"I walk round the yard to visit the girls' hostel There is no one in charge, no cafeteria, no teachers around....only three or four chickens. Young girls lie on their beds, exhausted, sick perhaps. They prepare their supper themselves. Children who have no families stay on the hill all week. Some are in wheelchairs; some are on crutches. There is no Jesus Christ to say 'rise up and walk,' no Gandhi, once their neighbor, and Mandela is far away and inaccessible. At the foot of the hill is a Christian church sponsored by Coca-Cola. But the school will close unless the Coca Cola God comes to their aid."

'It is some kind of punishment," says Bulelwa.

"No, not a punishment," says Maria. "It is God's way of collecting all the people to do the right things to care about themselves..."

"HIV has done a lot for me. I meet a lot of people, white people who I was scared of before."

"My mind is not on my status. I've got some dreams. I want to build my house for my children. I will see all my children grow up. I also want a job. I will not die next year or next or next."

The doctor says," the antiretroviral tablets brought a little hope into our ocean of desperation, inhumanity, pain and our feeling of being useless often. But some of our fighters started taking them too late. And they are all so young, they could be my children. I am aware that I am not only their doctor but their mother often and their friend sometimes, with my full consent."

Drawn from Break the Silence: the HIV/AIDS billboard and print portfolio c/o Artists for Human Rights, Durban, 2001, and from the book Long Life documenting the memory box and body map projects of women living with AIDS in Africa, 2005.