Increasing HIV/AIDS Awareness
HIV and AIDS awareness remains one of the most important messages that FilmAid brings to the screen. Your support last year enabled FilmAid to hold 243 screenings about HIV/AIDS with cumulative audiences of nearly 750,000 refugees and local community members.
Many FilmAid screenings highlight personal stories about individuals affected by the disease. In addition to educating and spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS, FilmAid’s post-screening discussions provide a forum where audience members can freely discuss this subject that many have previously considered taboo.
In Kakuma Camp, FilmAid’s My Reel Life youth group produced Stop AIDS, Keep the Promise, an inspiring video about the impact of HIV/AIDS on their community. Screenings of the film are followed by discussions with health workers who provide audience members with information about where to get testing and counseling.
In Kibondo, Tanzania, FilmAid recently promoted and documented the commemoration of World AIDS Day. In Dadaab, Kenya, daytime screenings of the FilmAid-produced film Open Your Eyes, which addresses the issue of HIV/AIDS in a culturally sensitive manner, provided an opportunity for refugees there to discuss the disease in the unique context of their own culture.
“People didn't really believe what they had been told about HIV/AIDS until they saw it in the films.” —Abdulkadir Abu Barkale, Somali Refugee
