Silence and the ignorance it promotes have fed the AIDS epidemic in Africa perhaps more than any other factors. In Malawi, where until the end of dictator Hastings Banda's rule in 1994 women were barred from wearing short skirts and men could be jailed for having long hair, public discussion of AIDS was forbidden. According to the government, AIDS didn't exist inside Malawi. Catherine Phiri, 38, knew otherwise. She tested positive in 1990, after her husband had died of the disease. Forced to quit her job as a nurse when colleagues began to gossip, she sought refuge with relatives in the capital, Lilongwe. But they too shunned her and eventually forced her to move, this time to Salima on beautiful Lake Malawi. "Even here people gossiped," says Phiri, whose brave, open face is fringed by a head of closely cropped graying hair.

Determined to educate her countrymen, Phiri set up a group that offers counseling, helps place orphans and takes blood that can then be tested in the local hospital. "The community began to see the problem, but it was very difficult to communicate to the government. They didn't want to know."

They do now. According to a lawmaker, AIDS has killed dozens of Members of Parliament in the past decade. And Malawi's government has begun to move. President Bakili Muluzi incorporates AIDS education into every public rally. In 1999 he launched a five-year plan to fight the disease, and last July he ordered a crackdown on prostitution (though the government is now thinking of legalizing it). At the least, his awareness campaign appears to be working: 90% of Malawians know about the dangers of AIDS. But that knowledge comes too late for the estimated 8% of HIV-positive citizens--800,000 people in 1999--or the 276,000 children under 15 orphaned by the disease.

Last October, Phiri picked up an award for her efforts from the U.N. But, she says,"I still have people who look at me like trash..." Her voice trails off. "Sometimes when I go to sleep I fear for the future of my children. But I will not run away now. Talking about it: that's what's brave."

--By Simon Robinson/Salima
From the Feb. 12, 2001 issue of TIME magazine