Watch for South African Views

Over the next several weeks, our blog for the Institute on Women will feature updates from Nadia Auch, who has served as the project manager for OSU's 65th Anniversary Celebration for our International Studies program. Nadia has agreed to share her adventures with us - watch this space for her updates.

I will take part in a delegation of five women from Central Ohio who will embark on a 3 week visit through South Africa. The objective will be to show "advanced private viewings" of a documentary film directed and produced by Janet Parrott, professor in the Department of Theatre at the Ohio State University and executive producer and hospice volunteer Cathe Kobacker. The film is entitled, Song of the Soul: Stories of Hospice in South Africa, and the aim is to share the fim with the participants of the documentary in South African.

The theme of the the documentary is how women are mobilizing to care for the HIV/AIDS dying. The documentary visits hospice care organizations throughout the country and films the women in action who are taking charge to care for their communities.

As a first timer to South Africa, I have also reached out to women's organizations and microbicides organizations and I intend to explore and learn from the work they are doing.

My travels will begin when I arrive on February 17th 2009.