Saturday Is for Funerals

Unity Dow is a practicing lawyer in Botswana and the author of four novels. She was formerly a judge with both the Botswana High Court and The Interim Constitutional Court of Kenya. Max Essex is Mary Woodard Lasker Professor of Health Sciences at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. He has been involved in AIDS research from the earliest days of the U.S. epidemic in 1982.

• * Preface * Introduction *1. A Family of Funerals: The Epidemic *2. I Know You Still Love Me: Sexual Transmission *3. Masego and Katlego: Mother-to-Child Transmission *4. Mandla Gets Tested: Diagnosis of HIV Infection *5. The Death of Mma Monica: AIDS Disease in Adults and Availability of Treatment *6. Naledi and Her Nephew Shima: AIDS in Children *7. It Is the Will of God: HIV and Tuberculosis *8. Walking Skeletons and Hesitant Hugs: Toxicities and Resistance to Drugs Used to Treat HIV/AIDS *9. The Page Is Turning Red: Blood Transfusion as a Risk for HIV Infection *10. A Tribal Tradition: Male Circumcision to Prevent HIV Infection *11. A Matter of Commitment: Development of an HIV Vaccine *12. Ancestral Control: Evil Spirits and HIV as the Cause of AIDS *13. He Died in China: Fear and Stigma *14. Opelo's Rebellion: Issues of Adolescents and Women *15. Desperation for Pono: Orphans of HIV/AIDS *16. Government Action Makes a Difference: A Nation Responds * Glossary * Further Reading * Index

This is a remarkable account of the human effect of a pandemic, written by two people with an intimate knowledge of Botswana and its struggle to deal with AIDS. I recommend this book most warmly for its humanity and insight.