Introduction

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The vast majority of us cannot even begin to imagine what our lives would be like if what has happened in Zambia as regards HIV and AIDS happened to us. This report and its accompanying photographs try to capture something of the realities of HIV and AIDS in Zambia today.

Our title was given to us by Mutonga Muketukwa from Itufa near Senanga in Western Province, who insisted that despite all that had happened to her and despite the anger of those around her '... this is what has happened, and whether you like it or not, I am living positively'. Mutonga epitomised one of the key lessons of the research– the resolve of so many women to continue with their lives and to live positively despite the devastating impact of the virus on them and on their families. What began as a chronicle of the various vulnerabilities women in Zambia face, became the story of persistence, strength, resolve and hope. While the HIV and AIDS pandemic has stripped bare many of the weaknesses and failings of Zambian society, it has also emphasised the immense potential of Zambian women, a potential as yet unrealised.

This report explicitly focuses on the vulnerability of women in five key areas as a direct result of the beliefs, values and structures in Zambian society that discriminate against women.

In compiling 'This is what has happened...', we set out to provide a representative sample of the stories behind the statistics and to give those infected and affected the opportunity to tell their story.

The stories gathered here graphically illustrate a key issue in that they focus on a series of political issues that are not unique to Zambia or indeed southern Africa. They are issues of importance the world over - issues of governance, accountability, policy making and prioritisation, service infrastructure and resourcing and the broad political landscape upon which these issues work themselves out. They also tell a story of injustice. The injustice of economic, social, cultural, educational and political sub-ordination of women and, of necessity, it is also the story of the dominance of much that a particular definition of ‘manhood’ stands for. While women continue to bear too much of the burden of HIV and AIDS, men are at the heart of the matter – the stories make this abundantly clear. What began as a research and documentation project on women in Zambia very quickly became one about universal issues and values, which ultimately impact on each and every one of us.

Valerie Duffy and Ciara Regan

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Photographer Gareth Bentley adds:

It has been my privilege to contribute through my photography. Having lived in this country all my life, I need no reminder of the dreadful hardship that the HIV and AIDS epidemic inflicts on all of Zambia’s people, and most especially her women and girls. However, faced with this reality every day, it becomes all too easy to hear the statistics, see the images, be shocked of course, even angry and then get on with our lives, still significantly detached.

It is not until you set aside the time to talk, face to face, with individual people in all walks of life, that their daily struggle simply to live, finally hits home. Hearing these intensely intimate stories of hardship and grief, of hope and joy, of battles won and lost, makes it simply impossible to ignore any longer. My goal was do my utmost to capture each person truthfully, simply and without preconception, in an image that gives some insight, even if just for a moment, into the lives of each of these very different people. It is my sincere hope that I have achieved this goal.

Lusaka, World AIDS Day 2010