I think that through the years of sexual education we’ve established that a condom is THE most effective tool to protect yourself. If you didn’t know this yet, well … now you do! Condoms protect you against the transmission of HIV and other STD’s and prevent unplanned pregnancy. We should all keep safe and carry one! Sometimes it’s easier said than done. It's not easy to get condoms to some very hard-to-reach parts of the world. Right now I’m talking about some villages in Tanzania. Tanzania has a lot of health issues:  HIV- patients occupy 50% of hospital beds and women have a 1 in 24 lifetime risk of dying during childbirth. I read about this on the website of Cosmopolitan magazine.

It's the ‘Tuungane project in Tanzania that brings condoms from the urban center of Kigoma to all the small villages around the Mahale National Park. Sala Lewis, a Tanzania –based photographer, has traveled with ‘Pathfinder International’ to document how it's done. It's quite a process if I may say so.

Two workers of the Tuungane project prepare for the journey. They start at their headquarters and load their truck with all kinds of supplies, including boxes of condoms. The two workers have to drive 3 - 5  hours in order to get to the ferry, to cross the Malagarasi River. Fortunately, the ferry ride only takes about 10 minutes. After the ferry they get back on dry land and continue their journey. Again, they drive for about 2 hours and finally get to the speedboat.  With this speedboat they can reach the riverside villages.

The Tuungane project makes sure to distribute condoms each month to villages and clinics. This is very important, given the fact that almost 6% of the Tanzanian population is HIV positive,  mostly  women. Take a look at the full article and don’t hesitate to check out ‘Pathfinder International’ and its activities.