Building a picture of stigma and discrimination in Haiti
06 March 2006
At the end of 2004 and early in 2005, the Health Communication Partnership (of which the Alliance is a part), in collaboration with artists affiliated with the AfricAmerica Foundation and Alliance’s local partner organisation Promoteurs Objectif Zero (POZ), supported people living with HIV/AIDS in Haiti to analyse the causes and consequences of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and discrimination.
With Alliance support, participants at stigma and discrimination workshops held in cities across Haiti formulated powerful messages based on personal experiences and, based on these, produced a series of stunning collages for World AIDS Day.
The workshops aimed to increase participants’ understanding of stigma and discrimination related to HIV/AIDS and women and girls through the collective production of art. They also aimed to support participants to develop clear messages for change related to stigma and discrimination, and to support people living with HIV/AIDS and artists to work together.
Workshop participants worked closely together during the discussions on stigma and discrimination, analysing its causes and consequences, and formulating clear, moving messages which were translated into the collages. Many participants felt comfortable to disclose their HIV status in the safe space of the workshops.
Thirteen of the 73 collages produced were included in a calendar named Visages, which aims to decrease stigma and discrimination towards people living with HIV/AIDS in Haiti. Five thousand dollars from sales of the calendar have been used to strengthen POZ’s care and support programme. Exhibitions of the collages have been planned for participants’ cities, and follow up meetings arranged.
