Development Issues: HIV/AIDS, Western Public Perception

Programme Summary

Positive Lives is an international project that aims to challenge the myths and prejudices surrounding the HIV/AIDS epidemic by presenting visual stunning photographs and stories that accurately convey the social and emotional impact of the global HIV/AIDS crisis. The project aims to disrupt many of the prejudices that are associated with people living with AIDS and to bring increasing attention to the global costs. The organizers, photographers and writers who are associated with the project believe that AIDS is a misunderstood disease that is shrouded in fear and places those living with it in an environment of isolation and stigmatism. The intent is that presenting the images and stories of individuals living with the disease will contribute to increased understanding and greater calls for action around the globe. This effort capitalizes on the age-old adage that a picture speaks a thousand words.

Summary of ICT Initiatives

The Positive Lives materials provide training workshops, outreach initiatives, health and education programmes and awareness raising efforts with a powerful set of tools for communicating the HIV/Aids experience. The material can be developed into various formats and have been used in both large and small exhibitions, posters and laminate displays, web sites, videos, books and other publications.

Large exhibitions have served as backdrops for major international conferences on AIDS around the world and help to put a human face to the suffering and tragedy inflicted by the disease. The main intent of the materials however is not to present the messages to individuals already strongly linked to the project but rather to expand awareness about the epidemic to broader range of audiences. The project has also seen its materials displayed in a host of public forums that are hoped will contribute to changes in public opinion. Some of then locales have included:

• Land and port trucking centres in Bangladesh
• In major city-centre malls in the Philippines
• Calcutta railway station in India
• Displays at brothels in Bangladesh
• Housing estates in Hong Kong
• Girl Guides campfire workshops in Taiwan
• Libraries in Singapore

One of the strengths of this project is the diversity of stories, personal testimonies, and images collected by the network of photographers. The images help to unveil the workings of the disease from inner cities in the US to small rural villages in Cambodia. By presenting a collection of materials that cuts across geography, culture and the North – South, divide, this project bridges the global understanding of the AIDS epidemic. The website also provides links to several other projects of a similar nature that seek to document the epidemic.

Partners: Levi Strauss Foundation, Terrence Higgins Trust, Network Photographers, ActionAid

Source: Positive Lives website.

For More Information Contact:

info@positivelives.org

Tel +44 (0) 20 7739 7635

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