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LUANDA, Angola, June 20, 2003 — Ambassadors do not normally spend time at brothels, truck stops and slums. Nor do their schedules usually include encounters with street kids, prostitutes and people living with HIV/AIDS. But U.S. Ambassador to Angola Christopher Dell is not your stereotypical buttoned-up diplomat. He has just done all of that, documenting PSI's AIDS prevention activities with his camera, and rates it as his "most fascinating time in Angola." "It took me to parts of Luanda that I had never seen before," says Dell of his photos of prostitutes, truckers and more than a few phallic demonstration tools. "Arriving in these places was always a little wild but it gave me a deeper appreciation of what life is like here for the majority of people. Until this project I'd never set foot in a brothel. And having seen what I saw, I don't ever want to go back." Over the past month, Dell put his love of photography to work, shooting the activities of Angolan non-governmental organizations supported by Population Services International (PSI), a U.S. non-profit organization that uses commercial marketing techniques to improve health among poor people in 70 developing countries. PSI calls it "social marketing." The photos will be exhibited and auctioned at the official launch of the "JANGO" HIV/AIDS Prevention Project on June 20 here in Luanda, the capital of Angola. JANGO, which means "the communal village hut" in all Angolan national languages symbolizes the coming together of many partners in the war on AIDS. The project brings together six national NGOs with donors that are bilateral (U.S. Agency for International Development), multilateral (UNICEF) and private sector (BP and Esso) to fight HIV/AIDS in Luanda. PSI/Angola has been deeply involved in building the capacity of the six Angolan NGOs, arming them with funding, training, social network skills and educational materials to confront Angola's prime HIV/AIDS risk groups: prostitutes, truck drivers and youth. Through this network, hundreds of discussions, theatre performances and film showings take place every month, attended by thousands of people. Trained activists have mapped out "focos," or places where target groups gather, including markets, bars, pensions, truck depots, parks, etc., throughout all nine municipalities of Luanda, and visit them twice a month. The activists have also linked up with four PSI/Angola-supported voluntary counselling and testing centers, where beneficiaries are referred to for HIV testing. "These NGOs are now offering far more than information," said PSI Country Representative Susan Shulman. "They are out there actually engaging people, challenging them to change their behaviour, and their interventions are of an extremely high quality." The task ahead cannot be underestimated. UNICEF studies reveal that nearly one-third of all Angolan women, aged 15-49, have never heard of HIV/AIDS. And 92 percent of Angolan women do not have sufficient knowledge of HIV/AIDS transmission and prevention. UNAIDS estimates Angola's HIV prevalence rate at 5.5 percent, making it the 25th worst-affected country in the world yet well below that of its neighbours. But UNICEF reports that women attending antenatal clinics in Luanda who were HIV positive increased from 3.4 percent in 1999 to 8.6 percent in 2001. Ironically, the devastating three-decade war that cost Angola so much also gave Angolans a momentary buffer from HIV/AIDS. With many transport routes blocked, great tracts of Angola were closed to the movement of people, thus preventing a more rapid spread of the disease. However, with the peace accords of 2002, the days of isolation are gone and Angolans are very much on the move again. Four million internally displaced persons, together a high percentage of the population under 24, high fertility rates, low levels of education, and a high poverty index indicate that Angola has almost all of the risk factors associated with the rapid increase of the epidemic. As such, 2003 is a critical year and PSI/Angola and its national NGO partners are on the frontline of the fight. As for Ambassador Dell, he just hopes his photography helps spread the message about HIV/AIDS. "Looking at where Angola is and where we'd all like to see Angola go, it's obvious to me that everything we're trying to do here is all put at risk by HIV." As for the auction itself: proceed will benefit the six NGOs, as Dell
says he doesn't need the money (indeed, as U.S. ambassador he can't
accept any cash from the auction anyway). Nor does he need the exposure.
But when his pics go under the hammer, he says he will feel a bit nervous:
"Of course, I hope people respond well to what I did. So, yes,
I'll be a bit nervy, though I don't think I'll lose my job if they don't
sell."
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