Ecuador <Back to Project Menu 
Project Trainers: Lynn Weddle, Marcela Nievas
Ecuador is located in the north west section of South America, sharing borders with Colombia, Brazil and Peru. Ecuador’s estimated HIV prevalence rate in adults is 0.3%, with around 23,000 people living with HIV.
As Colombia’s neighbour, Ecuador is caught up in a military and economic response to Colombia’s civil and drug wars. The wars also present a serious migration problem for Ecuador, with an estimated 1,000 Colombians entering Ecuador illegally each month, many of whom stay in Santo Domingo de los Colorados. Many of these migrants, primarily women, become involved in sex work because of the socio-economic pressures they have to deal with as they attempt to resettle in Ecuador.
The intensified economic crisis that Ecuador has been experiencing since 1999 has exacerbated the spread of HIV. Over this period, there has been a sharp decrease in household incomes; levels of unemployment have risen dramatically, and poverty throughout the country has increased significantly – most crucially in communities already highly vulnerable to infection, such as people who sell sex, migrants and urban populations.
The economic crisis has meant that people living with HIV cannot afford adequate nutrition, medical attention and medication. The scarce funds that have been allocated to these areas by government are directed toward the poorest sectors of society and only address their most basic health needs, ignoring the many Ecuadorian citizens whose income is judged to be just above that of the poorest.
In August and September 2006 PhotoVoice facilitators Lynn Weddle and Marcela Nievas ran two sets of photographic training workshops in Quito with fifteen members of key groups already associated with the International HIV/AIDS Alliance's local partner organisation in Ecuador, Corporacion Kimirina. The selection of participants included sex workers, gay men and other men who have sex with men, and people living with HIV. In the month between the two sets of workshops participants took digital cameras back with them to their homes and took photographs to document their everyday lives and highlight the issues that affect them. The powerful images produced provide a remarkable insight into the lives of groups often overlooked by policies aimed at addressing the AIDS epidemic.