Letter of thanks to the Ripple Effect

Dear Ripple Effect, Life always seems to bring special moments along just when one needs them most. I am reminded of a book that I read when I was still a child about a Jewish family living in Holland during the holocaust and how the two daughters ended up in a concentration camp after their parents where shot dead in front of them. The eldest child clung to two lessons her father had taught her and survived this ordeal through her faith. The first teaching was that often when things seems really difficult and times are hard and we just cannot understand why certain things are happening to us it is only because we cannot see the designers hand at work. Her father went on to explain that as a child when sitting at her mothers feet and watching her mother making a tapestry all she could see as a child was the knots and loose ends at the bottom of the tapestry and it was only when the tapestry was completed and presented that as a child she could see that all the knots and loose ends actually on the top of the tapestry made up a beautiful picture. In the same way we at times cannot see what God can see and can only see from below the knots and loose ends.

Her father also had taught her a further lesson and that was that often we are given strength and encouragement just at the right time often when things are hard and we are feeling like giving up. One day when she was little she kept on begging to be shown and given the tickets for train trip to Amsterdam and her father said that he would only give them to her when the time was right and they needed them on the platform or on request by the train conductor. In the same way that God gives us the strength to endure when we need that strength most.

For me the Special Soul Award comes at such a time. Thank you for this special gesture, which I gladly and humbly accept. The award to me is a gift meant to inspire me to continue and endure as together our souls will, through love for each other, inspire people to remain positively alive as we struggle to live and face the epidemic of HIV and AIDS. Let us all in the spirit of the Ripple Effect continue to commit to random acts of kindness.

Love and Light
Alan
Positively Alive

Alan Brand awarded The Ripple Effect Beautiful Soul Award

Alan Brand has been awarded the inaugural Ripple Effect Beautiful Soul Award in recognition of his courage in living openly with HIV and for his tremendous work in HIV/AIDS education. The Beautiful Soul Award is an initiative of Creative Ink, Publisher of the Ripple Effect and Impilo Yetho (wellness information in isiZulu). The Award seeks to give recognition to, highlight and honour the work of people who have shown exceptional commitment and courage and who have become sources of inspiration to us all.

Alan is currently the Group Wellness Manager for the Tsebo Outsourcing Group. He was appointed as the Hospitality and Tourism Sector Representative on the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC) in July 2003. Alan’s role as Group Wellness Manager has resulted in him becoming a key player in the fight against HIV/AIDS within the Hospitality Industry, throughout the country as well as in neighbouring countries. He has also project managed the groundbreaking approach to the management of HIV/AIDS through the introduction of a focus on nutritionally enhances food products in the workplace to enhance immune systems and thereby have a positive impact on general wellness.

Alan writes monthly articles for the Ripple Effect. During 2004 he was selected to publish his journals on the Metropolitan website http://www.redribbon.co.za/ diary project. During 2005 he completed a book detailing his experiences in living and thriving with HIV. This book entitled “Positively Alive”, published and distributed through jacana Media, is currently on the shelves at Exclusive Books.

Link to the Ripple Effect website: HERE

POSITIVELY ALIVE

Positively Alive: Living with HIV and AIDS: A Path to Inner Healing

Author: Alan Brand
Published by: Jacana Media
Summary
As a successful, respected and widely accomplished businessman, the last thing Alan Brand expected was to be diagnosed as HIV positive. Positively Alive chronicles Alan's tremendous journey with HIV through vivid and personal journals where his revitalized holistic approach to health became so successful that when he finally divulged his status he had trouble convincing people that he was in fact HIV positive. Breaking the silence about his status helped Alan to turn his HIV status into a positive force in transforming his life and the lives of others.

Positively Alive chronicles Alan's tremendous journey with HIV through vivid and personal journals where his revitalized holistic approach to health became so successful that when he finally divulged his status he had trouble convincing people that he was in fact HIV positive. Breaking the silence about his status helped Alan to turn his HIV status into a positive force in transforming his life and the lives of others.

In writing, Positively Alive, Alan has revealed an intimate and compelling personal account of life with HIV. He shares practical and emotional steps that have helped him live positively with HIV in a rousing account that is both readable and remarkable and gives advice to those who are HIV positive and to their family, friends and caregivers on how to live positively and productively with HIV.

"In 1997 I left my doctors rooms in a state of shock. She had just told me that I was HIV positive. On that day a journey of discovery started.

I remember trying to think what I knew about HIV and found it was very little. One thing, and the only thing I could think of at the time was that I knew for certain I was going to die of AIDS, how long did I have?

I decided to remain silent about my status until I was ready to deal with it. I knew I needed information but didn't know where to find it. Information about HIV/AIDS was mostly about prevention and was based on frightening people into using condoms. I already knew I should have practiced safe sex. I was well informed about the risk of HIV and that I would die of AIDS. This information was useless at this point of my life. But every poster and pamphlet seems intent on propagating this type of fear-based information. Information about living with HIV was difficult to attain. I felt that if I asked for help, people would suspect that I had HIV.

In 1999 I had my CD4 count done, it was discovered that my CD4 had dropped to 236 and I was told that I must start antiretroviral therapy or I would be dead within 18 months. The shock of this news is hard to describe, I guess anger was my first response. My heart cried out in anger:

'Who is this doctor, is he God that he knows how long I have?'

That was the day that things really started to change. Six weeks after changing my attitude and beginning to take charge of the situation I had my CD4 count done and it had recovered to 549. The viral load had also dropped to undetectable levels. That was in January 2000 and at the time I managed to maintain my CD4 and my health without the use of antiretroviral therapy."

Link to publishers webpage: HERE

Link to the above book on the web: HERE