Picturing AIDS

This two-page article discusses using colour images as opposed to words in HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns in Southern Africa. The authors say they have found that using colour images of HIV/AIDS in a workshop setting to provoke discussion can be a useful alternative to more conventional, written materials. In this article, they discuss their experience of using such images to raise community awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Botswana.

They argue that those who used the colour images came to appreciate how important colour images could be, particularly amongst people who have grown up in societies where knowledge is spread primarily through oral communication and less use has been made of the written word.

“Early on in the HIV/AIDS epidemic, we decided that our experience of distributing visual teaching materials could be used to spread information about the pandemic, which is hitting African societies hard. We produced four sets of 24 colour transparencies on HIV/AIDS, with a detailed accompanying text.” Edwin Mapara says: “I wanted to try to bring home to both the authorities and the African people the truth about the spread of the disease and the need for fundamental changes in sexual behaviour.”

The article also explains how pictures can be used as a tool for discussion. “In Botswana, I used a slide projector and occasionally a mobile electrical generator, but such equipment is not widely available in most African countries. As an alternative to using colour slides, TALC has developed a folded A4 (210 mm × 279 mm) sheet with 12 colour images as a way of presenting the messages about HIV/AIDS." The article mentions that slides or leaflets work best if participants sit in small groups for discussion. Each group should have at least one set of pictures. A facilitator can ask the participants to describe what they see and encourage participants to work out for themselves what the message is in the picture and disuss expereinces from their own life.

The article concludes that "for people in Botswana, 'seeing is believing'. Written descriptions are often not enough; showing pictures of herpes zoster, syphilis ulcers, or tuberculosis lymphadenopathy can be a powerful teaching tool. Once the initial shock is overcome, these colour pictures offer a straightforward way to demonstrate the realities of the disease far and wide."