Women and AIDS in Africa

'You Wake Me Up' charts the experiences of two women living with HIV/Aids in rural Namibia. This is a story of courage, conviction, and action motivated by love for their fellow Namibians.

"When I heard her talk about her status I asked myself, 'why can't I have the same courage?"

These words were spoken by Irja Narajalongo describing her feelings as she sat in a seminar listening to Antita Issacs, regional director of the Lironga Eparu (Learn to Survive) organization one day in the spring of 2003.

Irja had known that she was HIV+ for nearly four years, but had been afraid to make her status public fearing that she would be rejected by her family, students and fellow teachers at Oneeya Combined School in rural Namibia.

Both of these HIV+ women are models for not just all other women in Namibia, but as well for HIV+ people all around the world.

'You Wake Me Up' was produced by Elon University's Periclean Scholars, Class 2006. The class consists of students and professors at Elon University dedicated to making both local and global communities aware of the issues surrounding the spread of HIV/Aids in Namibia, Africa. As global citizens guided by an understanding of and respect for Namibian culture, our mission

is to promote education, communication, leadership, and service in order to proactively address the HIV/Aids pandemic.

For more information about the Periclean Scholars, here to visit the website