By Debra Messing, actress and PSI Ambassador

As I sit in the production office of the new television pilot I am working on, I keep thinking about all of you in Vienna, including my friend Tears. My plan was to be with her – and with all of you – at the International AIDS Conference but unfortunately work has kept me away. 
 
Tears and I met late last year in a hair salon in the outskirts of Harare, Zimbabwe. To be specific, I met her at her place of work, the Black Beauty Hair Salon and Butchery. That’s right...on one side it’s a hair salon and on the other, a butcher. This program is one of the most ingenious I have seen in my time as a PSI Ambassador.  With support from UKaid, PSI developed a programme to reach vulnerable women through a nationwide network of hairdressers – 1,500 to be exact. The hairdressers double as peer educators and talk to women about HIV prevention, birth spacing, family planning and overall risk reduction. They also distribute the Care female condom.
 

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect when I walked into the salon. I pictured a clinical discussion on HIV prevention and the smell of perming solution. What I found was very different.
 
Tears was standing in the middle of the room – she is one of the most stunning women I have ever met, with a smile that lights up the room or the small, dark, “salon”. She was dressed in a pink smock, a fitted skirt, her hair pulled back tight and she was wearing bright red sling backs. She owns the room. She is so enthusiastic, so exuberant, I felt a rush.
 
She sat me down, introduced herself and her co-workers and demonstrated the female condom for me.  Her voice is high and captivating, and her delivery is pitch perfect. She had the place in stitches, but very cleverly inserted HIV education and prevention messages along with information about family planning.
 
The female condom is important because it offers women a voice and choice in HIV prevention and their reproductive health needs. And, as a key driver of HIV in Zimbabwe is concurrent sexual partnerships, women need every tool they can get. Married women are at significant risk here.
 
Tears was a pro and we bonded that day over comedy. She’s a natural who understands how to deliver important messages through humor. I am amazed by her energy and her natural sales ability. After the presentation, I asked the hairdressers to wrap my head in my scarf – African style. They graciously obliged and then we gathered together to film a short video introduction for a film produced by UKaid and BBC on PSI’s hair dresser programme, it’s called, Weaving Braids not AIDS. We clowned around for a while but got the shoot right after two takes. I left feeling an incredible high and sense of hope, which is how I’m feeling again today. 
 

This week, Tears will be in the Global Village at the International AIDS Conference to show participants the incredible HIV prevention and family planning work she does back home.  I’m sorry I won’t be able to join her and all of the other incredible people gathered at the conference this year. I cannot stress enough how important their work is to the global fight against HIV/AIDS.  This year’s conference coincides with a major push for expanded access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.  At a time when the global economic crisis threatens to undermine our investments in public health, it is more important than ever for us to gather to recognize our accomplishments, discuss lessons learnt and collectively plan the next steps to move forward against this disease.
 
I wish you all courage and good luck in your efforts,
Debra Messing
 
About PSI’s work in Zimbabwe
PSI began working in Zimbabwe in 1996, in partnership with the National Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, to prevent HIV and AIDS, control malaria and improve family planning practices. PSI/Zimbabwe’s 280 employees promote and provide testing and counseling services and distribute Protector Plus male condoms, Care female condoms, long-lasting insecticide treated nets and multiple contraceptive products.