Even Now There is Still Hope – Swaziland

The programme shows the relationships between family members and lovers, from married couples to cheating spouses, and even sexual predators. All inadvertently passed on HIV to their partners or victims. Each character is connected by a string, until the board resembled a colourful spider's web of entangled relationships. At the end, the viewer understood how it was possible that in ten years, HIV has come to infect a third of the Swazi population.

The script written for health motivators uses the board, called 'The String Game', and UNICEF produced dozens of boards for presentations at mostly rural community centres throughout the country. Swazi theatrical producer Modison Magagula mounted a travelling stage production of the game.

"The story shows people's positive reactions to the HIV/AIDS crisis. People get tested: young people before getting married; women about to give birth, so there can be intervention to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV."

HIV/AIDS

Programme organisers say the show's purpose is to provide information and is different from other attempts at HIV/AIDS communication in Swaziland with its focus on behaviour. "The information is now out there, people know all about HIV/AIDS but this knowledge has not changed behaviour. We aim to do that."