues to get the quilt out there. [00:01:00] But back to Canada, Canada is geographically very large. I should have brought a map. We are in fact physically larger than the United States. But we only have 29 million people in our country to accommodate the major concepts of the quilt. What we did was establish a national [00:01:30] board. Now, for those of you in geographically large countries, you know that this presents its own kind of difficulties. So we have board members across a 5000 mile distance. We try to arrange them every 1000 miles or so, so we have the country divided into five geographical regions and in each of those regions [00:02:00] we have small committees working together as well as our five regional directors on the national board. We have four members at large, all of whom are HIV positive. They remind [00:02:30] us on a daily basis, what those issues are that are important to the HIV community and, of course, to all others who are affected. We began our project in 1989 but as many of you know the there are a lot of political difficulties surrounding HIV AIDS. And in Canada, the pro the original project [00:03:00] folded after three years. We then had a break for two years, and it's only in this last year that our new group has taken over management of the quilt. In fact, we're about one year old this week. Yes, Happy birthday. We have now 55 sections [00:03:30] in the Canadian quilt that represents approximately 1100 names. We have 450 individual panels, and our first national display is going to be next week in Edmonton, Alberta, where we will have all our sections together. When I take [00:04:00] the three that we have here, this week. We've had about 40 displays and loans in the past year. We loan anywhere from one section to all 55. But mostly we find that the impact of the quilt can be felt with two sections or five sections or 10 sections, [00:04:30] and so that those are the loans we try to encourage. We've had some. Well, what I should say is all the loans are very emotional. They are to each of the audiences. But we've had some particularly interesting loans in the past six months. We were invited by a very large Buddhist community in Halifax, which is where [00:05:00] I'm from on the east coast of Canada to have three quilts or three sections at the investiture of the new spiritual leader for a very large Buddhist community. And that was a particularly moving event. Their their spiritual leader, commented on the sections that were there. We also had sections in a northern [00:05:30] Canadian community for a native stone raising ceremony and of course, like most of you, we have sections in schools and in universities and just generally in communities who are interested in raising awareness. Education for us is the key. We also have a high school [00:06:00] quilt programme which was based on the UK S production of materials and the programme that they have. We're very grateful for that. We're just beginning, as you might imagine, because we're only one year old. We completed last week our own Internet project. So we have photographs digitised of all 55 sections on a CD ROM, and we're now talking about [00:06:30] some of the ethical issues around the use of those images. And we would be delighted to talk with any of you who can share with us some of your concerns or ideas about changing the public image of the quilt. Once you put the quilt on the worldwide Web or computers, you start dealing with the quilt in a very different way. We have concerns [00:07:00] about this, and, as I said, we would be pleased to hear your thoughts on how this can be most effective and just like all of you, I'm sure funding is a major issue. We're all volunteers at the national board level, and our primary objective is to get the quilt out there and to talk to people. As Cleva said about the individuals behind these panels. Canada [00:07:30] is a little bit different than many of the other countries. We do have a fair amount of funding for AIDS community projects, but of course it's never enough. We're delighted to be here. There are four of us. You can tell us by our shirts. Not today, Judy. And please feel free to talk to us and share with us your ideas about what you're doing. Thank you very much. [00:08:00] Our next presenter is from the Zambia AIDS Memorial Quilt. I am from [00:08:30] Zambia, a country of about 8 million people. Zambia could be as big as Nigeria. Um, I come from a region where AIDS actually Zambia is a place where it's the hardest hit in the world. And, um, I can't wait to [00:09:00] see the quilt back home. I'm surprised to see that we have few people who have come from a region where AIDS is the order of the day. I think the quilt would be the best tool of education back home because it is not too academic. I am called [00:09:30] Mr AIDS when I work with the quilts on Outreach and AIDS education. Not that I've taken the quit very often, yet our Zambian AIDS memorial panels still being rather recent I have been and an AIDS educator and counsellor at our house for the last three years. Her house [00:10:00] is at home, a place where people are HIV, positive, are welcomed. The stigma is so strong in my country that people seldom talk about it, that people who are diagnosed HIV positive cannot be talked to or you can get close to them. I tested [00:10:30] positive in 1992. Join the positive and living squad as a group of people who are who is whose status is positive. I gave up my job as a brick layer, discovered my talent as an artist and became an outreach education worker. [00:11:00] Last month, the British Council in Lusaka that is the capital city of Zambia, had called for Hope House, this person to give a talk to their staff. I and two other pals colleagues responded. I had taken our hope house quilts and gave a talk to a capacity of 30 people [00:11:30] using our four panels as openers. At first, the people did not show any interest, but when I hung up the panels, it made them curious. I told him that the panels commemorated my pal's friends at her house about my own positive status and about the importance of being open and careful about AIDS. Comments were. If someone dies of AIDS, [00:12:00] the chapter is closed. It is better not to talk about it. Why remember someone who is gone? I knew that the British Council had lost their librarian to HIV and that a panel in his memory had been made. Not all staff members knew what it meant to have Mr Monas quilt on display in their video library, even though they had all signed it. [00:12:30] It gave me the perfect opportunity to talk about remembering the names and about the AIDS chapter being far from closed two weeks before I've been to a two week artists workshop, 23 artists from 23 artists from all over the world. We are assembled to work on their designs and techniques. I am a painter and a sculptor, and apart from working on my art, [00:13:00] I used every opportunity to talk about my other work that is counselling and and AIDS outreach education. At lunchtime dinner or break time, I brushed to the topic that is our end. My nickname Mr Aids. I sold T shirts inscribed Use a condom and no condom, no sex. I told the Kenyan delegate how HIV [00:13:30] was transmitted. He didn't know and I ended up telling everybody who infects whom, where they are, learned that another of the powers had passed away. Redness. Shinde was her name. I had known her very well, but couldn't help but think another name for the quilt. [00:14:00] Last month I lost my very good friend and pal colleague Dixon Chita. During the last two weeks of his life, he was lying unconscious in hospital. Neither the nurses or his family wanted to touch him or care for him. I did, actually. We have brought his quilt, which [00:14:30] you soon see thank you very much. Our next presenter is from Memorial Quilt, Japan. On November [00:15:00] 10th, 1990 about 30 people from all walks of life gathered at a dying studio in Kyoto, a student creators, art gallery, proprietors, architects, businessmen and in this group was Mr Yoshiki Ishida, who later Bra bra, stepped forward to be the person to publicly announce his HIV status. [00:15:30] This meeting was the best of America to Japan at this time. The spread of the HIV virus was just beginning to be used as a serious social issue in Japan. Due to the ignorance and misinformation in the society, those infected with HIV were forced to live very uncertain lives. [00:16:00] The creation of NPO groups and the beginning of a movement to teach the general public and the choice of AIDS was initiated by people living with HIV and AIDS. Except for some very expect, the mass media government and those in the medical field has a tendency. [00:16:30] Oh, sorry. Uh, except for some very rare exception, the mass media government and those in the medical field has a tendency to ignore the plight of those affect affected by HIV. Many of the spreads have either [00:17:00] been school related or held at academic institutions. Institute. The sex education of the Japanese school system is infamous for ex excusing any so called controversial subject. This explain why it does not allow for any open discussion of AIDS [00:17:30] because of this conservative position. The circles, the flame clam touching the heart of the matter, only mentioning in a vague, vague and informative way the importance and importance of prevention of AIDS in the field of education. The market has presented a way for [00:18:00] the Japanese to focus on not only the issue of prevention, but to also recognise the human side of the issue and the I the importance of normalisation. As a result of our contributions to aid education, students had been able to not only know about the, but also [00:18:30] because able to think was seriously about their own sexualities and lifestyles and bodies. This movement has an important role in education. Those who many who may become become involved in AIDS [00:19:00] frontier works in the future. In addition, we have also been invited to hold this spread at many health centres and administrative office and various community groups. Here, I I'd like to show you one panel of our kilt. This is the most [00:19:30] recent in the Japan because we are able to put in with an eight panel set we have brought it at one panel, are here There is no name or any form as identification. So on it. Yet because this type of bad this type of bad the crop, [00:20:00] they present a certain region of Japan, we know from where it originated, the blood symbolised the sadness and tray of the HIV positive Hemophilus the arrow. They present the prejudices of the society. The has injured the bad wing wings. [00:20:30] This cure is in memory of the people with HIV and AIDS who have passed out or continue to fight against AIDS in this region. The number of government number of doubts, the present, the number of people with have passed away and left this open and [00:21:00] compassionate world to fight off to heaven and legally. According to the government statutes, the number of people with HIV and AIDS in this region is zero. This is because the number of AIDS cases reported by the government does not include those people infected by contaminated [00:21:30] blood products, the AIDS prevention policies and active by the administration as the government's way to ensure that the number of cases remained zero. In such a society, the making of a cure also provides a A media for the PW, a [00:22:00] friends and family to express their feeling dispute and that the spraying of it had broken through many so social table and even a lot for families or the to discuss it more openly. [00:22:30] The cut further strengths theon the bond between one another and plays a vital role in the mourning progress process. In addition to this code, I invited you to take a look at the code with their courageous expression. Drank the next three days. Thank [00:23:00] you.
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