BBC
Last year, the BBC News website published pictures of the village of Njoho in Malawi, highlighting its battle against the HIV epidemic. Patricia Lucas from the World Food Programme returned to see what had changed.

Despite local estimates suggesting the HIV prevalence rate remains close to 50%, it is possible to find signs of hope for the village of Njoho in its ongoing struggle with Malawi’s HIV/Aids pandemic.

Last year, Sister Josephine of the Nsanama Convent was pessimistic, warning of villagers’ fatalism in the face of HIV/Aids.

“Too often, they have anger in their hearts and voluntarily destroy their and other people’s lives by behaving as if nothing has changed,” she said.

Six months later, Sister Josephine’s outlook is more comforting. “What I find positive now is the awareness of needs among the leaders, the sense of family in the community,” she tells me. “The children now no longer feel shy to say: ‘I am an orphan.’ People want to help each other.”

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