Taking Away the Distance: A Young Orphan's Journey and the AIDS Epidemic in Africa Crusade to Unite Children Orphaned by the Epidemic

Taking Away the Distance: A Young Orphan's Journey and the AIDS Epidemic in Africa Crusade to Unite Children Orphaned by the Epidemic

Taking Away the Distance: A Young Orphan's Journey and the AIDS Epidemic in Africa Crusade to Unite Children Orphaned by the Epidemic

Taking Away the Distance: A Young Orphan's Journey and the AIDS Epidemic in Africa Crusade to Unite Children Orphaned by the Epidemic

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Overview

In this emotional story of hope and inspiration, an African boy, orphaned by AIDS becomes a catalyst for AIDS orphans worldwide. Living in a shantytown in Kenya, Kevin Sumba's life was one of loneliness and hardship. Yet he was determined to get an education. Miles Roston, a documentary filmmaker, first met Kevin while making a film on AIDS orphans. He found that this particular boy touched his heart in a way he hadn't anticipated. Together, they set out to answer "Kevin's Questions" about the AIDS epidemic and more specifically, Kevin's situation. Taking Away the Distance takes us on a singular journey, as powerful policymakers and those working at a grassroots level deal with the direct, and at times confronting, questions of one boy. Along the way, we also meet people directly impacted by the epidemic and face their lives heroically: from children surviving homelessness on Nairobi's streets to a mother on her deathbed whose only thought is how to care for the children she will leave behind. As Kevin and Roston form a bond of love and respect, each learning from the other, we discover just how much our own lives can change if we dare to help.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780786732647
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication date: 04/20/2009
Sold by: Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format: eBook
Pages: 272
File size: 1 MB

About the Author

The Emmy-nominated Miles Roston is a writer and director of films, his most recent being the documentaries Make It Real (to me) for the Sundance Channel, and 14 Million Dreams. Both films dealt with the AIDS epidemic in Africa and its effect on children. Currently he is at work writing and directing a major motion picture, a fable dealing with children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic.

Table of Contents


Foreword     ix
Prologue: Happy Beginnings     1
Meeting Kevin Sumba     4
Orphans on Oprah     13
Return to Kevin     16
Unable to Return     21
Kevin's Next Journey Begins     25
Back to Kenya     37
Albert     42
A Brief Note about God and Condoms     46
The Effect of No Condoms, Stigma, and Preparing to Die     48
Memory Books     57
Death and Watergate     59
Jane Ochola and God     63
Children     68
Science and Condoms     72
From Botswana to Australia     76
Condoms, Condoms, Condoms     84
You've Got to Take Your Tea with Sugar     89
The Mayor     91
A Brief Note about a Congressman     95
The Road to Nairobi     97
What Orphans Learn in Nairobi     102
Chicken and French Fries, and Darth Vader 109     109
Conspiracies and Abstinence     114
Meeting the Archbishop     117
Nyumbani and Humphrey     120
Medicine and Orphans     126
Who Makes the Medicines?     132
What Julia DidAfterward     139
Just How Bad is the AIDS Epidemic?     142
How Did It Get This Bad?     146
A New Kind of "Misery"     149
Dr. Richard Muga     151
Who's in Charge?     153
The War     157
Ponlapat Takes on Kevin's Quest     160
The Sound of One Heart Breaking     175
Lord Buddha and Condoms     179
Kevin and His Rights     184
Human Rights     192
What Kevin Learned from New York     201
A Happy Ending for a street Child     203
The Other Side of the World     206
Kevin Wears the Suit     211
Kevin Meets the Vice President     213
Orphans Reunited with Seventh Day Adventist Chicken     220
Kevin Leaves the Big City     223
Some Happy Endings     228
Orphans of the World, Unite!     231
Epilogue: And Now...     236
Acknowledgments     240
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