Women at the Frontline

Archive ID: 2008_women_at_the_frontline

This is the story of four women living with HIV, who are active in the work against HIV/AIDS in Indonesia, Bolivia, Kenya and Sweden. They tell about their lives and their work with health education, advocacy, and support of women and children. All of these women have chosen to be open with their HIV statuses. Frika Chia Iskandar is a strong voice for women living with HIV in Indonesia, Grazia Violeta Ross informs about HIV/AIDS and stigma through local radio and television channels in Bolivia, Skytt Mukeli Nzambu works with women and children in the Kambio slum area in Kenya and Toni Roos is a young Swedish artist and AIDS activist.

Background material

"We were allowed to go with Skytt Nzambu to the shanty town of Kambio, where she works as a peer educator. In Kambio 50 000 people lived in this very poor and densly populated chaotic shanty town. KENWA estimated that about 10 000 of them were living with HIV. As a strong stigma still prevails around HIV in this area there is a widespread fear of testing for HIV. One of Skytt's main missions was to convince people to test for HIV and if they do test positive, help them to get started on ARV treatment and also to stay adherent on the treatment." - Staffan Hildebrand

Interview with Staffan Hildebrand in August 2015. Duration 2:18 min