Pictures for Prevention is a collection of pictures - with guidelines for their use - that aims to help prevent HIV/AIDS by stimulating dialogue and discussion on issues such as using a condom, negotiating safe sex, parent-child communication, harassment, and transactional sex. According to the publishers, pictures are a useful tool to motivate children and young people to discuss issues. However, pictures can also reinforce (sometimes negative) stereotypes in HIV/AIDS prevention work, leading to stigma and discrimination. The people and images in picture work can become a focus of projection – for behaviour, or even attitudes - and participants run the risk of identifying themselves with the picture images, hindering productive discussions.

In the 1960s in Tanzania, the famous painter Edward Daidi Tingatinga created a new art movement using images of African wild animals. This style, today known as “Tingatinga”, is typical in Tanzania. John Kilaka is a contemporary representative artist of the Tingatinga style. In 2002, Kurt Madoerin of Humiliza and other organisations focusing on HIV/AIDS responses explored with John Kilaka the possibility of using the animal paintings in HIV/AIDS prevention work. Based on these discussions, John Kilaka created drawings and Kurt Madoerin wrote instructions on how to work with each drawing.

The set of pictures in this collection comes with corresponding guidelines for encouraging discussion, which the publishers suggest can be printed on the back of the images and laminated. Instructions include:

• hints and questions in order to get a comprehensive description of the picture form the participants;
• suggestions for discussion (“talking points”); and
• suggestions for individual actions (“action points”).