Resources

Since 1997, the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development (Germany) supports the Terre des Hommes (Switzerland) project HUMULIZA with a focus on the psychosocial support for AIDS orphans in the district of Kagera, Tanzania. Out of this emerged the orphansÆ organisation Vijana Simana Imara (VSI), translated ôWalk upright and surviveö. Today this self-help organisation has over 500 members between 13 and 18 years old. The AIDS orphans û not HIV infected themselves û are working on a establishing a new social network. This 16 minute video tells the story of the Tanzanian AIDS orphans building their own society with the help of VSI. The film illustrates how these teenagers organize themselves to master life on their own two feet û dealing with death, illness, and other difficult life challenges. Throughout the film, we see young Florence speak honestly about his mourning for his cousin and then so proudly share his mischievous entrepreneurial ideas for the groups fish market business. We see the children work together with commitment to build a solid new house for one of its members, Jovinata, to replace the hut in which she and her two siblings lived in after the death of their father. Together the children provide a support for each other, replacing their lost parents and relatives. They learn how to build their own security through education and local income generation. They also learn how to negotiate and deal with local authorities