Heroes of HIV - A Series of IRIN Short Films

IRIN Films, a project of the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), has launched "Heroes of HIV" - a series of short films on HIV/AIDS - that profiles people involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. It is intended to create awareness of their stories and give insight into their personal lives. For example, "Elizabeth Ngugi is a university professor and former nurse who has dedicated the last twenty years of her life to help girls and women trapped in Kenya's sex trade. Since 1989 she has helped more than 600 sex workers retrain and find alternative incomes. Kevin Dowling is a South African Catholic Bishop, who has worked for years with the poor of Rustenburg, northern South Africa. But the shockingly high rates of HIV infection in these communities persuaded him that, against Catholic Church doctrine, condoms should be promoted as the only effective means of halting the spread of the virus. Phindile Madonsela was raped at 16 and infected with HIV a few years later. Now she tours the schools of her native Soweto, in Gauteng Province, South Africa, empowering, motivating and educating children about the perils of HIV. Anuradha Koirala has been fighting the trafficking of Nepali girls to Indian brothels since she became aware of the trade in the late 1980s. With NGOs based in India, she tries to rescue and return these girls, but as many as 70 percent of them are infected with HIV. Rolake Odetoyinbo tested positive for HIV in 1998 and has been an activist ever since. Tapping into the enormous reach and appeal of Nigeria’s television networks, she hosts a TV show designed to address and discuss the challenges facing people living with HIV in Nigeria."