Positivo team arrived at 8 am in Homoine’s ‘Escola Secundaria 25 de Setembro’. We set up the studio in a classroom and welcomed 24 participants to the workshop, girls and boys being present in equal numbers (see the list of participants attached). After a short presentation of pupils and project, HIV-AIDS participative education started. Our method simply consisted in analysing, with the pupils, the collected answers to the question ‘Why do we not use condoms?’. Children read answers, discussed and classified them by topics, finding solutions together. This method was first used in Mangunde and improved in Homoine and Maxixe under the supervision of Helen Smith and Darren Clark, two Positivo members teaching in Inhambane, and with the help of Luis Enrique, a brazilian anthropologist working in Homoine.

In the second half of the morning, pupils were asked to form groups of 4 and write lyrics on selected topics. Organisation was free. Some pupils instinctively wrote a few lines and sang them with their group, creating choruses. Others preferred creating raps and showing their texts afterwards. During the writing process, musical beats were continuously played in the background. Theatre and writing techniques (ex : use of the first or second person to express emotions) were provided with the assistance of Pierre Dufloo, a Positivo member writing books in Inhambane.  

Before and after lunch, the pupils’ lyrics and voices were tested and given to the classroom’s appreciation. The best lyrics were selected and everybody got a chance to sing. A few talents were discovered. Recording started at 2 pm and finished at 5.30 pm with hundreds of children singing the chorus outside the classroom. The introduction of the song was spoken in Shit’swa under the supervision of João Marime (see lyrics attached). The entire workshop was filmed by Dave Charley. Helio D and Roland Pickl led the whole process, making sometimes dramatic choices and giving professional advise (ex : sing with a smile). At the end of the day, pupils declared themselves happy and proud of the result. They left singing their new hit song ‘Vamos-la’. Two students from the school’s radio interviewed Helio D:

‘There was a good participation today. The song will be presented to local authorities before distribution. As HIV-AIDS, Positivo project has no geographical limit. Our country needs strong and immediate action to eliminate the disease in this generation.’