To the Rescue

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By Cheick Oumar Sissoko, Mali, based on an original idea by Olga Ouédraogo, aged 22, from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

In a hotel lift, a businessman's composure is ruffled when a stunning young professional woman walks in. As he is leaving the lift, a string of condoms falls from his pocket. The young woman discovers the condoms and imagines with horror the potential consequences for the young man and his lady friend if he discovers his loss too late. She resolves to overcome her embarrassment and go to his rescue….

• length: 4 minutes 21 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 0:49:08 on the VHS compilation cassette

Topics for discussion
(See also complete Users' Guide)

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Key topics for discussion:

• Is HIV a matter of individual concern only?

• Fidelity as a prevention strategy

• Risky situations when away from home

• Risky behaviours when away from home
  

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Discussion topic 1:
Is HIV a matter of individual concern only?

IN THE FILM: Why in the world did that young lady go to so much trouble? She doesn't even know the man!

IN REAL LIFE: Why should anybody get involved in HIV awareness-raising activities? Is it any of your business?

Discussion topic 2:
Fidelity as a prevention strategy

IN THE FILM: In what ways did the young woman make it clear that she wasn't interested in spending an intimate moment with the man?

IN REAL LIFE: Fidelity is often presented as a good way to prevent sexual transmission of HIV. However, fidelity can fail as a prevention strategy if certain rules aren't respected. Can you name them?

• It is essential that both partners be HIV-negative at the moment when they opt for fidelity as their prevention strategy.

• Both partners must remain faithful. If one partner has unprotected sex outside the relationship, the other partner's fidelity might prove futile. A great many faithful people have been infected with HIV because of their partner's infidelity.

• Both partners must always be faithful to one another -- not just usually.

• Both partners must continue to avoid catching HIV from the blood of an infected person.
  

Discussion topic 3:
Risky situations when away from home

IN THE FILM: In what way might the hotel you see in this film be considered a risky environment when it comes to HIV?

IN REAL LIFE: When you are away from home -- on a business trip, on vacation, visiting a weekly market … -- do you encounter situations that might put people at risk of contracting HIV? How can one avoid those situations?

Discussion topic 4:
Risky behaviours when away from home

IN THE FILM: How would you describe the behaviour of the young woman and of the businessman in this film when it comes to HIV: risky or safe?

IN REAL LIFE: When you are on a trip away from home, what special things do you do to protect yourself from HIV?