Stories of life and pain: storytellers workshops

Abstract

The present research is a result of an intervention with HIV-positive individuals carried out in the city of São Leopoldo (Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul), a municipality located in the Porto Alegre metropolitan area with the third highest number of HIV/Aids cases in the region. The aim of the research was to organize workshops for storytellers and motivate the participants to spread the word. The workshop described in this article took place at the NGO Apoio, Solidariedade e Prevenção à Aids (ASPA - Aids Prevention, Solidarity and Support), and was developed throughout five meetings when the participants told life stories and created a ritual based on popular religiosity. The group was composed of eight users and two volunteer workers, all of them HIV-positive; the majority were female, with a low income, living in areas of difficult access and heading their households. As for the theoretical framework, we used discourse practices in order to analyze the material produced in the workshops. Throughout the activity, two main themes emerged: the prejudice imposed upon HIV-positive individuals and religiosity as a strategy for confronting Aids. Emphasis is given to the importance of storytellers workshops in the promotion of the health of the population.