The religious leaders were sought out ahead of an Aids conference this week in Mexico by a group of charities including Cafod and its Ethiopian partner, the Ethiopian Interfaith Forum for Development, Dialogue and Action.

Yeshiwork Fantaw told her dad, Father Fantaw Amare, that she was HIV-positive in June 2005.

He was shocked at first, but soon came to understand.

"If she dies, we will die. If she gets sick, we will care for her. We will never stigmatise her," he says.