The Voice of Reason

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By Fanta Régina Nacro, Burkina Faso, based on an original idea by Haby Fall, aged 20, from Tambacounda, Senegal, and her team

When wealthy Babacar asks Arouna for his daughter's hand in marriage, Arouna is delighted. But later, alone with his conscience, Arouna remembers some worrying facts about Babacar: his many mistresses, the fact that he doesn't take AIDS seriously…. Can Arouna's concern for his daughter's welfare hold out against the attraction of the material things and the promise of financial security that Babacar offers…?

• length: 4 minutes 50 seconds
• date: 2001
• shot in: Burkina Faso
• currently available in: American Sign Language, Dioula, English, Fon, French, Hausa, Igbo, Italian (subtitles), Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, Lingala, Mina, Mooré, Portuguese, Pulaar, Twi, Wolof, and Yoruba

Please click here to view and download photos from the shoot of the film The Voice of Reason.

Topics for discussion
(See also complete Users' Guide)

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Key topics for discussion:

• Money and HIV: taking risks for material gain

• Forced marriage in a world with AIDS

• Mother-to-child transmission of HIV

• Why get tested for HIV?
  

An idea for the facilitator: Stop the film right after Arouna has listened to the two voices - the voice of HIV/AIDS, and the voice of Babacar. Ask the group to guess what Arouna will choose to do. After the group has discussed the possible outcomes, show the rest of the film.

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Discussion topic 1:
Money and HIV: taking risks for material gain

IN THE FILM: Arouna knew that Babacar had many mistresses and that he didn't take HIV seriously. Why then did he decide to give his daughter to Babacar in marriage?

IN REAL LIFE: In our community, do people take risks related to HIV -- with their own lives, or with somebody else's -- for material gain? Under what circumstances?

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Discussion topic 2:
Forced marriage in a world with AIDS

IN THE FILM: What does Fatou think about the idea of marrying Arouna? Does her point of view matter?

IN REAL LIFE: In a world with HIV, why might forced marriage be a particularly dangerous idea?

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Discussion topic 3:
Mother-to-child transmission of HIV

IN THE FILM: Fatou tells her father that she is HIV-positive. How is it that the baby is also living with the virus?

IN REAL LIFE: How is HIV passed from a mother to her child? What can be done to reduce the likelihood that a mother passes HIV on to her baby?

HIV can be passed from an HIV-positive mother to her baby during pregnancy, during labour and delivery, and from breastfeeding.

The chance that an HIV-positive mother will pass the virus on to her baby is between 15% and 30% if she does not breastfeed. Breastfeeding increases the risk of transmission by 10-15%.

Here are some things that can be done to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV:

• Women must be protected against infection in the first place.

• Voluntary testing and counselling must be made more available. If a mother-to-be does not know whether or not she is living with HIV, it is unlikely that she will benefit from certain highly effective strategies that can reduce the risk that the virus will be passed on to her baby.

• Unwanted pregnancies should be avoided among women living with HIV and women at risk of HIV infection.

• There are now medicines available that can dramatically reduce the likelihood that the virus will be passed from an HIV-positive mother to her baby. These medicines are relatively inexpensive and are more and more widely available in Africa.
  

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Discussion topic 4:
Why get tested for HIV?

IN THE FILM: Why do you suppose Fatou was tested for HIV at that particularly time? Why wasn't she tested before she got married?

IN REAL LIFE: Why should a person consider getting an HIV test?

Many people are scared of getting an HIV test. Many say that they would simply prefer not to know whether they are HIV-positive or not. Some are afraid of finding out that they are living with the virus; others take the fatalistic attitude that, "Well, everybody's got to die of something, anyway!"

However, there are a number of very good reasons why one should consider getting tested for HIV:

• If you find out that you are HIV-positive, you can take extra care not to infect anybody else. You can protect your sexual partner. You can protect those around you by making sure that they never come in contact with your blood. Imagine how you would feel if you ever came to the realisation that you had infected somebody you love, simply because you were too afraid to get tested for HIV.

• If you are thinking about getting married, both you and your spouse-to-be should consider getting tested for HIV. The results of those tests will allow you to plan your future on solid ground.

• If you are considering having children, it is important to be tested for HIV. It is possible that HIV can be passed from a mother to her child. An HIV-positive mother might be able to benefit from treatments that could reduce the chance that the baby becomes infected.

• Some couples who have opted for condoms as their prevention strategy start to grow tired of using condoms. Those couples can get tested for HIV (and other sexually transmitted diseases) and, if the results are negative, they will no longer need to use condoms to protect themselves from HIV -- as long as they stay faithful to one another.

• If you do find out that you are living with HIV, there are a lot of things that you can do to protect your immune system and to continue to lead a fulfilling life. In a growing number of places in Africa, people living with HIV are gaining access to quality counselling, support groups, and even modern HIV therapies. Those therapies tend to be much more effective if they are started before an HIV-positive person starts falling ill because of AIDS.
  

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An idea for the facilitator: After viewing the film and discussing the points you and the group wish to address, ask the group to imagine how the story will continue. How does the story of Fatou, her baby, Arouna and Babacar go on from here? What will they do next?