We need to give poor rural children the knowledge, skills and values to protect themselves as they grow up. Women and girls need targeting, as they are more susceptible to infection due to cultural and traditional social practices. They require empowering to stand up to men and change traditional practices if the high prevalence rate is going to be decreased. Traditionally women and girls all too often have less access to education particularly sex education and frequently experience non-consensual sex.

We also need to work further with traditional healers whose practice of using the same razor blade to administer herbal remedies to ten or more people a day, hugely increases the risk of cross infection.

As well as making more DVD’s concerning cultural practices and beliefs we hope to develop the use of local drama groups. These various groups predominately made up of volunteers are dotted around Zambia in most major towns. Their work to stimulate, educate and entertain at a cultural level is hugely important. We hope to film more of these groups as we expand, using their performances for more educational DVD’s. These will then be taken to the rural areas to be shown to people, most of who lack any form of conventional entertainment. By making their performances into DVD’s we also cut down on the expense of the groups travelling out to these areas to perform in person.

Education is empowerment because these people live in remote and difficult to access areas this should not mean that they remain living in ignorance. All people should have the right to access the information they need to help them save their lives.

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