To raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and the challenges in treating the epidemic in southern Africa, MSF hosted the INTERVALO! sporting event in Maputo, Mozambique on 14 September, midway during the 10th All Africa Games.
The event brought together 24 athletes, made up of patients living positively with HIV along with MSF staff involved in HIV care from 5 Southern African countries – Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
INTERVALO! highlighted the determination and commitment of people on the frontlines of the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and demonstrated the positive impact of antiretroviral drugs in fighting a disease that wipes out 2 million people worldwide each year.
Each of the fun sporting events symbolised challenges ahead and successful ways to address them. The hurdles race, for example, showed the obstacles to fighting HIV, such as funding shortfalls, health worker shortages and stigma. In another event, every basketball shot symbolised a step to reaching the target of putting 15 million on life-saving ARV treatment by 2015.
MSF staff and participants told invited guests and journalists about their personal and professional challenges to overcoming HIV and called on global leaders to honor funding commitments and Southern African presidents to lead the HIV/AIDS fight.
Photos © Alain Kassa
The event brought together 24 athletes, made up of patients living positively with HIV along with MSF staff involved in HIV care from 5 Southern African countries – Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.
INTERVALO! highlighted the determination and commitment of people on the frontlines of the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and demonstrated the positive impact of antiretroviral drugs in fighting a disease that wipes out 2 million people worldwide each year.
Each of the fun sporting events symbolised challenges ahead and successful ways to address them. The hurdles race, for example, showed the obstacles to fighting HIV, such as funding shortfalls, health worker shortages and stigma. In another event, every basketball shot symbolised a step to reaching the target of putting 15 million on life-saving ARV treatment by 2015.
MSF staff and participants told invited guests and journalists about their personal and professional challenges to overcoming HIV and called on global leaders to honor funding commitments and Southern African presidents to lead the HIV/AIDS fight.
Photos © Alain Kassa
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| The six Intervalo! teams cheer just before the event starts. From left to right: Tete (light blue), Maputo (red), Zimbabwe (green), South Africa (yellow), Swaziland (pink) and Malawi (dark blue). |
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| Coordinator Alain Kassa leads the athletes in a warm-up training session at the Pavilhão da Universidade São Tomás de Moçambique, the day before the big event. |
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| Participants put in some pre-Intervalo! shot-put practice. |
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| The Intervalo! teams open the games with a lap around the court. |
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| Bridgette Chinamo (in green) from Zimbabwe speaks to journalists about her experience of living positively and working as an MSF nurse in Zimbabwe. Bridgette works in the Murambinda Mission hospital, in Buhera District, where MSF provides 14,000 patients with ARVS. |
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| The Zimbabwe Intervalo! team |
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| The Swaziland Intervalo! team |
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| The Maputo Intervalo! team |
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| Intervalo! sporting event against HIV/AIDS. The Malawi Intervalo! team |
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| Intervalo! sporting event against HIVAIDS. The South Africa Intervalo! team |
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| Intervalo! sporting event against HIV/AIDS. MSF Head of Mission Walter Lorenzo welcomes the guests and participants. |
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| Intervalo! sporting event against HIV/AIDS. Special guests included (from left) Tico Tico, Mozambique's most capped player and record goal scorer, multi-award winning jazz musician Moreira Chonguica, and Jan Heuskens, head of Cooperation from the Dutch Embassy in Maputo. |
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| Intervalo! sporting event against HIV/AIDS. The Maputo team leads in the hurdles race, where participants show that those living with HIV can overcome obstacles in the fight against HIV. |
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| Guests watch the sporting events. |
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| Mozambican national TV interviews MSF head of mission Walter Lorenzo. |
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| The South African team leads in the shot-put event. The shot-put event challenges athletes to make HIV/Aids funding and treatment go even further. |
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| Team Malawi takes a shot during the basketball event, showing how new resources can be creatively used to achieve hard-to-reach goals. |
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| Special guests Tico Tico and Moreira Chonguica present all the Intervalo! athletes with medals and certificates for their participation. |
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Sousa Chilaule from the Maputo team holds up his certificate. Sousa has been receiving HIV treatment for the past eight years through a clinic in Maputo which is run by the Ministry of Health in partnership with MSF. “We are living proof that people can thrive and do well on treatment,” says Sousa. “But you wouldn’t ever stop a game halfway through, and we won’t rest until everyone who needs treatment has access to it.” |