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New radio drama series on relationships on ZBC Radio Zimbabwe
Action IEHDC
September 15, 2010

A new radio drama series exploring the complexities around relationships, sex, secrets, lies and love in a time of HIV and AIDS, has this week hit the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) Radio Zimbabwe Station airwaves.

The drama series is entitled Yellow Dust and is being aired in Ndebele and Shona. Yellow Dust will run for 26 weeks, starting on 13 September 2010. The Ndebele version will be aired every Monday evening at 6.30pm and the Shona series every Tuesday same time. The drama series will run for 15 minutes each episode.

Yellow Dust is a story that people can relate to and its characters are Zimbabwean. The setting of the drama series is a fictional mining town called Yellow Dust.

The radio drama series was produced by Action Institute for Environment, Health and Development Communication (IEHDC), a local Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) whose focus is environment, health and development communication, in partnership with ESP Studios, a production company.

The radio drama series is part of a regional campaign called OneLove whose objective is to reduce HIV infections. The OneLove Campaign is focusing on the reduction of Multiple and Concurrent Sexual Partnerships (MCPs) which have been identified as the key driver of the HIV pandemic in Southern Africa. Yellow Dust exposes the dangers associated with having MCPs.

The OneLove Campaign is running across 10 Southern African countries including Zimbabwe. The regional campaign which has been running since 2008 and ending in 2012 is being coordinated by Soul City: Institute for Health and Development Communication, an NGO based in South Africa.

The SADC region is the most affected by HIV globally, according to UNAIDS 40% of people living with HIV worldwide reside in this region. The adult prevalence in the region is estimated at almost 11% compared to the global average of just 1%, confirming that this region remains the worst affected. In Zimbabwe the HIV prevalence stands at 13.7% for the ages between 15-49 according to National AIDS Council 2009 statistics on HIV and AIDS.

A television drama series, entitled 'Big House Small House", also an Action IEHDC product, was launched in February 2010 and was screened on ZBC TV and in nine other countries in Southern Africa under the OneLove Campaign.

Action IEHDC is this month (September 2010) releasing yet another product under the OneLove Campaign in form of a booklet entitled "Loving Each Other", which promotes 'onelove relationships".

Zimbabwe launched the OneLove Campaign at national level in June 2009. The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare officially opened the OneLove launch which was coordinated by the Action IEHDC and the National AIDS Council. Other key partners in the OneLove Campaign in Zimbabwe also include the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Southern Africa HIV and AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAFAIDS) and Zimbabwe Community Health Intervention Project (ZICHIRE-BC).

Action IEHDC together with ZICHIRE-BC launched the OneLove Campaign at community level in Murewa District in Mashonaland East Province on 12 November 2009 as part of the decentralisation of the campaign from national to district level. SAFAIDS and the UNFPA have produced OneLove print and electronic materials which complement the campaign.

Visit the Action IEHDC fact sheet

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