Story Pack- English Version

story pack

dance4life Vietnam

Thank you for downloading dance4life Vietnam’s story pack! In it, you’ll find stories and quotes from our agents of change, ambassadors, School Tour Team members and people from around the world! If you have a story to share, please email [email protected].

School tour team Hoai Anh Ladies and gentlements! My name is Hoai Anh. It is indeed my honor to be here today and to speak up our thoughts in front of all of you on behalf of Dance for Life team. I am very proud to say that my participation in WPF’s project has changed my life for the better. I am sure that my friends in the team would feel the same. I feel like I have found another family and a lot of new good friends here. We are really close to each other, love each other just like brothers and sisters. We have shared a great deal of unforgettable memories when we practised a new dance or when we traveled to other provinces to perform. Those sweet moments are still vivid in my mind. Without a doubt, this is the greatest HIV-prevention event that I ever took part in. It is exciting and very innovative. I always feel overjoyed when I join the team to perform somewhere. The project not only taught me more about HIV/Aids but also taught me not to hold any driscriminative thoughts against people with HIV. Among many other ways to prevent the fatal disease, D4L project is such a good approach that bring us together and help people with HIV. I have become an active and devoted member of the project. I used to be very afraid to communicate with people with HIV. But it is history now. I am proud and I would love nothing more than to use my knowledge and experience in and for public HIV prevention activities. I truly would love to share my sympathy with people with HIV. The project has indeed opened my eyes and made me a much more mature person. I’m pleased to see dance4life has expanded to Danang and HCMC this year. I hope that more and more students and young people can take part in the project; that all of the young people all over Vietnam would feel grateful as I am today. And I hope that people with HIV would just have a normal life in our society. No more discrimination against them. Thank you very much.

agents of change Nguyễn ThịLinh Chi Nguyễn ThịMinh Khai Highschool Class: 11BD12 Frankly, I am very afraid of AIDS… I don’t know why, but ever since I was small, all the people around me, including my parents, have been afraid of it. Nobody wants to stay close to people living with HIV and of course, I always assumed that it was the right thing to do… this was the right thing to do/right way to behave Then surprisingly, last year me and my friends my friends and I had the chance to participate in dance4lifea global project. dance4life truly gives me many valuable lessons which I would not be able to study learn from either teachers’ lectures or books. Since then, I have changed my mind quite a lot. Now I think AIDS is simply a disease, just like many other ones such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, cancer etc… Probably, the only reason why people are afraid of it is that AIDS is still incurable. Everyone is afraid of how it is transmitted transmission. However, one thing that I am sure not all people realize is the sadness of people living with AIDS. Poor them! … Let’s push back epidemic HIV/ AIDS as well as stigma and taboos against people living with HIV. “We are all the same. No discrimination!

Nguyễn Thanh Hiền Lê Quý Đôn highschool Class: 10CB4 Feelings about dance4life event 2008 When I say “dance 4…” you say: “…life” Dance 4 life, dance 4 life Take Responsibility for life…..!!! I can, you can, together we can all BEAT AIDS!!! These are the slogans and lyrics of dance4life song. When the dance4life 0 event was organized last year, the temperature was only 15 C, but all 3000 students from four high schools in Hanoi gathered in My Dinh national stadium and made the atmosphere really warmer- so much warmer!. We danced and sang together happily, we totally forgot about the cold weather. Although we didn’t have much time to practice, we all tried our best to use the dance and music to make more and more people understand about HIV and AIDS, then we can all sympathize and help them to have better lives. dance4life is a very meaningful programme, helping people to share and help unlucky people. The message given by dance4life is “let’s live responsibly, live for communities, let’s care and share with people living with AIDS. Let’s live for everyone!” TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR LIFE!!!

quotes Vietnam Chinh Thi Nguyen – member of School Tour Team (volunteer) Dance4life members living with HIV participate in the project very actively. The stories they tell about their lives and what they do for students have touched me deeply. We feel very close and don’t differentiate members who are living with HIV or not in the volunteer group. Huyen Thanh Ta- member of School Tour Team (volunteer) Taking part in the dance4life project has helped raise my self-confidence and understanding that people living with HIV are just as normal as we are. Thu Thi Ha Nguyen- student of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai high school I think this is a very meaningful class. Through dance4life, I know much more about HIV and I also understand that we should care about people living with AIDS, not discriminate them. Chu Thi Huyen – student of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai high school This dance4life workshop is totally different. We participated in lots of activities: group discussion, play and dance. It helps me to openly talk about HIV and AIDS. Student Nowadays many people are affected by HIV and AIDS and they have to stand discrimination by society. So I participate in the dance4life project to make a contribution in decreasing their unhappiness and helping them live a life equal to other people. Xuan Bac – comedian & entertainer, dance4life Vietnam Ambassador As an artist I think we all should create a healthy and positive way of life. Let’s dance for life and help push back HIV and AIDS. Thanh Viet Nguyen- Manager of “Big Toe” hip hop group (dance4life Vietnam Ambassadors) Dance4life is a very interesting and effective way to push back HIV by dancing and learning. Tu Long – comedian & singer, dance4life Vietnam Ambassador Music and dance bring people closer and that is when we can exchange the message about a world without AIDS. Ashok Sud, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank in Vietnam, sponsor of dance4life Dance4life demonstrates an impressive movement for an important cause by the youth to fight HIV/AIDS. Tran Vu Hoai, VP Corporate Relations Unilever Vietnam, sponsor of dance4life Dance4life is such a wonderful initiative to showcase the strength of youth uniting in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

International Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa Dance is a universal language. Dance is freedom, dance is exhilaration, dance is life. By dancing for life, young people ask you and me to support them. They move their bodies to move their future. HIV and AIDS are the biggest threats to that future, all over the world. Every day there are fourteen thousand new infections. Young people deserve information, condoms, care, medicines, love and protection. Please don’t let them dance alone. Svetlana Toderas, (Dance4Life Moldova team member) I felt that we really can change the world. Know I realize better that all our activities are really great and just all together we can beat HIV/AIDS. I believe that the only way to really achieve this is to involve the young people in. Youth are the solution and have a strong voice that need to be heard! Being young I’ll continue to do my best implication in this international project. Dance4Life is a healthy, positive and expressive way to connect young people's hearts, I’m in love with Dance4Life! Expect from me the best! I am properly skilled and I feel no fear! Dance4Life Moldova is the power of youth and the energy of dance. Mohammed (19) from Egypt We, young Egyptians, have a great willingness to change society and make things better, but until now we didn’t have any option for our energy Umberto Bernado, UNAIDS Technical Officer, Egypt History has taught us that, when built upon committed and courageous persons, revolution can be stopped, only when they have reached their final objective. And Dance4Life is indeed a “revolution” in the response to HIV and AIDS. Gilberto Gil, Minister of Culture Brazil Dance4Life can bring mobilisation, action, a consciousness about what we should do, togetherness, love, affection, commitment, all of that. The Zulu Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi MP, Traditional Prime Minister of the Zulu Nation Our beautiful country is also the worst affected by HIV and AIDS. Young people, especially girls, are bearing the brunt of this disease. This epidemic is mercilessly mowing down our youth. Dance4Life offers a shining ray of hope. Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations Dance4Life is a wonderful example of how the talent and strength of young people can energise our struggle. Dr. Nafis Sadik, special Envoy to the UN Secretary General for HIV/AIDS in Asia and patron of Dance4Life HIV/AIDS is the biggest threat to the future of the youth in the world. Let’s Dance4Life and change the future. “Tell me and I will forget Show me and I may remember Involve me and I will understand” Confucius