Thanks to Peace Corps Environment Volunteer David Schlessinger for sharing this photo in our Digital Library!

(Share photos from YOUR service: http://collection.peacecorps.gov/)

David had this to say about his photo: 

“On World AIDS day the members of the local HIV group MASUPHA (Makete Supplies People Living with HIV/AIDS) marched in the villages of Tanzania. The group members and I were wearing Peace Corps 50th anniversary Khangas made by Peace Corps Tanzania. The group members sang powerful songs while marching through the villages. Later, speeches were given by MASUPHA group leaders, health care workers, various village government officials, and myself, a Tanzanian environment Peace Corps volunteer. The event helped raise awareness of the HIV problem, encourage testing, educate villagers, and reduce stigma for those living with HIV/AIDS.”

sundayrides:

Look what came! The @peacecorps #HIV #Awareness 2013 calendar. And that’s my #picture on the cover! #peacecorps #thailand

One in Four

Children stand in front of a local store in a mountainous region of Swaziland—the country with the highest HIV rate in the world. One in every four people is infected with the virus, while everyone in this small country is affected. The children of Swaziland suffer the most, many losing their parents to the epidemic. But the children are also the future, empowered with knowledge and hope that the HIV epidemic can be conquered.

According to statistics, it is likely that at least one of the children in the photo has HIV.

Taken by Peace Corps Volunteer Ryan Fouss

The photo was taken in South Africa at a school where Peace Corps Volunteers and their counterparts had their permagarden training. People were encouraged to design plots in different shapes to get young people interested in gardening and to use as a teaching aid. 

In this one in particular, a message about HIV/AIDS is communicated, that we need vegetables to feed HIV/AIDS infected and affected. 

Peace Corps Education Volunteer Malope Malapane 

Students Reading the Truth and Myths About HIV/AIDS 

At my primary school in Burkina Faso, I collaborated with the teachers to teach the oldest grade level about the myths and the truth about HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and stigma. In the photo students are reading a hand-out before we began the activity.

Peace Corps Health Volunteer Bridget Roby 

Positive and Negative Brotherhood

Two boys are walking home from school, one is HIV positive and the other HIV negative. Swaziland has a HIV prevalence between 26-33% percent depending on what study you are looking at. Everyone everywhere is living with or around it and yet it is still not openly discussed. These boys defy that norm though and that is partially due to the fact that they can’t remember a time when things were different. The positive boy helps his brother with his schoolwork while the negative boy helps his brother to take his ARVs. Through the simple act of brotherhood, these two boys are helping a community fight stigma and helping to solidify the idea that HIV is a part of daily life.

Peace Corps HIV/AIDS Volunteer Brandon Bobisink