Topic of HIV/AIDS generates discussion after screening of documentary film "I Am Because We Are"
Santo Domingo, November 22, 2008.

"I Am Because We Are” is a documentary produced by the singer Madonna about Malawi, a country in southeast Africa with 12 million inhabitants where approximately 14 percent of the population is HIV positive. As a result, more than a million children there are orphans.
The panel commenting on this documentary after the screening was comprised of Patrick Donnelly, director of the charity organization Nyumbani; Sara Menéndez, an UNICEF official who works on HIV/AIDS issues and Dr. Rafael Lora of the General Office of Sexually Transmitted Infections and AIDS Control.

"This is a powerful and moving documentary that covers a multitude of important issues about what is happening in Africa,” said Patrick Donnelly about the work directed by Nathan Rissman. Dr. Lora added: “The documentary has a double impact as an audio-visual medium because the images enable us to sensitize a larger audience.”

The main focus of concern both in the film and in the panel discussion was the discrimination that each affected individual faces. The panelists concurred that change must begin with a greater awareness and sensitivity on the part of the world’s people.  

Dr. Lora explained that Dominicans should not be indifferent to AIDS given that the country’s HIV/AIDS prevalence rate—1 percent of the general population—is so high. Sarah Menéndez described UNICEF’s programs to raise the population’s consciousness about the issue. One way that concerned individuals can help, she said, is to participate in UNICEF’s well-known annual campaign of Christmas card sales, the proceeds of which are funneled to the HIV/AIDS cause.

World AIDS Day is approaching on December 1, in which a worldwide campaign entitled “Keep the Promise” will be celebrated. Panelists were asked what their promises will be for this year.  
"My wife and I were just discussing this,” said Donnelly. “We have a campaign that we began last spring with a school in Washington, D.C., to write letters to the children. It was such a success that we want to repeat the same program this year with more schools. I will be flying to Kenya again very shortly to visit the children and spend time with them, and at the same time my wife and I are initiating an adoption process in Uganda.”

Sarah Menéndez’s promise is to continue working on the issue while Dr. Lora shared that his promise is to collaborate with HIV/AIDS, get involved in the entire process and work to diminish stigma and discrimination.  

The showing of the documentary "I Am Because We Are" and the panel on HIV/AIDS occurred Thursday, November 20, at the Pedro Mir Library of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo.