Set in a fictional small village in Bago Province in lower Burma, the twice-weekly, 15-minute episodes use drama to raise awareness and promote behaviour change. Key messages propose home-based care as a viable option for caring for PLWHA. Through the reactions of the villagers to one character living with HIV and his family, misconceptions are exposed, stigma is challenged, and (hopefully) fears are allayed. The idea is that the audience will learn along with the characters about such issues as prevention, transmission, counselling, community care, living positively with AIDS, and dignified preparations for death. The drama aims to tell and show the story as it is, in the language of the people who are affected, to the end of promoting tolerance and understanding.

Community participation and feedback have been and continue to be key to this project at all stages. First, from April through September 2003, organisers conducted intensive training, development, and research with a team of 30 Burmese-born staff. Health education and story design was researched with in-country organisations and NGOs. A team of 5 writers created characters from collected personal stories of villagers living in the Bago area. In October, pilot episodes were tested with the intended audience and with medical advisors. Further, monthly production schedules enable the research team to continually revise stories, with the goal of making the programme responsive to the changing experiences and perspectives of rural Burmese.

The BBC World Service Trust will produce over 72 programmes in Burmese over 6 months. Broadcast is from London (on Fridays and Saturdays at 20.40 Burmese Time; 14.10 GMT; and in an Omnibus version on Sundays) and on the shortwave frequencies of the BBC Burmese Service. Several episodes may be listened to (in Burmese) on the BBC World Service Trust website. The project also provides printed health leaflets to support the drama's messages.

Health, HIV/AIDS.

According to the Project Director, many people in Burma are fearful of, and thus reject, PLWHA: "There is anecdotal evidence that if somebody contracts either TB or HIV... you will find people are put in outbuildings at the end of the garden and only parents will go and feed them. We want to raise awareness that they can still play a role in society."

Early response to the series has been positive. One listener said, "You can't talk openly about HIV, or things about it in Burma. But you can with this programme - that's what I like about it."