The Little Travellers of the Hillcrest AIDS Centre

Located outside of central Durban, The Hillcrest AIDS Centre is a "faith-based ministry" addressing the local impact of HIV/AIDS "in a practical and holistic way.  The mission of the organisation is and always has been to show unconditional love in a practical way to all infected and affected by HIV/AIDS."  Until I got here, I hadn't realized the specific ways stigma towards those with HIV/AIDS manifests itself in South Africa, particularly when perceptions of stigma make those possibly infected/infected avoid activities that Hillcrest or I would identify as "practical ways" to attend to the disease and complications relating to it (such as getting tested or beginning a course of anti-retroviral treatments).  The Durban Art Gallery is hosting an exhibition of photographs, garments, and craft items created by some of the Centre's members and I got to see the display earlier this week.  The Little Traveller (pictured here in a photograph I have used from Hillcrest's website without explicit permission) has become an iconic craft object for Hillcrest - each traveler comes with a "passport" and the traveler is attached to a safety pin so whoever it travels to can attach it to their clothes, bag, etc.  They sell here for R15 (just a little over $2 US) for the basic travelers but the project has expanded to include other kinds of travelers and information relating to them (on t-shirts and a DVD).  They loosely resemble small versions of some more traditional Zulu dolls I have seen (at least in the use of dark fabric in combination with different colored beads to accentuate features of the doll's body).  Each traveler is unique and some specialty travelers include Rastas, Zulu warriors, and Sangomas (this is a Zulu shaman/medicine man).  The proceeds from the travelers and the other craft projects produced at Hillcrest's craft collective go to fund several projects at the centre, including HIV/AIDS Counseling, Nursing Services and Home-Based Care, Horticultural Production and Nutrition and Nutrition Education, and contributing to School Fees for children in the area.  I'm really interested in this idea of the traveler and how the Hillcrest AIDS Centre crafters have connected the concept of HIV/AIDS to the global movement of people.