The aim of A.S.A.P. - AIDS Support Awareness Project, ‘the Charity’, is to enhance the education and counselling about HIV/AIDS available to the most disadvantaged remote and rural dwelling people in Zambia, and eventually other African countries. The Charity’s work has started in Zambia because of the scale of the epidemic there and its relative political stability. There is an estimated 40 million people world wide infected with HIV/AIDS in Zambia alone an estimated 1 million people; 16.5% of the total population.

The Charity makes use of vernacular DVDs, laptops, projectors and local counsellors to provide a broad spectrum of HIV/AIDS related material to a wide age-range of people, many of whom are illiterate and/or unable to communicate in English. The counsellors, through collaboration with other NGOs, provide free HIV testing. Laptops are used as an information source for the counsellors, whilst enabling them to gather data for other organisations during their field expeditions.

The Charity invests significantly in the education of additional counsellors and through connectivity to the Internet to enable the Charity to expand its reach throughout Zambia and eventually the rest of Africa.

We learnt a great deal through our pilot project being on the ground at grass route level talking with local people about the issues that urgently need tackling. We have to expand our DVD range and show them to gender specific groups. Men and women each need private time and space with peers to explore their own needs and concerns about relationships and sexual health. Children also need to be addressed, as there is a window of hope for them. Children of school age have the lowest rate of infection even in the worst affected areas. Education can give them the chance of a productive life un-afflicted by AIDS.

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