Vandaag in de Nacht

Kuhamasisha. Doutzen4life in Tanzania

Doutzen Kroes in Tanzania, video.

Ulihamasisha means inspired in Swahili. Inspired by the power and potential of my peers, I travelled to Tanzania with photographer Annelies Damen to visit a dance4life schools programme. As an ambassador for the global youth organization I wanted to see with my own eyes how dance4life mobilises young people, and empowers them to push back the spread of HIV and AIDS.

During my trip trough Tanzania I visited several HIV and AIDS projects and had many discussions with young people who feel the impact of HIV and AIDS in their communities every day. One of the most moving experiences during the trip was my encounter with Richard, a young man who is living with HIV. Richard is part of the Tanzanian dance4life tour team and during their performance at Kidamali secondary school he shared his story with the students. Richard is living with HIV, so is his wife. Their child, because of access to medication did not get infected. An open discussion between Richard and the students took place, and I was shocked by some of their questions, particularly when one student asked him if he should live somewhere else with other people who were also infected with HIV. It was inspiring to see how the dance4life facilitators handled these questions, but I was amazed by the lack of knowledge and stigmas that still surround HIV and AIDS.

By visiting this school in Tanzania I experienced the importance of the dance4life programme which reached 83.000 young people in Tanzania last year and empowered them to make positive decisions about their lives and future.

I hope my story, documented by these photographs will inspire you as much as this journey inspired me.

Doutzen Kroes