Making beads from the pages of magazines

The room that I have worked in this week has fantastic acoustics. There are times when I am working along side a person in the group that I have been involved with, all people who are living with AIDS, and suddenly one will break out in song. Soon the room was filled with people singing in perfect harmony...often a church song, but always a song that everyone knows. When the room fills with music sometimes I have to sit back and marvel at the fact that everyone is singing with such hope and such promise, it's a beautiful thing to watch because it happens with seemingly no effort. All of this singing takes place as men and women alike learn how to make beads from the pages of magazines. The beads are beautiful, but what is more beautiful is watching the effort that goes into it. The men who take such care in picking out the perfect colors; the women who carefully roll the magazine and glue the end with precision in order to make the perfect bead. Every bead-maker is different, and yet they all have something in common...they are all living with AIDS and they have all made a decision to be vocal about their status to teach others how to live positively, how to stay on ARV medication, and how to inspire others with income generation projects. As the song ends in the room, there is a quick silence before the next song begins. Beads are still being made, the bead-makers are still trying to live from day to day; and, hopefully, lives are changing for the better.