Malawi, a small country in southern Africa, is blessed with natural beauty and a culture that is known for its warmth and generosity. It's an amazing place. But AIDS has hit Malawi, and threatens the very roots of its culture.
A tradition of silence, first demanded by a tyrannical leader, and now enforced by fear of AIDS discrimination, has allowed the infection rate to climb. A third of the sexually active adults, or around 15 to 20% of the population is HIV+.
We meet HIV+ activists-- volunteer leaders of impoverished bootstrap organizations who are doing all they can with limited resources:
Driven from her home and her job because she was HIV+, Catherine Phiri decided to stand her ground and fight. She started SASO, an AIDS support organization, which helps orphans and people suffering from AIDS in the villages. In eight years SASO has grown to a major force in her district. Though their resources are limited, they do as much as they can. "What we're really trying to do," Catherine says, "is we want them to die with dignity."
Geoff Mhone is a leader with Youth Ambassadors, a group of young volunteers that visit schools and talk openly about AIDS. They are the main AIDS education project for an amazing 70,000 students a year. Jeff and his associates are open about their HIV+ status. They are incredibly popular and effective. Geoff and his wife, Lucy, are both HIV+. They have a year old daughter named "Reality", who is HIV negative. Though he fears that someday he will become ill, Geoff maintains a positive and cheerful outlook on life.
We meet the leaders in Malawi, including the Vice-President who lost a daughter to AIDS. Businessmen, politicians, and normal people talk about the silence around AIDS and how the growing infection rate has crippled the country.
On a second trip to Malawi we see the effects of the growing famine and the surprising changes in Catherine and Geoff's lives.
It seems that nothing can stop the AIDS epidemic. But several small projects have started treating AIDS in Africa the same way it is treated in the west, with antiretroviral drugs. The early results are astounding. Most of the patients show vast improvements. These drugs are possibly the best hope for the future. Unless something is done, there will be-- in the words of the Vice-President Malewazi-- "Chaos."