"You will not spend the whole of your life in prison. The time will come when you will get out of jail and rejoin your family. When you get out you will be able to give your children lessons about AIDS, its prevention and transmission. And if you’re a woman, you will know that you have to ask your husband to get tested for AIDS.”

But not everybody lives long enough to get that far. Charlotte remembers Brigitte, who was already HIV positive when she was put in jail.

”She was imprisoned for a common crime, she was not guilty of genocide."

While in prison, Brigitte reached the final phase of AIDS and became critically ill. She had suffered for so long, explains Charlotte, that she had bedsores and her bones protruded from her body.

"The medical staff wouldn't take her to hospital because they said she would soon be dead. They put her in a dark room to die. The peer educators tried to look after her when no one else would, taking care to visit her every day. This made a great impression on me."

Now Charlotte is in the Ingando and soon she will be released and rejoin her family. She has lost her property, and will have to start from the beginning again after eight years in jail. All the same, she will exploit her skills as a teacher and nurse and feels committed to serve the community as a peer educator.

As for her return, she is convinced that she will be received well by her neighbours in the village. She’s already there in her mind: a woman smaller than most but with a firm gaze and a low, soft voice.