As long as I can remember ... there's always been AIDS: in memory of lives lost in 25 years of AIDS.

MY STORY IS ONE AMONG MILLIONS of young people who do not remember a time without a computer, MTV or AIDS. When I was very little, my mother sat me down and told me about a pandemic that would eventually become one of the greatest challenges and threats my generation would face. What I didn't know was that "as long as I would remember, there would always be AIDS".*

AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN AIDS.

Nobody really talked about it because it only happened to gay people--apparently--and no one really talked about it, but mummy said others could have it too.

AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN AIDS.

In high school, we got condoms and were told all the time to practice safe sex, or AIDS will come in time. There's always temptation, there's always the rest, but put on a rubber, you kids do your best.

The church said no condoms, no sex is the best, just zip up your trousers and don't show your chest. Boys are shame, shame, shame; you get in that business and you'll be to blame. I don't really like boys and they don't seem to care, so long as there's no sex, no AIDS will be there. As for boys and boys I don't really care, behind closed doors I'm not even there.

AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN AIDS.

Magic Johnson has it, he doesn't look sick? Tom Hanks and Denzel, what the hell? What's really going on? What is really being said? It's all over TV and on the news, it seems like this AIDS is getting taboo.

AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN AIDS.

Everyone's tired of hearing about AIDS and condoms too--leave us alone, we know what to do!

AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN AIDS.

I haven't had sex yet, no drugs here. But he pulled down my shorts in a bad way and pushed down my head.... It's crazy to think that the first time is like this, I hope there's no AIDS here, I wish I was dead.

AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN AIDS.

I can't believe I'm almost eighteen, and after all those lectures, I didn't know what to do. He said he forgot the condoms and that he loved me too; I asked about testing and who he'd been with? I know that's not enough, I know it's not true, but finally I'm pretty and boys think so, too.

I can't tell my mum, she'll kill me for sure; she'll throw away the keys and lock up the door. After all that I said and the work that I've done, I made a mistake, my mouths open wide; I'm such a hypocrite, it's like I have lied....

I know what I'll do, I've got it: I'll wait and give blood-yeah, that's what I'll do, and just as the lady said, if they don't call to say anything, then nothing to fret. Phew, they never called.

AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN AIDS.

I haven't slipped since way back when. God knows, in fear, I learned my lesson then. But now all the time there is news from home (Africa). This one died of a stomach ache, that one of a cold. Nobody says they die of AIDS.

Your village will kill you, your babies won't grow and when your money's all spent, you'll die like an animal and go to hell. Everyone has stories, but nobody knows whether AIDS comes from a virus or it happens when it snows ...

AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN AIDS.

Now I'm in college and we heard some campaigns, but nothing about AIDS in America--it's a problem that's just not here. I tell all my friends, take care of yourselves; one mistake in bed and you could be dead. Ooooh, hush, oh stop, we get the point, but when was the last time you saw Magic J. dead?

AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN AIDS.

Now I am a young woman and I've had enough.... My Africa is dying and nothing's being said. It's like you can live if you've got the pence, but if you ain't got no money, you're gonna be dead.

The campaigns are back and I'm sure glad to see, "wrap it up", said it hip hop, know HIV/AIDS pop, then "think MTV" came and told us fight back. If he says he loves you and you're the best, get on the train and go get a test.

AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN AIDS.

My favorite person died, my sister is sick, my dance teacher died, that lady from church I heard she passed on. So I'm showing these movies downtown at Quad, they'll show you their stories and urge you to test, when you leave the cinema, you all will know best.

AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN AIDS.

"We all have HIV/AIDS"--yes, this is true--from Beverly Hills to Ouagadougou, from Bali to Yaounde, Dakar or Japan, around the world this AIDS has spanned: straight, queer, hunters of deer, grey hair, black, botox or not. As long as I have lived, there's always been AIDS, and it will always be there if nothing is changed.

Go back to your village, bungalow, bed; go back to your mission, your courage, your dread. Stop into your pharmacist, classroom, or talk to your board. Since "we all have AIDS" and if nothing is said, it seems quite simple, we all will be dead.

AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER, THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN AIDS.

But there is one thing, and I believe it is true, there's so much fight left in me and in you. We'll care if people are sick here or there, we'll care about dying anywhere.

So when I look back at my life in 25 more years, I'll see bolded in red: Once there was AIDS, it killed many friends, but now it is over, now it is dead.

Suzanne Engo founded the New York AIDS Film Festival in 2003, which was launched at the United Nations. The Festival is committed to the celebration of life and the use of film and television as a tool to fight HIV/AIDS (www.newyorkaidsfilmfestival.org). At age 11, Ms. Engo spoke at the UN General Assembly on World Children's Day as a Junior Ambassador for Cameroon, and the following year co-founded an NGO called African Action on AIDS.

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*For UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who told us to "make a noise".

RELATED ARTICLE: EDUCATION IS THE SOCIAL VACCINE FOR HIV/AIDS

Education International (EI) is seeking stronger commitments on the key role of schools and teachers in HIV/AIDS prevention, in accordance with the Political Declaration adopted on 2 June 2006 by the United Nations General Assembly special session on AIDS.

EI and the global unions would seek support for the creation of a high-level G-8 working group on HIV/AIDS. The global unions want G-8 countries to honour commitments to deal with the damage the disease has caused to health and education sectors, provide for a considerable increase in resources for health and education services, and ensure proper prevention and treatment programmes.

The 2006 High-Level Meeting on AIDS, held from 31 May to 2 June at UN Headquarters in New York, was attended by more than 1,000 representatives of Governments, UN agencies, civil society and the private sector, for a major review of international efforts to fight AIDS. Delegates considered recommendations on how to intensify prevention, treatment, care and support, with the aim of coming as close as possible to the Millennium Development Goal of universal access to prevention and treatment by 2010.

Wouter van der Schaaf, EI Campaigns Coordinator, pointed out that it was utopian to propose educational solutions to the AIDS crisis without correcting the deficiencies affecting teacher recruitment, training and retention. "It is not realistic to even think about conveying knowledge and skills for an effective education on HIV/AIDS given the huge class sizes and pressures that so many teachers are facing today", he said, adding that "teachers cannot be expected to pass on the knowledge and skills to combat HIV/AIDS when they themselves are facing decreased training and support". He further stated that countries must take up basic issues. "There is an indivisible link between the goal of Education for All (EFA) and adequate education on HIV/AIDS--neither can occur unless the workforce issues of teachers are resolved."

Education International is implementing an EFAIDS programme with a teachers' union in 26 countries, which combines advocacy for EFA at the national level with HIV/AIDS prevention in schools locally. It has published a number of documents, including Education for all HIV and AIDS: The Teachers' Union Response, as well as a report on teacher training in eight African countries entitled Training for Life: Teacher Training on HIV/AIDS.