Cowdray Park suburb residents have taken it upon themselves to educate others on the HIV and Aids scourge through recording a film entitled Sekwenzakele Ekhalanyoni.
Vusumuzi Chirwa, chairperson of the Cowdray Park Community Productions, an initiative of residents, told NewsDay the aim of the low-budget film was to spread awareness on HIV and Aids issues.
“Most of the people who got involved in this initiative were formerly involved in behaviour change campaigns in the suburb. Some residents also expressed interest in taking part when they heard we were working on the film project and we welcomed them,” said Chirwa adding 45 residents took part in making the film.
He said this initiative marks the beginning of more projects to come.
“We will also record films on other issues such as crime and the environment,” he said. The film will be made available to residents and distributed to organisations that deal with HIV and Aids issues, once it is fully edited. “We are still working on identifying organisations that would like to use the film in their outreach programmes.” Ward 28 councillor Collet Ndlovu said the film project was important as the sprawling suburb had been identified by the National Aids Council as one of the worst affected by the scourge in the city. Cowdray Park is in Ward 28. “Statistics indicate there is a high prevalence of HIV in this area,” said Ndlovu. “When residents told me about the film project I gave them my full support and even acted in the film.” Based on a married couple, Sekwenzakele Ekhalanyoni takes viewers through the dangers of extra marital affairs. A promiscuous husband contracts the virus and passes it on to his other partners including the maid. “Through this film, we want to show residents that HIV and Aids is real and it is high time they changed their sexual behaviour so that we fight the scourge together,” he said.
