Folami Harris: South Africa

Folami Harris

Folami Harris is a public health specialist working on communication for social and behaviour change for HIV prevention in Lesotho, Swaziland and Nigeria.

Keen to unpack the job title, Harris explains that her job is essentially about connecting people to their own sexual experiences in ways that allow them to see themselves as important and central in the expression of their own sexuality.

Harris' contribution to community building in the face of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa has reaped rewards for the communities within which she works and for herself on a personal level.

"My work sometimes empowers communities of women and men to reassess their worth as contributing members to the global experience, to check out the ways in which their relationships with each other create injury to self and to consider alternative ways of being," says Harris.

Preferring to work on a person-to-person level, Harris notes that it is the sharing of challenges and triumphs that present the greatest potential for change.

"I have been fortunate to see adults and young people with whom I have worked adopt behaviours that protect them from being infected with HIV or continued abuse by intimate partners. I have been blessed to see communities with which I have worked remain vigilant in their demand for improved health - not just from the powers that be but from the power within themselves," she continues.

Harris' African sojourn began 14 years ago. It was her love for the continent and all that it could be to her and to the world that took her first to Zambia and then South Africa. She strives for a world united in its respect for humanity and Mother Earth.

Dr Dorothy Nairne: South Africa

Dr Dorothy Nairne

In 2004, social entrepreneur Dr Dorothy Nairne founded Africa Loves Babies in a bid to eliminate poverty amonghistorically undeserved communities in South Africa.

Called companioned fashion manufactured by community-based sewing circles, Africa Loves Babies is African-inspired attire which empowers by way of commerce and not charity. Each article of clothing purchased enables consumers to put their money where their hearts are while making a difference in the lives of those affected and infected by diseases such as HIV/AIDS.

Dr Nairne first came to Africa 11 years ago on a research project on HIV and sex workers. She describes her work in HIV/AIDS arena as 'fantastic, challenging and life changing'.

Her interactions with women in various countries have impacted Dr Nairne's view of womanhood.