[procaare] Re: In memory of Peter Busse (2-3)

["UNAIDS & Health-e" <mchatani@4u.com.gh>]

Re: In memory of Peter Busse (2-3)
2. UNAIDS Press Release
3. Health-e Report
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Re: In memory of Peter Busse (2)

UNAIDS Press Release: 9 January 2006

A TRIBUTE TO PETER BUSSE
1958-2006

Geneva, 9 January 2006 - It is with great sadness that UNAIDS learnt of
the death on 6 January 2006 of our longtime colleague Peter Busse.

Only last April Peter held a party to celebrate the 20th anniversary of
his HIV diagnosis. During the 20 years since his diagnosis Peter was an
extraordinary leader in the response to AIDS both within his home
country of South Africa and internationally. He lived openly and
positively with HIV since the early days of the epidemic and through his
work, supported thousands of others to do so.

In the late 1980s Peter founded South Africa's first AIDS support
organization, the Township AIDS Project (TAP). He was a Director of the
National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA), and in 2000
assumed the role of Community Programme Committee Co-Chair for the World
AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa.

A phenomenal trainer, Peter was in great demand as a consultant,
traveling extensively throughout the world. One of the more remarkable
things about Peter was the quiet dignity with which he always carried
out his work and led his life. Peter was a man who truly made a
difference but did not shout about it. Loved and respected by many
people the world over, he will be sorely missed.

With Peter's death, we must make sure that his contribution to the
history of AIDS is not lost.

Source: UNAIDS Website http://tinyurl.com/dysbm

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Re: In memory of Peter Busse (3)

A tribute to Peter
Living with AIDS #243
by Khopotso Bodibe
Health-e Report: 12.01.2006
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Peter Busse loved a good party and played host to some of the greatest
parties around. However, he didn't only love to play. He was also a
renowned teacher on HIV and AIDS. And his passing on has left a void in
the AIDS community.

KHOPOTSO: If memories can be taken to the grave, the latest party Peter
hosted in December, would probably be one of the two that he would be
smiling about for eternity. Had he known, he would have probably said
that this was his exit party from life here on earth. The other one was
in April when he threw a party to celebrate 20 years of living with HIV
and to say "thank you" to all those who had supported him over that
period. I remember his lack of modesty when I interviewed him shortly
after that party. I made the mistake in one of my leading questions of
saying there were some 100 people in attendance.

PETER BUSSE: Don't sell me short. There weren't a hundred people. There
were 250 friends and colleagues.  

KHOPOTSO: A little over a week before Peter Busse died I had called him
on his cellphone and in his typically forthright, yet colourful and
cheerful self, he announced not so long into our conversation that
"Khopotso, darling, I'm hosting a small party and it's kind of rude that
I'm on the phone with you. Let me call you tomorrow morning". We said
our good-byes early that Friday evening before Christmas, unaware that
that would be the very last time we'd ever chat. But not wanting him to
worry about calling me back the next morning, I quickly wrote him a
short text message to convey one from a mutual friend, the reason I had
called him.                       

Busse was always the life and soul of the party, but at his party in
December, reveals another mutual friend who attended, Peter was not his
usual self. It's reported that "he was tired" and that "he spent most of
the evening in bed". Earlier in the year, Peter had intimated to me that
he was exhausted from his work on HIV and AIDS education, here and
abroad. He described his exhaustion in an extremely profound and
prophetic manner.

PETER BUSSE: That's a feeling which I've had many times, of like, "I
cannot do this anymore. I am just tired. I just want to kind of rest.
And I want to rest, like, for so long that it just like eases into
death".               

KHOPOTSO: He eventually died, and quite unexpectedly, last Friday
morning on January the 06th. But, as he thought about death and dying,
Peter never really viewed that eventuality as a big ending.  

PETER BUSSE: Your residue remains scattered (he chuckles) across
hundreds of people, that you, in a sense, continue to live. You know, if
I were to die today I would continue to be a kind of reality in many
people's lives for a long time to come. I don't see death as the end. I
think it's just like a change.  

KHOPOTSO: And change he has brought to many lives in his own lifetime,
tracking the  "late forties", as he would often say, shy to reveal his
true age. In 1987, two years after his own diagnosis with HIV, Peter
joined the cause of teaching and creating awareness about the infection.
Before the end of that decade, he and a group of others, including the
late anti-apartheid, gay rights and AIDS activist Simon Nkoli, founded
the Township AIDS Project, based in White City Jabavu, Soweto. Amongst
many of his involvements following that, he was recently the chairperson
of the community track of the 13th International AIDS Conference, held
in Durban, in 2000.

At a time when antiretroviral therapy was available to only a few who
could afford it in South Africa, Busse was lucky enough to have the
means and support to gain access to the medication. By his own
admission, in part, he owed his 20 years of living with HIV to the
medicine, which he started taking in the late 1990s. But with all the
love and support from his family, friends and colleagues, plus the
wealth of knowledge he had, including the best medical care he could
get, Busse was not perfect at taking care of himself.

PETER BUSSE: I'm basically a human being. I'm not that compliant with my
taking of my ARVs, which I should be - and, which, I feel quite so shy
to talk about publicly - but I'm not, you know. Pierre, a friend of mine
asked me 'when do you take your ARVs in the morning'?

And I said 'no specific time. I just take it when I have breakfast and
that can be anytime from, like, 05h00 a.m. until noon'. And he was kind
of quite shocked. 'Some times even later'. So, there, a big confession.
And, you know that I smoke. You've seen me during meetings, like, every
break, puff, puff, puff. I don't kind of look after myself in this,
like, perfect, cocoonish way. But I'd say access to treatment, love and
support and, also, just having a very positive attitude.     

KHOPOTSO: His attitude caused a lot of the people surrounding him
constant worry, especially those who knew that he had a chronic
Hepatitis B infection, dating back to before he was diagnosed with HIV
in 1985. It is believed that this condition, accompanied by a depleted
immune system as a result of HIV and AIDS, ultimately led to his death.
Memories of Peter Busse will always be fond. His spirit will live on in
plenty parties to come. His teachings will continue to change and,
potentially, save lives. Personally, I will always remember his generous
and loving nature, his hearty laughter and the twinkle in his eye. Busse
will be cremated at noon at the Thom Kight funeral parlour in Vrededorp,
Johannesburg, on Saturday, the 14th. A memorial service will be held in
his honour at 15h00 that afternoon at Parktown, Johannesburg's Linder
Auditorium. 

To obtain the audio file please contact the Editor.

Source: Health-e News
http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article_audio.php?uid=20031351

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More about Peter: http://www.our-memories-of.com/Peter_Busse/Home.aspx