NAIROBI, KENYA - Life is made up of moments, moments that are valued for the memories that they evoke. But for some people in this world, life is not a rosary of smooth, prayer beads and their future is not a garland of precious moments. For them it is merely the sound of time passing, a clock ticking away.

When HIV/ AIDS first hit the global scene there was a period of denial, followed by disbelief at the havoc it could wreak. Soon after a worldwide campaign preaching hope was started. Faces on TV, on billboards, pasted on lamp posts all carrying the same message. HIV/AIDS was not a death sentence, these messages promised. You could live with AIDS, we were all told.

But as the spread of AIDS continued unabated, turning into a pandemic of immense proportions, claiming more lives and leaving more countries destroyed in its wake, the focus of attention changed. ... READ MORE

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PATRICK FRANK ON THE EXAMINED LIFE:

NORTHHAMPTON, MA, USA - It will be strange to be back in Northampton, Massachusetts with my new wife and step-daughter. This will be part of our summer vacation. I spent a year homeless and alone in Northampton for a year. I know I will drive by the shelter, and I will want to stop, and knock on the door, make some kind of contact.

But I have been advised not to by my therapist. She didn't exactly say that, but cautioned me that I might be prone to re-live the experience emotionally when I return to the setting, In other words, become depressed.

I could. It's possible.

But being homeless was not strictly about depression. Far from it. It was a creative time for me, with a bit more than a tinge of excitement and danger attached to the experience. As a poet, I want to immerse myself in the experience again, I must admit, up to a point. ... READ MORE


THE VOICE FROM MOUNT OLYMPUS:

29 July 2005 - This is like coming up from the deep end of the pool after a long dive. I'm not sure how you feel about it but I feel as though I've been gone a very long time. Ron, my housemate and host, says that I should think of my absence as my ''time in the wilderness.'' That can be taken both literally and figuratively, considering my circumstances.

Of all of the losses suffered when Victoria, the Apple memory machine upon which I have produced this journal during the last five years, departed (Pun intended), the most ironic loss is that of my own column, slated to have appeared when this edition of Your World's Magazine was updated on 13 June. Vickie left me only scant days before that scheduled publication date.

The cause of the delay in your World's Magazine returning in a new edition here on the Web was a combination of factors. My own denial (''She's always come back from near-death before. She'll make it back this time. It's probably only a $20 part.'' ''All of the software that I use to produce the magazine as close to how I envision it is already loaded on Vickie. I can't transition to another machine without losing more time than it's worth.) Ron balked and waited for me to come to my senses.

I was quite proud of the editorial I had written to appear in this space that week in June. I essayed a follow-up to my reporting on the cross-burning in nearby Durham, North Carolina, USA, a manifestation of the abiding racism that obtains here in the American South. ... READ MORE