(This is meant to be read in 2 alternating voices.)

Those who follow this blog know I’ve been working on a presentation about children living with HIV/AIDS. Some people ask why, and I tell them I was never that interested in HIV/AIDS until I went to Cambodia and got to know children living with the virus (at Wat Opot). They are alive because they have access to generic (cheap) antiretroviral drugs. It’s not clear how long they can live this way. People say “indefinately,” because they don’t know. “Indefinately” may or may not mean a long life, but the kids I’ve met can teach us all something about living a full life today.

I was thinking of the girl in the photos above when I wrote this poem (To love a child with AIDS). She’s a precious child living with HIV — I hope she has a long and full life ahead of her.

Only 30 percent of the people in the world who need antiretroviral drugs (to stay alive) have access to them, and most (like these children) only have access to first and second line therapies. Each “line” of drug therapy is a progressively complex drug cocktail that usually works for a period of years and then loses effectiveness. When the “first line” fails, a child (or adult) must switch to “second line therapy” (then third line, etc.) or develop AIDS and die. In low income countries, second line therapy is very expensive, and third line is out of the question even for people under the care of well financed NGO’s. For the sake of the children I know, I hope for innovations, new generic drugs, and falling prices. Fifteen of them are on “first line” and five are on “second line” therapy right now. I also pray they will have the best of life in this moment — and the same for you and me.

Right now more than 30,000,000 people in the world have HIV/AIDS, and 2,500,000 are children. Last year 330,000 children died, and 420,000 children became infected with HIV.

Today is World AIDS Day. It’s a good day to learn, think, and do something to make a difference.

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We rode our bicycles to the park yesterday to catch a local festival here in Takao (Ichomatsuri). The kids promptly bought chocolate covered bananas, and I got okonomiyaki (because I’d skipped lunch). Then we walked over to eat and watch local dancing troupes. I enjoyed taking snapshots of the cute kids in between bites, including these girls who danced skillfully in front of us.

Then I started to leave (the kids were desperate to go find the cotton candy), but an old lady said we should see the next group. She insisted, so we stayed.

The next group didn’t disappoint. Their music and dance was a blend of traditional and modern melodies and rhythms so typical of Japan today. They rocked and inspired, and they had a lot of fun.

They changed costumes three times during the performance, and they had a menagerie of shiny and colorful accouterments tucked in their belts:  clackers, fans, samurai swords, and mutli-colored streamers.  The dust rose, the light streamed through, and the flags waved  behind as the dancers rushed about in frenetic displays occassionally stopping for a group pose with a flash of color.

Golden fans … what next?

They just kept piling it on. The girl with the drum, and two others like her, carried the exuberance to a new level with their high kicking drum beating whirls. They were wearing tight leather shots and tops along with their traditional tabi (boots with a split for the big toe).

Finally, the finale!

My kids all said their favorite memory at the matsuri was, um, the cotton candy — except for Mari, who agreed with me that these dancers were tops.

PS – Don’t miss the video in the previous post!

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…I also met Kurara Chibana (1st Runner-Up in 2006) and Hiroko Mima (Miss Universe Japan in 2008).

I walked into the Ginza Gucci Store, went upstairs to the cafe, and there they were standing in the middle of the room looking regal. Someone said, Why don’t you take their picture. So I did.

Riyo Mori, Kurara Chibana, and Hiroko Mima (Oct 25, 2008)

Then I walked around taking photos of everyone, sometimes pausing to grab some roast beef on a cracker or whatever else was coming around.

I was the photographer, and the event was a fundraiser for Room to Read. Room to Read raises money and uses it to build schools and libraries for children in impoverished communities worldwide. Previously, I wrote about my site visit to see Room to Read’s work in Cambodia here.

Later in the evening Erin Ganju, co-founder of Room to Read and future CEO, gave a presentation.

Room to Read got started because John Wood and Erin Ganju (and others) went traveling to see the world. Like countless others they were touched by what they saw. UNLIKE innumerable others, they did something in response. Now Room to Read is having a significant impact to help needy children get an education and access to books — things that really make a difference in their lives.

I hope you check them out, even if you just came here to see Miss Universe photos.

Okay, back to Miss Universe. They had an auction to raise money for Room to Read (Gucci is a big supporter apparently). First, they auctioned several Gucci bags. When I need a “bag” I usually grab either a plastic one with my local supermarket’s brand on the front, or I go “high class” and find a nice paper bag with one of them fancy department store logos on it. Anyway, I was just the photographer and not expected to fit in.

This is a men’s bag. I think they had a Seinfeld episode about mens’ bags.

Later they auctioned off a “Miss Universe makeover.” All three of the Miss Universe women were offering an intensive, full day personal lesson in how to become like Miss Universe. The bidding went to about seven thousand dollars (700,000 yen).

After the auction, they all gathered around the lucky winner, a young man and his wife (or girlfriend?). Riyo Mori turned and gave me a personal glance. Well, it looks like she did. You can almost see the lucky girl in the purple dress (who really didn’t need a makeover IMO) standing behind her.

Okay, that’s my story about the night I met Miss Universe.

Oh, I talked to her — to all of them — but that part was a disaster. I thought I should say something, but I didn’t know what. I’m really not good at meeting famous people. Once I’ve got the “famous” part stuck in my head, I have a hard remembering we’re all just folks. So I said some stupid thing, when I might have said something else, or just kept my mouth shut.

If we’d all sat down and talked for awhile (yeah, right) I would have invited each of them on one of our volunteer trips to Cambodia with Global Adventure. So in case any of you read this, please see the link and join a trip in 2009.

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