30 YEARS INTO THE AIDS EPIDEMIC: FROM FEAR TO UNITY

It has been 30 years since the first reported case, 15 years since the treatment became a reality, only a few days since the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called for global action to end the AIDS disease by 2020: the world has adopted a bold vision, meaning ZERO new HIV infections, ZERO discrimination and ZERO AIDS-related deaths.

There is a dramatic arc to the three decade history of AIDS as an epidemic and social phenomenon: overall the epidemic killed 25 million people worldwide, and nowadays, according to the UN, some 34 million people have AIDS, but about half of them do not know they have the disease. Despite figures, universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support have dramatically increased since the eighties tanks both to medical achievement and global awareness campaigns.

From discrimination and stigma to inclusion, form traditional sources to new technologies, the information flow has changed over the years, and several groups played a crucial role in it, from medical communities to people living with HIV, CSOs, teachers and media.

Since the HIV epidemic began, awareness campaigns helped to convey different messages, confronting the inequity of stigma against people living with HIV, explaining transmission and encouraging prevention. It has been done in many ways:  seminars and workshops, TV and radio, soap operas, internet, newspaper advertisement, street posters and billboard. Theater and role playing have also been creatively used to strengthen the flow of information and the general awareness on the issue.

As a example, the Italian Cooperation Office in partnership with Kenyan Ministry of Information and Communication, the National AIDS Control Council and the National AIDS /STD Control Programme, organized an itinerant initiative, CinemArena, which used screen and images to exchange views on themes such as HIV/AIDS, offering free tests and counseling, along with room for dialogue, to roughly 12.000 people in 15 villages in Nyanza Province, Rift Valley, Eastern, Coast and Nairobi.

HIV/AIDS: Together we shall overcome!

On the 27^th April 2011, the Italian NGO INTERSOS, in collaboration with the local partner WOFAK (Women fighting AIDS in Kenya), celebrated the Grand Opening of the Rescue Center in Kayole, built with the support of the Italian Cooperation.

Considering that more than 1,4 million adults are living with HIV/AIDS, 3 out of 5 HIV- infected Kenyans are female, 4 out of 5 HIV–infected people do not know their status and 7 out of 10 infected adults are rural residents, INTERSOS’ project has succeeded in giving effective and efficient support to the communities of Kayole and Soweto as well as establishing solid relationships with all the actors involved in the project.

The initiative focused on strengthening the capacity building of WOFAK in order to ensure the sustainability of the project and to empower the role of women within the community. Many activities were carried out, such as the implementation of awareness-raising campaigns on HIV/AIDS, assistance to women affected by the disease, sex education, feeding programmes for school children, peer education and recreational activities such as theatre, music and dance classes. Every day the centre guarantees a meal to more than 150 children and supports, with its counseling activities, the members of the community.

The center is much more than a simple building; it represents hope for the Kayole and Soweto communities, especially for those women and children who are fighting for their futures despite their illness.

 Children's Exibition for the Gran Opening Ceremony of Kayole Rescue Center

CINEMARENA…CINEMA FOR DEVELOPMENT



A ray of light from the projector hit the big cinema screen and the show begins. All around hundreds of people stare the screen and laugh for the videos projected. Everybody, adults and children, are enchanted by the cinema. Visual communication is a simple, modern and effective tool that has the quality of making anybody who comes into contact with it fall in love. In Kenya, the big screen has not only fascinated thousands of people, but has also been an excellent tool for development.

CinemArena team is made of 15 people, including communication experts, cameramen, sound-video technician and drivers. With three vehicles fully equipped to organise a “cinema under the stars”, we travelled from Lake Victoria shores to the Indian Ocean. Almost 27,000 people watched entertainment and educational videos about HIV/AIDS and Child Protection.

CinemArena involves more than just the thrill of the big screen to light up the African nights in the villages visited.  The big screen is not simply a means of recreation - it also provides an opportunity to think by involving the audience in the filming of documentaries, using their own words and stories. The program visited many villages in different parts of Kenya, where relationships were formed with villagers and a forum which allowed them to express and exchange views, as well as dialogue on themes such as HIV/AIDS and child protection, was created.

The Ministry of Information and Communication through the Mobile Cinema Unit, together with other local organizations as Cultural Video Foundation, Legal Resources Foundation, Child Helpline Kenya and Karibu Africa Kenya, etc. assisted the Italian Cooperation in the implementation of the four awareness campaigns that has been organized since May 2010.

Through the screen