Thembi Jakiwe: Strength of a Woman

(written by Jonathan Smith of Visual Epidemiology)

The first installment of the Human Spirit Project, "Strength of a Woman" shows a day in the life of quarantine for 12-year-old Thembi Jakiwe, who has been diagnosed with MDR-TB in Cape Town, South Africa. Despite her age, she is a leader among her peers, as well as her medical team (including us).

We take ethics in filming very seriously. As she is only 12 years old with a severe illness, we considered her a vulnerable subject and took special care and sensitivity when interviewing her, as well as when editing her interview. As with all our subjects, Thembi and her family provided full written and verbal consent and approved not only the interview, but also the final edit shown here. She and her family are fully aware of this distribution and are in full support - actually proponents - of it being shown globally, including online.