BREAKING THE SILENCE

The full dimensions and the many faces of the AIDS epidemic sweeping sub-Sahara Africa is shown in the movie "Breaking the Silence - Stories from AIDS Activists In Southern Africa." But the movie also tells of the difficult but attainable gender equality that can help curtail the epidemic.

Sub-Sahara Africa has 10 percent of the world's population, but 2/3 of the world's HIV infected population, notes Renee Sabatier, a coordinator for Canada Public Health Association's Southern Africa AIDS Training Programme (SAT). The most vulnerable are the people with the least control of their life; African women, says Sabatier. Many women are infected by unfaithful husbands. Taboos which prohibit women from speaking to their husbands about condom use, being monogamous, and sexuality in general have become "life threatening."

 The fight against AIDS must be a fight for the attainment of the most basic human rights for women, Sabatier says. The empowerment of women is the only thing that will control this disease, says Priscilla Misihairabwi,an AIDS activist in Harare, Zimbabwe. "I've given up on our generation," says Misihairabwi. "But I have a lot of hope for young people," she says.



Young women must learn that they control their bodies and their lives, says Anna Banda, a young AIDS activist. "I am not submissive, now. I am very assertive... You have to stick to your principles, and know what you really want," says Banda.

Even though Siphiwe Dube is HIV positive, with the help of the SAT program, she says she still believes, "God still loves me." Africans have the horrible distinction of being the pioneers in the struggle against AIDS, says Sabatier. Although 12 million of the about 20 million people infected with HIV live in sub-Sahara Africa, the region gets only three percent of the resources allocated to fight the disease. The intent of the Canadian SAT program is to change this, said Sabatier. The intent of the program is to coordinate international and national efforts and fight AIDS in the most efficient and effective way possible.

Available in English, VHS NTSC and PAL - 56 minutes

Produced by Deborah d'Entremont and Sylvia Spring, Making WAVES Productions in collaboration with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).