Twenty-two year old Sheila is a trained advice columnist. In her office at the North East Secondary school in Maputo, she listens to students' stories about love, sex, birth control and AIDS, and offers advice and free condoms. But out of 8,000 students, only 40 or 50 come to collect the condoms on offer. The problem, Sheila reckons, is the condom's image, which is medical, off-putting, and inextricably linked in people's minds with sickness and death. Sheila knows sex and romance sell - so why not use them to promote condoms, and change perceptions? She's launching a campaign to promote condoms as sexy contraceptives - not weapons in the fight against HIV and disease.
The other titles in this series are:
1. Moments of Truth - Charles Stewart, whose 1984 film alerted the world to the Ethiopian famine, returns to check whether the people he filmed then are now free from danger.
3. The President's Dilemma - In the face of rising sea levels due to climate change, Kiribati President Anote Tong must decide the fate of his people. Should he plan for an orderly evacuation of the islands?
4. Grace Under Fire - Dr. Grace Kodindo explores what help is available for the people, particularly women, affected by the ongoing and bloody conflict in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo.
5. Darkness on the Edge of Town - Hungarian filmmaker Arpád Bogdan sets out to discover what's behind the new wave of anti-Roma sentiment in Hungary today.
6. Silk Ceiling, Part 1 - Ritu Bhardawaj is an Indian TV reporter who has broken through the silk ceiling which narrows the prospects for so many women in the Asia Pacific region.
7. Silk Ceiling, Part 2 - Indian TV journalist Ritu Bhardawaj goes to Bihar to investigate the invisible barrier that confronts so many Asian women.
8. How to Become a President - Former World Soccer Player of the Year, George Weah, is running for president again his native Liberia. Is he out of his depth?
9. The Elephants' Dream of Peace - In Ivory Coast the national soccer team, the Elephants, helped stop a civil war in 2005. Can the efforts of their top players avert disaster this time?
10. Sorie K and the MDGs - Blind musician, Sorie Kondi, from Sierra Leone looks at what's happening with girls' education in his country 10 years after civil war.
11. Trawler Girl - A female trawler captain in Namibia exemplifies goals set forth for women in the Millennium Development Goals.
12. Biker Boys of the Dirt Island - In Nairobi's Korogocho slum, a group of former thieves trying to go straight now provide an informal motorcycle taxi service.
13. Hassan and The Graduates - As Egyptian industry is undermined by Chinese imports, Hassan, a university graduate, takes up the government's offer of free land to farm.
14. Scent of the Streets - Nigeria has had some success in getting more women into government and business. But what about in the crowded and often violent slums of Lagos?
15. Nottingham Lace - With unemployment figures rising across Europe, is there still a place for the niche craft skills of Cluny Lace in the U.K.'s East Midlands?
16. Looting The Seas - Investigates the looming collapse of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna stocks and the role EU policies have played in the crisis.
Grade Level: 10-12, College, Adult
US Release Date: 2011
Copyright Date: 2009
DVD ISBN: 1-59458-982-8
Reviews
"Life continues to discover new and thought-provoking topics around the world...Manjate is a true hero in the campaign to make condoms not only available but ordinary, and she takes her message all the way to national AIDS officials. As the film reminds us (as if we need reminding!), her message in on the edge, but the debate may, finally, be moving her way. Suitable for mature high school and for college courses in cultural anthropology, medical anthropology, anthropology of sex/gender, and African studies, as well as general audiences." Jack David Eller, Community College of Denver, Anthropology Review Database
"There is a continuous challenge of trying to strike a balance in the film[s]...[The films] can be used successfully in stimulating a discussion amongst the youth about the negative aspects of such a life as well as an exploration of alternatives." Teboho Moja, Clinical Professor of Higher Education, New York University
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