Events 2005–06
April 2005
Youth Elder Summit hosted by the Spirit of Truth Foundation, Georgia
Dr Mary Ann Burris traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to take part in this amazing gathering of elders and youths at the second Bridging the Global Divide: International Young Leaders Peace Summit hosted by the Spirit of Truth Foundation. Healers and elders from Uganda, South Africa, New Zealand and several Native American and African American communities attended the event.
Alliance for Comprehensive Care and Treatment for HIV/AIDS in Africa Bellagio Meeting
With support from the Rockefeller Foundation, TICAH hosted a meeting at the Rockefeller Conference Centre in Bellagio, Italy, to discuss strategies for broadening notions of AIDS treatment and care in Africa. At the end of the three-day meeting participants had formed the Alliance for Comprehensive Care and Treatment for HIV/AIDS in Africa (ACCT) and had crafted and endorsed a statement and action plan for comprehensive HIV/AIDS care in Africa.
Link to Publication(s):
July 2005
7th ICAAP—Kobe, Japan
The TICAH team traveled from Kenya, India and Thailand to take part in the 7th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP). We hosted a ninety-minute performance demonstration called Our Positive Bodies: Mapping our Treatment, Sharing our Choices. We sang, laughed, cried and introduced ourselves and the thirteen body maps we brought with us by telling the stories of the women who painted them. We also took part in the Africa-Asia InterAction gathering that took place at the conference.
African Healing Wisdom Conference (ProCultura)—Washington DC
Mary Ann Burris and Tara Fitzgerald traveled on from Kobe to attend the African Healing Wisdom Conference. Over the course of three days we shared and discussed experiences of and approaches to healing. Dr Burris presented the alliance building work started by the Alliance for Comprehensive Care and Treatment for HIV/AIDS in Africa (ACCT) at Bellagio. We also hosted a policy luncheon for 30 people to build on the enthusiasm for a broadened approaches to AIDS treatment.
September 2005
10th National AIDS Conference in Thailand
TICAH's body maps traveled from Japan to Thailand where they were exhibited in the Youth Lounge at the Thai National AIDS Conference. The interest in the maps was so great that the team was asked to give a presentation of the work on the last day of the conference. We played a slide show of the workshops and then two of our body map artists shared their stories. The maps really had an impact in opening up discussions on HIV, particularly with the youth audience.
October 2005
10th International Women and Health Meeting in New Delhi, India
From Thailand, the Body Maps journeyed to New Delhi where they were exhibited as part of the arts/ cultural component of this meeting. The maps were displayed immediately outside the convention room where all 800 conference participants were able to see them. They spent a lot of time crowding around the maps to read the stories accompanying the maps, which fostered much dialogue. It is a testament to the artists that their work was received as saddening but uplifting, a powerful social message as well as a celebration of life.
Visit to Baba Credo Mutwa—South Africa
As part of our Learning from Our Elders body of work, Mary Ann Burris and Apela Colorado (WISN) traveled to meet with Baba Credo Mutwa, Zulu Sanusi. They interviewed Baba about his experiences with AIDS and his treatments for HIV-related illnesses. Baba has considerable experience in the treatment of HIV/AIDS with valuable suggestions for program strategies for dealing with HIV. He has profound philosophical interpretations of the disease, what it means to us and what we must do to overcome its many challenges.
AfricaAsia InterAction - Art for Action Festival, Nairobi
This week-long gathering of all our Mekong and East African partners was the first opportunity for our Asian friends to experience the realities faced by the African colleagues. During the course of the week we held workshops and discussions focusing on issues such as stigma and household poverty. We went on field visits to our Nairobi based partnersí projects and we participated in a range of exciting art and cultural events that included an awareness raising march through the streets of Nairobi, a photographic and body map exhibition and some theatre pieces.
December 2005
16th ICASA—Abuja
The TICAH team traveled to Abuja where we presented our work in progress Using Our Traditions - A Herbal and Nutritional Guide. We ran a skills building workshop in which we shared the methodology and process for compiling the Guide as well as sharing our own personal experiences of self-care and using herbal and nutritional therapies. The team also participated in the Africa meeting of the Africa-Asia InterAction.
January 2006
AfricaAsia InterAction—Mekong Exchange Visit
TICAH participated in a learning exchange visit to Thailand hosted by our Asian partners in the Africa-Asia InterAction on AIDS. We visited grassroots organizations partnering with RaksThai Foundation, Pattanarak Foundation, Empower, and AIDSNET. East Africa partners visited Mahanchai, Sangklaburi, Song Ca Lia Village, and other organizations along the Thai-Burmese border. Another group visited the Chiang Rai area, visiting Payao, Mae Sai, and other local home-based care projects, income generation schemes, and safe sex projects. After the field visits, TICAH and AHADI hosted a workshop in Bangkok for all participating partners.
February 2006
Heal America First—Great Law of Peace Project
Mary Ann Burris traveled to USA to join the visioning group on a project on the Iroquois Great Law of Peace hosted by the Foundation for Spiritual Democracy and WISN. This project seeks to remember the view of democracy inherent in the Great Law of Peace and its role in the establishment of the United States of America. This project not only links physical health to political health, but also sees that bringing back integrity into conversations about national values in America would benefit the planet and all who live here.
April 2006
Tides Momentum Conference, California
Mary Ann Burris was the only activist speaker from Africa to present at the annual conference. This is an opportunity for a diverse community of donors and activitsts to come together and work to strengthen the progressive movement. Using concrete funding strategies they work to address real world issues and accelerate positive social change.
May 2006
Africa Forum 2006 —The Dual Epidemics of HIV/AIDS and Food & Nutrition Security
Africa Forum 2006 was a gathering of 200 field-based practitioners who shared their first-hand experience in grappling with the issues involved in designing and implementing programs that effectively combat the growing food insecurity and AIDS crises. Tara Fitzgerald and Jadu Rawi ran a skills building workshop to share their experiences in researching TICAH's imminent publication, Using Our Traditions - A Herbal and Nutritional Guide for Kenyan Families. The conference also produced the Lusaka Declaration which identified urgent actions required to address the dual epidemics of food insecurity and HIV/AIDS.
July 2006
Visit to PROMETRA Uganda
Accompanied by three colleagues from the Integrative Medicine Foundation (IMF), Mary Ann Burris and Tara Fitzgerald visited Prometra Uganda. During the action packed three days we visited the shrines of eminent Ugandan spiritual healers and were hosted at Prometra's School of Traditional Medicine in the Buyija Forest. While at the school we were privileged to observe and participate in both herbal and spiritual classes and to witness the sharing and collaboration taking place amongst the students.
August 2006
16th International AIDS Conference - Toronto
TICAH had a very strong presence at the Toronto AIDS conference. We had a booth in the commercial exhibition area.We made many new friends and distributed our publication Our Positive Bodies. In addition to this we held another body mapping performance in the Global Village which. We had presented a poster abstract on our Death Stories work and ran a skills building workshop where we also launched our newly published book, Using our Traditions - A Herbal and Nutritional Guide for Kenyan Families. Yet again, we participated in another Africa Asia InterAction meeting.