ABSTRACT
Appartenances, in French, implies ‘belonging’. Misfortune acts as a separator, and AIDS separates us from others, forcing us into new networks, such as those to do with health care. Individuals struggle to remain attached, however, searching for solutions with the help of close friends and family. It is in this way that individuals become innovators, becoming authors of their own future rather than prey or victims of fate. Such a process may mean going through a period of being misunderstood by others, or of estrangement from the norms of the society in which they are living. This is especially so in the case of immigrant communities, who are often already excluded, but who are nonetheless innovators and producers of new forms of society.
