Kenya (MNN) — Trans World Radio is developing a new radio series about HIV/AIDS for the Dhuluo- and Luo-speaking
peoples.
“The Living Secrets of HIV/AIDS,” or “Malingling Mag Ayaki,”
will be aired twice weekly. 104
fifteen-minute segments will cover topics like dealing with HIV/AIDS on a daily
basis, secrets of dealing with HIV in the family, safer ways of disclosing your
HIV status, abstinence, integration of orphans into families, health care for AIDS
patients at home, and encouraging people to adopt AIDS orphans.
Trans World Radio has been addressing HIV/AIDS since the early
1990s, but only in English and Swahili, which have a broader listening audience
than local dialects. Sponsorship raised
by TWR’s partner in The Netherlands made possible the development of the new
show, in the Luo and Dhuluo languages.
Luo is spoken in Nyanza province, which is the Kenyan
province most affected by HIV/AIDS. Kenya
has 1.1 million AIDS orphans, and 6.1% of its adults are HIV positive, according
to UNAIDS.
As a result of a rise in prostitution, 33% of 15- to
19-year-old girls near the city of Kisumu
are HIV-positive, according to a recent study by the National AIDS STD Control
Programme (NASCOP).
A regular listener from Zimbabwe explained why he
appreciates the daily HIV/AIDS program that Trans World Radio airs in his area,
called “Saving a Generation.”
“Undoubtedly HIV/AIDS is one of the greatest
challenges facing the world today. Most people here in Africa (south of the Sahara)
are affected in one way or the other. If one is not infected, then one is
definitely affected. I lost my only brother and his wife to the disease a few
years ago.”
