In the first series of interventions with the rural craftswomen, the Durban City Environmental Health Department (under the guidance of Gayle O’Connor - Principal Environmental Health officer) thematically presented all the HIV/AIDS information to the beadwork producers in the workshops. Their insistence that HIV/AIDS awareness must not be separate from environmental aspects proved both valuable and important, for instance pollution and safe water were topics discussed at length as these two aspects have an immediate bearing on water-transmitted disease and thus impact negatively on health.
The National Association of People Living with AIDS (NAPWA), Kuyasa Devoted Artists and the Shembe virgins are acknowledged for their contributing performances of dance, song and narration which formed a vital component of building up knowledge of HIV/AIDS and has informed the project to the present day.
Agnes Xaba (practicing sangoma) and Edna Gumede are both acknowledged as both have worked alongside the rural women on a regular basis.