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"The first time I heard about HIV I was a 15-year-old student. A health care worker spoke to my class about sex and AIDS. ‘Don’t sleep around,’ she said, ‘or you will contract HIV.' I left the room thinking that will never happen to me. I am not one of those people and I don’t sleep around."

In 2001 Sophie Dilmitis founded Choose Life, where she delivered comprehensive presentations on HIV/AIDS to over 7500 pupils in 30 schools over a five year period. Based in Zimbabwe, she facilitated presentations on HIV awareness, positive living, and workshops to private, community, and government sectors and assisted young positive people in forming their own organizations and youth prevention programmes. more>>

>>Click here to read the full interview

>>Available in French, Portuguese, and Spanish


Jennifer Kidwell, IWHC: How did you get involved in the struggle for women's and young people's rights?

Sophie Dilmitis: In 1999, receiving an HIV-positive diagnosis was like receiving a death sentence. The complete lack of information and knowledge available left me ready to give up. It was only with strong family support that I gathered information on HIV and AIDS. I communicated with specialists all over the world, read every publication available, and spoke to every experienced HIV-positive person I could speak to. more>>

JK: What inspired you to start Choose Life?

SD: Once I saw the yawning gap between what young people, especially young women, needed to know and what they were being given I was even more motivated to give them tools that they could access and use to protect themselves from infection. more>>

JK: How do you feel that the work of Choose Life has changed young people's lives, either in specific instances or in general?

SD: Choose Life reinforced positive change, urging young people to take responsibility for their actions and live healthy, positive lives, irrespective of their HIV status. All information was realistic, youth-friendly, and created for infected/affected youths by their peers. more>>

JK: What do you see as major challenges facing young people in Zimbabwe
today? What about greatest opportunities?

SD: Our future generation is not being looked after or safeguarded. Youth are not aware of what their sexual and reproductive rights are. They are subjected to abuse and are vulnerable. more>>

JK: What do you think are some of the most important issues to address in order to promote and protect the health and rights of young people –especially young girls?

SD: Changes must be made in response to a real need and as a result of social dialogue, which includes the voices of young women. We must design programmes and policies that give a voice to young women, and if this ruffles the feathers of the status quo, then so be it. The cost of not doing so will be far, far greater. more>>

JK: How can activists, policymakers, different groups work together to bring
young people to the table?

SD: Young people (and this is not specific to young people) need to be given information and education about policy-making processes, so that their capacity is built up, so that they do not feel intimidated by not knowing the jargon that is used and so that they can actively participate in decision- and policy-making. more>>

JK: What are your dreams for the future? Can you describe your vision of an
ideal or better world?

SD: I would like to live in a world where those who have been traditionally silenced and marginalized have a voice, are listened to and taken seriously. I would like to see promises made kept. more>>

JK: How did you first come into contact with IWHC?

SD: In 2003 the Youth Coalition (YC), in partnership with Youth Against AIDS Network (YAAN), facilitated an advocacy workshop around sexual and reproductive health and rights in Lusaka, Zambia. As a follow-up to that meeting, a group of 12 young people from across Africa were reunited in Senegal to strategize on developing an advocacy network. While developing and launching this network, we also attended the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), taking place there simultaneously. That was where I first met Zonny Woods [Senior Advisor for International Policy, IWHC]. more>>