News & Inspiration

The Great Granny Revolution follows a group of Canadian women as they respond to the AIDs pandemic in Southern Africa in a personal and inspiring way. Partnering with South African Grandmothers raising AIDs orphans, the women form a group - The Wakefield Grannies. The women have come in response to a presentation at their village to provide emotional and financial support, demonstrating just how powerful reaching out can be. Read more about the film here.

CITY TV: African Grandmothers in Toronto for AIDS Conference, August 2006

"NYAKA: Orphans of AIDS" Documentary Trailer

A film that focuses on the lives of 156 students at the Nyaka AIDS Orphans School in rural Uganda, one of the projects supported by the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

A Grandmother Speaks - Aylline and her 60 Children

Grandmother Aylline Dlamini from Swaziland in southern Africa was looking forward to a well earned retirement from the health service. But that was before she turned her home into a day care centre for AIDS orphans.

A Zambian Florence Nightingale

Edith Banda had eight children with her husband Vincent. When one of her daughters died of an HIV-related illness, Edith was left with her three-year-old granddaughter. She also cares for three other children who were orphaned by HIV/AIDS.

Emmanuel lets his Dreams Fly

After Emmanuel Kalunga's mother died from AIDS, he moved in with his grandmother. He manages to lose himself and forget his worries when he makes a kite out of old bits of rubbish. Emmanuel lives in Zambia, one of the southern African countries hardest hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Abigail's Story: audio slideshow

The story of Abigail, an orphan who lives in Samfya in Zambia. Financial Times reporter Michael Peel visited her at home and in her school.

AIDS in Africa: Stories and Information

Thembi's AIDS Diary

The remarkable audio diary of a year in the life of a South African teenager with AIDS. Not to be missed.
Find out what Thembi has been up to since the original broadcast here and here.

AIDS in Africa: A Turning Point

Excellent Globe and Mail multimedia presentation including country specific audio commentaries and numerous articles by Stephanie Nolen.

28: Stories of AIDS in Africa – Stephanie Nolen

Globe and Mail Video Special "AIDS: Stories from a Continent"
28: The Website
Stephanie Nolen Profile on The Hour
Stephanie Nolen Interview on The Current.
Stephanie Nolen Interview on thecommentary.ca
Interview on The Afternoon Show

The Bicycle

NFB film by Katerina Cizek. Pax Chingawale pedals his bicycle over 20 km a day, visiting his neighbours from house to house. His travels take him to twenty villages, in Zomba District, southern Malawi, Africa. The Bicycle chronicles Pax's journeys as he battles AIDS at the grassroots. Pax is a volunteer for Dignitas International which is one of the projects supported by the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Bloodline: AIDS and Family by Kirsten Ashburn

HIV Stories

A photojournal of AIDS, Poverty and Faith in Mamelodi Township, South Africa

National Geographic - In their Voices

Positive Voices: Winstone Zulu

Winstone Zulu is an HIV activist from Zambia and the first person in Zambia to go public about being HIV positive. Today he runs Kara Counselling, which provides support, counselling and testing services to poor people in Kabwe, Northern Zambia. Kara Councelling is supported by the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

Leo's Story: audio slideshow

The story of Hlengiwe Mchunu (Leo) who has lost six of her eight brothers and sisters and nearly 20 other relatives to AIDS, as told by the Chicago Tribune. Her home in Johanesburg is rapidly filling with her own family's orphans.

Walking with AIDS

Fascinating series of panaramic photgraphs by Mickael Therer with his own audio commentary taken during his two weeks in Mozambique documenting the work of Medicins Sans Frontiers in 2006 as they went on home visits to AIDS/HIV patients. Makes you feel like you are right there with him.

The Nata Village Video Blog

The blog shows the Nata Clinic in Nata, Botswana, featuring PLWA’s (People Living with AIDS), village life, youth groups, the Kgosis (chiefs) and the professionals involved in the fight to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. The videos are the first four pictures in the left hand column.

Episode One Mma Dieketso Sings
Episode Two Mobogo!
Episode Three Nata Clinic
Episode Four Nata Village

Heroines & Heroes: Hope, HIV and Africa by Steve Simon

Africa Perserveres Time Magazine's mutimedia presentation of his photographs.
The Globe and Mail's mutimedia presentation of his photos. Click on Audio Slideshow.

Just Another Day at the Biggest Hospital in the World

The largest hospital in the world is in the South African township of Soweto. Every day, more than two thousand patients check into Baragwanath Hospital. Close to half of them are HIV positive.

Guardian Unlimited's Special Report on the AIDS Crisis

Salvation is Cheap Stories from South Africa. A unique multimedia presentation from Guardian Unlimited by Gideon Mendel.

Guardian Unilimited's Christmas Appeal 2005 documents the work of Medicins Sans Frontiers throughout Africa:

A Day in the Life of a Logistician in the DRC: Audio. Joanna Henderson (27) from Aberdeenshire is a logistician working for MSF in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here she describes a typical day.

Audio Slideshows:
A Ghost City Full of People: MSF in the Democratic Republic of Congo
MSF in Malwai
20% of the Orphans have HIV: MSF in Mozambique
Faith is not Enough: The situation in Nigeria
HIV is like Marriage: It's for Life: MSF in Ivory Coast

Stephen Lewis Video

Stephen Lewis on TV Ontario

Select the program you wish to view from the drop-down menu:
Stephen Lewis with Allan Gregg
Stephen Lewis on Studio Two
Stephen Lewis on Big Ideas University of Toronto 2004

U.N. Special Session on Children, New York, N.Y. May 9, 2002

"Cutting Edge HIV Prevention for Children and Youth"

Washington D.C. Feb 26, 2003

"AIDS Epidemic and Famine in Africa"

Rotary Club of Belleville Ont. 2003

Excerpts from his keynote address.

Global Health Council, Washington, D.C. May 27, 2003

"Our Future on Common Ground: Health and the Environment" Conference: Making the Connections:Linkages Between Health and the Environment

The Hope for African Children Initative (HACI), Washington, D.C. June 3, 2003

"AIDS Orphans and Vulnerable Children: Facing the future in Africa, a Practical Approach"

University of Ottawa Oct 2003

Distinguished Canadian Leadership Awards 2003 acceptance speech on leadership and Aids in Africa.

The N, New York, N.Y. Dec 1, 2003

"Youth and HIV/AIDS" Stephen Lewis moderates a discussion with a panel of HIV-positive young people from Africa and the U.S. He is joined by Carol Bellamy, and Linda Ellerbee, who discusses her experiences filming in South Africa.

United Nations Daily Briefings

March 3, 2004 Briefing on the HIV/AIDS situation in Botswana.

March 31, 2004 Stephen Lewis briefing on HIV/AIDS in Swaziland and the World Health Organization's "3 x 5 initiative".

June 1, 2004 Daily UN briefing focused on Stephen Lewis' trip to Addis Ababa in his capacity as Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Sept 16, 2004 Stephen Lewis briefing about his recent visit to Uganda and Lesotho

Jan 18, 2005 Daily UN briefing including Stephen Lewis discussing Malawi and Tanzania.

March 17, 2006 Stephen Lewis briefing on his recent visit to Lesotho and Swaziland.

San Francisco Feb 8, 2004

11th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections Keynote Lecture

Brown University, Providence, R.I. Apr 24, 2004

"Provoking Hope: A Brown University HIV/AIDS Symposium" - Town Meeting on the U.S. Response to HIV/AIDS

Simon Fraser University Convocation June 4, 2004

Honourary degree bestowed upon Stephen Lewis

Columbia University March 25, 2005

"African Economic Forum: Practical Solutions to Daunting Challenges"

At Columbia's second annual African Economic Forum, Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute, and Stephen Lewis, special envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, investigate the public health challenge and others, including the environment, education, investment and trade. Sachs and Lewis also offer practical solutions to some of these daunting problems.

William J. Clinton Foundation, Harlem, New York Apr 11, 2005

Stephen Lewis speaks at a News Conference: Clinton Foundation Announces New Global HIV/AIDS Initiative.

University of Pennsylvania Apr 26, 2005

University of Pennsylvania's Summit on Global Issues in Women's Health speech about women and Aids.

PBS and the Kaiser Family Foundation, San Francisco, Calif. May 2, 2005

The Public Broadcasters Global Media Summit on HIV/AIDS: Keynote Address: Overview of the Global AIDS Pandemic

International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM), New York, N.Y. June 2, 2005

New Prevention Technologies - Developing Country Leadership, United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS

Harvard School of Public Health June 9, 2005

Commencement Speech

The Hour Nov 8, 2005

Part One
Part Two

Concordia Student Union, Montreal Nov 18, 2005

Carleton University Nov 22, 2005

Carleton University AIDS Awareness Society and REC HALL hosted a meeting with Stephen Lewis, the Secretary General's Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa, on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 at the Unicentre.

University of New Brunswick Feb 2, 2006

"Canada and the World: (Y)Our Responsibility"

University of British Columbia Feb 6, 2006

"World Issues - Local Impact"

University of California, San Francisco Mar 8, 2006

Audio slideshow of a lecture entitled "What Happened to the Human Rights of the Women in Africa?"

British Columbia Teacher's Federation, Vancouver March, 2006

Many teachers at the AGM openly wept to hear Stephen Lewis, the United Nations special envoy to Africa, speak of the annihilation of whole societies by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Carnegie Council March 28, 2006

"Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in Aids-Ravaged Africa". Stephen Lewis offers his personal, often searing, insider's account of Africa's plight and the wealthy world's betrayal.

Montreal, April 3, 2006

Stephen Lewis' speech recorded at the joint conference of the American Counseling Association and the Canadian Counselling Association

Bournemouth UK April 2006

Royal College of Nurses Congress. A presentation of his experience of the devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa, and in particular the disproportionate effect it was having on women.

Mulock Secondary School Newmarket Ont. May 5, 2006

Stephen Lewis visits with York Region High School students.

Columbia University's World Leaders Forum June 8, 2006

Bill Clinton follows with the closing remarks of the conference.
Here is the rest of the Forum that Stephen references:
Welcome and Introduction
Session I: Responding to HIV/AIDS
Session II: Reproductive Health and Reduction of Maternal Mortality

Travelling With Stephen Aug 2006

Ottawa Citizen writer Chris Cobb narrates a slideshow of some of his favourite photos from his trip to Africa alongside Stephen Lewis.

Steady, Ready, GO!: Universal Access for Young People, Toronto Aug 15, 2006

"After All the Talk About Young People During the Past 20 Years, Why so Little Action?"

XVI International AIDS Conference, Toronto Aug 15-18, 2006

Aug 15, 2006
Press Conference with Bill Clinton
Global Leaders Speak Out: with Bill Clinton

Aug 16, 2006
Scaling Up To Reach Universal Access – The Role of the Global Fund

Aug 17, 2006
HIV, Gender & Development: The Poverty, Malnutrition, Food Security Cycle

Aug 18, 2006
Official Press Conference: Closing Press Conference Keynote address by Stephen Lewis

All of the procedings of the conference are available in video and audio at the Kaiser Network.

Harvard School of Public Health Sept 18, 2006

"Reflection on Aids in Africa"

The Naure of Things (excerpts) Dec 2006

"Stephen Lewis: The Man Who Couldn't Sleep"
Stephen talks about the African grandmothers.

The Hour Dec 4, 2006

Georgetown University Dec 6, 2006

"Aids in Africa" Keynote address by Stephen Lewis

Concordia University, Montreal Jan 15, 2007 - Highlights

Plus A Short report from TV McGill

Surrey B.C. Jan 29, 2007

Realizing Our Potential: A Symposium on Human Rights for People with Mental Illness

Ilana Landsberg-Lewis on The Gill Deacon Show Feb 1, 2007

The origins of the Stephen Lewis Foundation

Sydney B.C. April 11, 2007

"Claiming our Future"
Speech to the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union.

McMaster University April 2007

TVO's Big Ideas aired April 28, 2007

Regina, Saskatchewan May 4, 2007

S.O.S. Medicare 2: Looking Forward Conference. Stephen Lewis, who was the UN Envoy for HIV Aids in Africa from 2001-2006, spoke with his renowned passion and connected that topic with the essential justice of a public health care system in Canada.

Calgary August 17, 2007

Human Rights Forum's Globalbest 2007.
Here's an interview with Mr. Lewis later in the day.

CBC TV October 9, 2007

The Hour with Strombo

Stephen Lewis Audio

Saskatoon Jan 30, 2004

"Hope & Despair: Fighting the HIV/AIDS Pandemic"

The Current Jan 12, 2005

The Tsunami crisis versus the AIDS crisis.

Ontario Library Association's Super Conference, Toronto, Feb, 2005

A description of the plight of Africa’s children.
Part One
Part Two

Worldview - Chicago Public Radio Apr 28, 2005

HIV and Women in Africa

Fields Institute Lecture, Toronto May 6, 2005

Social Investment Conference, Toronto, June 14, 2005

Stephen Lewis raises difficult ethical questions about assessing corporate behaviour.

Massey Lectures Oct 2005

“I have spent the last four years watching people die.”

With these wrenching words, diplomat and humanitarian Stephen Lewis opens his 2005 Massey Lectures. Lewis’s determination to bear witness to the desperate plight of so many in Africa and elsewhere is balanced by his unique, personal, and often searing insider’s perspective on our ongoing failure to help.

Part 1: Context
Part 2: Pandemic
Part 3: Education
Part 4: Women
Part 5: Solutions