HIV/AIDS

The HIV infection rate in Malawi stands at 12.5%, with more than 1 million people living with the disease. In some communities, close to 30% are HIV positive. The disease is devastating all areas of society – families, villages, the economic workforce, and the government.

Story Workshop addresses HIV awareness and prevention in everything we do. Our strategic plan calls for us to incorporate HIV/AIDS into all of programs, as well as our workplace. Because AIDS is a “cross-cutting” issue and affects all aspects of life, we work HIV/AIDS messages into all of our stories and programs. 

Story Workshop's HIV/AIDS Initiatives:

Find out more about how we are addressing HIV/AIDS:

• Zimachitika, our popular and longest-running radio soap opera

• Sankha Wekha, a campaign focused on keeping young girls in school

• Malawi Teachers Training Activity, focused on teacher/student relationships and the transmission of HIV/AIDS

• Low literacy print educating Malawians about mother-to-child transmission of HIV

• Home-Based Care Manual, a print project developed for trainers of in-home care workers

• Timasukirane is our youth HIV/AIDS program. It contains two weekly radio shows, one drama series located at a boarding school, the other one a talk show where we address young people’s issues with regards to sexuality and relationships

• In 2009 and ongoing we are running a big Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS program, mainly using Theatre for Development as a tool for community awareness. In 22 district, volunteer groups perform drama to inform the communities on the possibilities of the PMTCT program (i.e. getting tested when pregnant, getting involved in a program when HIV positive and safeguarding the baby’s health)

• In 2010 we start another radio show, with a live audience feed back component addressing HIV/AIDS issues for adults