Despite the rain, the large auditorium in Awassa, Ethiopia slowly fills with young people who will be honored with participation certificates for the Betengna Listening Discussion groups (LDGs) in which people listen to and discuss Betengna Radio Diaries’ episodes with their peers. Young people whisper in excitement to each other upon hearing that Hiwot Mamo* will be in attendance.

Betengna is a popular reality radio diaries program featuring people living with HIV (PLWH) and designed to encourage behavior change and reduce stigma. It addresses health, HIV, communication, relationships and lifestyles issues. Betengna has already featured 13 PLWH’s stories on 6 different Ethiopian stations in 3 local languages. The National AIDS Resource Center (ARC) and the Johns Hopkins’ Center for Communication Programs coordinate the program and provide discussion guides for the LDGs, which have reached 5,000+ Ethiopians. Betengna has also reached over 12,000 listeners through radio broadcasts and internet streaming since April 2008.

Hiwot, an attractive woman in her early-thirties, surprises the crowd. “Listening to your stories, I imagined you to be much older and less healthy looking,” says one young woman-an image stemming from stereotypes about PLWHs. Hiwot, whose self confidence has increased due to her ability to speak out about her experiences, smiles and eloquently explains that her healthy appearance is due to ART, although PLWH not on ART may look just as healthy.

“I’ve learnt more than I can ever experience in one lifetime from you,” shares one young man. “You’re a beautiful woman,” another young woman comments, “what would you do if someone here in Awassa asked you out on a date?” Hiwot graciously replies that she’d whip out her Tesfah Goh (a PLWH association) ID card which she jokingly refers to as a ‘shotgun,’ “Obviously the man asking me out has no idea that I’m HIV+ and I don’t want debts on my conscious so I would tell him immediately.” The ceremony, expected to last only an hour, stretches to mid-day while Hiwot continues to answer questions and share her extraordinary life experiences.



*Name changed to ensure anonymity.