It’s important that the day-to-day experiences of people with HIV are not forgotten like the calendar pages of yesteryear. That’s why the unique story preservation group called Project and Connect has launched the Journal Initiative.

The way it works is simple: If you are living with HIV and want to participate, sign up online at ProjectAndConnect.org to receive a free 30-day journal kit in a discreet envelope by snail mail (including a welcome letter, a pen, journal and prepaid return envelope). Over 30 days, you fill the journal with writings, essays, diary entries, thoughts, short stories, drawings, poetry—just about anything to document your life. Next, you send it back to Project and Connect, where it will be preserved indefinitely. And yes, you can remain anonymous.

“The journal doesn’t have to be about HIV or AIDS, it only has to be written by someone living with HIV or AIDS,” notes project director Daniel DeLoma. “With the journals, we are building a global community and a virtual support system, as well as giving participants the opportunity to let out feelings and say things that they may have felt the need to keep bottled up.” DeLoma says participants find the project to be revealing and therapeutic. One journal keeper said it helped “restore my faith in humanity.”