"AIDS, you have no mercy...who's going
to
stay
in
this
world?" ask
South African
Primary
school children
in
a
rural village in Limpopo
province. Death is a
looming spectre for these
13
year olds. Graves are
being
opened
5 or 6
at a
time.
The
murderer is
HIV/AIDS.
Information about HIV/AIDS abounds,
even in the isolated and rural areas
of sub-Saharan Africa. The
question people want
answered
however is: How
can
we stop
this?
How can
we
stop
people
from
dying
before
our
eyes? We need
to give them an
honest
answer, an
answer that
will
help them.
Right
now controversy is
raging following
comments
made by Pope Benedict
XVI on
the role
of
condoms
in that
answer.
The
reality is
that it
is
not
possible
to stop
the
HIV/AIDS
pandemic
unless
people
change
their
behaviour.
'The Change is On' is Metanoia Media's
follow
up
to
the
award
winning production
'Sowing in
Tears', which
was
the winner of the
22nd
International Catholic
Film
and
Multimedia
Festival
held in
Niepokalanów,
Poland
in
May 2007.
Both
productions
document the
response to
HIV/AIDS in the
diocese
of Tzaneen,
which
has
implemented a multi
faceted
and authentically
Catholic response,
rooted
in the Gospel of
Life,
to the
scourge of
HIV.
The
documentary
contains unique
footage of
pastoral
workers
on
the very
frontlines
of the
biggest
battle that
this war torn
continent could
possibly
ever
fight.
Westerners often make assumptions
about Africa and Africans. In the wake of the
present controversy Spain
has
paternalistically volunteered to send over a
million condoms. Many of
those
who
are
actively engaged
in
this
battle
disagree:
'They
should give
people
a
chance' says a
young Ugandan.
'People have
an inherent
capacity
to
self
control. We
are
not animals, we have
that
self
control
within
us'. Spain's
government
evidently does
not
concur.
2000
new
HIV infections
take
place
every day
in
South
Africa,
despite attempts
to
saturate the culture
with
the
message of 'safe
sex'.
This documentary
will
help
shed
light on how
the Church is
succeeding
in tackling
this
pandemic, which
has such
tragic consequences
and
rips
apart the very
fabric of
African
society.
Is the Pope wrong to expect more from
Africa and Africans?
Is abstinence a pipe dream?
"Maybe they tried it and it failed,
and since it failed with them, they think it will
fail
with
everyone',
says
David
Kalema,
a
Ugandan activist,
commenting on
those who
criticise
abstinence.
'I'm a
testimony myself. I
finished
my
primary
[school]
without
having sex. I
went for
my
secondary education,
I
didn't have
sex, I
went
to
University, I
was not having
sex. I never
fell
sick
because
of
not having
sex. Can
this world tell
me
that
it only
worked
with me? The
way it
worked
with me it can work
with
everyone else.
My
friends who
used
to
laugh
at
me thinking that
abstinence
is abnormal,
most of them
are dead by
now.'
And
that is
the
bottom line - life
or
death.
Behaviour change
means a
change of heart. It
means
bringing
people
to
wholeness.
This sensitively made documentary
highlights not only the truth and beauty of
Catholic teaching on human
sexuality, but shows that
its
practical implementation
is
possible
in
an
area
ravaged by
the
pandemic.