My Brother

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By Cheick Oumar Sissoko, Mali, based on an original idea by Justin Corréa, aged 23, Senegal, and featuring rap star Didier Awadi

Mamdou, aged 13, thinks he's pretty cool. He has all the latest clothes and a big brother with a motorbike. But he also thinks it's cool to treat people badly. At school, Mamadou refuses to sit next to Bokary, who has become an orphan due to AIDS, because, he says, "prevention is better than cure". His teacher, enraged, sends Mamadou to an information centre to prepare an essay on AIDS. There, an unexpected encounter makes him realise that AIDS might just be closer to home than he thinks….

• length: 8 minutes 13 seconds
• date: 2001
• shot in: Senegal
• currently available in: French, English, Portuguese, Dioula, Wolof, Pulaar, Mooré, Fon, Twi (plus additional languages courtesy of project partners)
• starts at 0:00:00 on the VHS compilation cassette

Topics for discussion
(See also complete Users' Guide)

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Key topics for discussion:

• Difficulties encountered by children orphaned by AIDS

• The effects of discrimination and stigmatisation on a person affected by HIV/AIDS
  

• Forms and causes of such discrimination and stigmatisation
  

• Ways to overcome that discrimination and stigmatisation

Discussion topic 1:
Difficulties encountered by children orphaned by AIDS

IN THE FILM: At the beginning of the film, Mamadou refuses to sit next to a boy named Bokary. How has HIV/AIDS affected Bokary's life?

IN REAL LIFE: What kinds of difficulties are encountered by children orphaned by AIDS?

Here are some of the many difficulties that young people orphaned by AIDS might encounter:

• HIV/AIDS has forced millions of children into precarious situations, making them vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, and putting them at risk of becoming infected with HIV themselves.

• Orphans living with extended families or in foster care often suffer many forms of discrimination.

• Children in households where there is a family member living with HIV suffer the trauma of that person's suffering and death.

• Many children who have become orphans due to HIV/AIDS end up in households run by other children. Many wind up on the streets. As a result, there are more and more young people who are vulnerable, poorly socialised and under-educated.
  

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Discussion topic 2:
The effects of discrimination and stigmatisation on a person affected by HIV/AIDS

IN THE FILM: How does Bokary react when Mamadou refuses to sit next to him? How does Bokary feel at that moment?

IN REAL LIFE: What effects does rejection have on a person affected by HIV/AIDS?

Rejection, discrimination and stigmatisation can be expressed in many different ways and can be extremely painful. People affected by AIDS, including people living with HIV, sometimes say that rejection is even more difficult to deal with than the virus itself.

If a community allows for the creation of an atmosphere of rejection and discrimination toward people affected by HIV, the community will have put up a regrettable barrier to healthy, open discussion about HIV/AIDS - to the detriment of all, but especially those affected by HIV. Those who live with the virus and know it might be less inclined to disclose their status to friends and family, including their spouse. For fear that their status might become known publicly, they might also be less inclined to seek out counselling and other forms of support, including the solidarity of their friends.

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Discussion topic 3:
Forms and causes of discrimination and stigmatisation of people affected by HIV/AIDS

IN THE FILM: Why is it that Mamadou treats Bokary so badly at the beginning of the film?

IN REAL LIFE: What are some of the most common forms of discrimination suffered by people affected by HIV? What causes some people to reject those affected by HIV/AIDS?

People affected by HIV can suffer what one might call "institutional" or "hard" discrimination in areas such as housing, education, employment, access to medical care, or fair legal process. Their rights in those areas might be denied to them simply because their lives have been - or are presumed to have been - affected by HIV.

There is also "individual" or "soft" discrimination. This is discrimination that can be carried out by practically anybody, including children and young people (like Mamadou in the film My Brother). All of us can do something about this kind of discrimination.

"Individual" discrimination can strike right at the heart of a person affected by HIV. It might take the form of suspicious or disdainful looks, harsh words and ill-chosen terms, people turning their backs when one walks by…. "Soft" discrimination can also be expressed by the incorrect presumption that a given person affected by HIV is "sick" and fragile. A particularly hurtful expression of "individual" discrimination is when it is maintained that a person's HIV-positive status is a "divine punishment".

Among the main causes of discrimination and rejection of those affected by HIV/AIDS is ignorance. People who do not understand HIV/AIDS and how it can and cannot be spread are often afraid, and their fear is expressed in the form of discrimination.

There is often a link between the discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS and other, pre-existing forms of discrimination in a given community: against women, against people of a given sexual orientation, or against people of a given race or nationality.

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Discussion topic 4:
Ways to overcome the discrimination and stigmatisation of people affected by HIV/AIDS

IN THE FILM: Mamadou ends up reconsidering his rejection of Bokary. Why? What is it exactly that brings about his change of attitude?

Two factors play a key role in Mamadou's change of attitude:

1. He realises that HIV might be a whole lot closer to his personal life than he ever imagined. He understands that somebody he thinks the world of might be living with the virus.

2. He becomes better informed about HIV.

IN REAL LIFE: What can we do - each one of us - to overcome the discrimination of people affected by HIV/AIDS?

When it comes to "institutional" discrimination, we must see to it that our lawmakers, those who enforce the laws, and those in other relevant positions of authority fulfil their responsibilities to protect people affected by HIV/AIDS from all forms of discrimination.

There are many things that each of us can do to prevent or put an end to "individual" or "soft" discrimination. For example:

• We should become informed about the basic facts of HIV/AIDS, including ways in which one can and cannot become infected, and share that information with our families and friends.

• By spending time with people affected by HIV, we can demonstrate to others that there is no need to fear infection through everyday contact.

• People affected by HIV should be treated with same respect as anyone else.

• Our communities must strive for inclusiveness of all people, regardless of HIV status.

• We should be sensitive to the fact that people affected by HIV often find certain terms offensive, and we should carefully avoid such terms. For example, the terms "AIDS victim" or "AIDS sufferer" are inappropriate and can be hurtful; a better way to refer to individuals who have been infected with HIV is "people living with HIV/AIDS."

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