Description
In the year 2000 the World Health Organization estimated that 85 percent of fifteen-year-olds in Botswana would sooner or later die of AIDS. In Saturday Is for Funerals we learn why that may not happen.
Unity Dow and Max Essex tell the actual story of lives ravaged by AIDS―of orphans, bereaved parents, and widows; of families who devote most Saturdays to the burial of relatives and friends. We witness the actions of community leaders, medical professionals, research scientists, and educators of all types to look how an unprecedented epidemic of death and destruction is being stopped in its tracks.
This book describes how a country responded in a time of crisis. In the actual-life stories of loss and quiet heroism, activism and scientific initiatives, we learn of new techniques that dramatically reduce rates of transmission from mother to child, new therapies that may save lives of many infected with AIDS, and intricate knowledge in regards to the spread of HIV, in addition to issues of confidentiality, distributive justice, and human rights. The experiences of Botswana offer practical lessons together with the essential component to hope.