MEXICO CITY, Aug 5, 2008 (AFP) - With her immaculate face, cheekbones to die for and slim legs showcased by a slinky black microskirt, Dr. Safelove is unforgettable as a promoter of safe sex among teenage girls.
"I tell my girls, 'Girls, everyone needs to carry a condom. Take one and carry it in your back pocket. Always judge a penis by its cover'," says the doctor in a cut-glass English accent.
What makes Dr. Safelove especially memorable is that she's not even human -- she's a glove puppet, part of an unusual tactic to help sexual health in the era of AIDS.
The good doctor's voice belongs to a South African, Dina Kaplan, who works with a French-based group, Puppeteers without Borders, which trains teachers, nurses and sex educators in the skills of puppeteering.
In classrooms, hospitals and community centres, the hand puppets then come to life, conveying messages about sexuality, stigma, homophobia and other often-taboo issues to youngsters.
"Puppets can say so many things that adults find it difficult to say directly to young people. Puppets make people work together," said Kaplan.
Her voice is slightly hoarse because she has been making presentations all day, satisfying the massive interest in her organisation's booth in the "Global Village" of the International AIDS Conference here.
To the rest of the world, the biennial conference is a council of war, assessing the latest news about HIV drugs, the search for a vaccine, modes of infections and other big medical issues.
That part is indeed true. Less well known, though, is the conference's use as a platform for networking, especially in the "Global Village," a forum that exists only for the duration of the six-day gathering.
Housed this year in a massive tent in the centre of a racecourse, the Village is a carnival of noise and colour and skills-building, where AIDS activists from around the world swap experiences, tips and addresses.
Contact like this is like finding nuggets of gold, helping to hone knowledge and networks and overcome the isolation that may beset a campaigner living in a country where discrimination is rife.
"The response has been fabulous, overwhelming." said John Piermont Montilla at the booth of a Philippines organisation called Kabatang Gabay.
Montilla, forced into sex work as a young boy, set up the group in Iloilo City as an adult to provide shelter and therapy to youngsters aged seven to 17 who have been driven into prostitution.
Scraping his money together and helped by a donation, Montilla made a 35-hour trip to get to Mexico City.
"We've had people from around the world, from Africa, from Europe, from Fiji, coming up to us and asking us about how we work," he said.
Nearby, indigenous people from around Latin America gathered in a semi-circle for a workshop on the problems they face. Field workers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China pooled their knowledge. An Arab activist manned a stand about homophobia in North Africa and the Middle East.
The Village is also a venue for art and solidarity. This year's exhibitions include enormous black-and white photos taken by people with HIV living in remote parts of Africa, as well as Mexican skeleton puppets and a quilt made by women from Southeast Asia, bearing messages of support from the other side of the world.
It also puts on fashion shows, rock concerts and unconventional theatre.
On Thursday, the eve of the six-day conference's close, an international team of sex workers are scheduled to perform an offbeat play called "Star Whores 2." The message: May the condoms be with you!
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