Man living with HIV/AIDS, MACODEF, 2007

This is a man who is living with HIV/AIDS. We arrive at a house and my translator tells me that the group gathered inside is a group of women living with HIV/AIDS. We are there to make their portraits, they are there with their children.

The translator neglects to tell me that the women are planning to tell me their stories, one by one, with the rest listening intently. So it happens, one by one the women tell me their stories. Their words are translated for me while the next woman waits to tell her story.

The children sit next to their mothers listening as well. There are a couple of men also in the group, living with HIV/AIDS as well. The women tell the story of how they contracted the virus, through their husbands. These men sit and listen to these stories, knowing that such is the truth.

After the women tell their stories, as well as the men, we walk outside and make their portraits, first with the children and then on their own. The women remain positive throughout. Their cooperative gives each individual strength, their collaboration with MACODEF gives them hope, their portraits this day prove their existence to others far away.

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