Doin’ My Drugs set to tell an inspiring human interest story

The heading for this one isn’t designed to throw you off, Doin’ My Drugs is in fact the title of an upcoming Showmax series. Premiering on Showmax on 6 September 2021, Doin’ My Drugs is described as a captivating documentary that follows the life of Zambian-born Danish musician, Thomas Muchimba Buttenschøn, who was born HIV positive in 1985.

After learning of his illness, his parents, who were also HIV positive, emigrated to Denmark to seek treatment. At the tender age of eight, Thomas would lose both his parents to AIDS related deaths, and he too would have a close brush with death. After fully recovering thanks to taking anti-retroviral (ARV) medication, Thomas threw himself into music.

He’s since found success in music, with millions of streams on the likes of Spotify and a stint judging the wildly popular Denmark’s Got Talent. He’s also married the love of his life and has two children, who, like his wife, are HIV negative thanks to his medication.

After connecting with relatives, Thomas’s attention would turn to the alarming HIV/AIDS epidemic back home in Zambia. Statistics from the United Nations AIDS programme (UNAIDS) show that an alarming 1,5 million people out the country’s 17,8 million population live with HIV.

To connect with his countrymen and women, Thomas, along with Tyler Q Rosen, director of ‘Doin’ My Drugs’, established the Muchimba Music Foundation (MMF), a foundation dedicated to creating change and awareness through music. Through this newly established foundation, Thomas and Tyler created a program for residents of the Zambian capital, Lusaka, to receive free tickets to a concert if they agreed to an HIV test.

During MMF’s campaigns, an astounding 10,802 Zambians were tested, and over 1,000 of those tested positive and were all enrolled into HIV counselling and treatment programs. The Test-For-Tickets program is already reshaping the conversation Zambians are having about HIV/AIDS.

Doin’ My Drugs was shot for over 120 days, over two and a half years, spanning the three continents of Africa, Europe, and North America. It is a project that was completely self-funded by both Thomas and Tyler.

A great and inspiring human interest story this one is. Its premise alone without watching the trailer makes it an easy choice to invest your time in. It premieres on Showmax from Monday, 06 September 2021. For more information on the documentary, visit here or follow @doinmydrugs on social media.

Post Views: 0

#Doin’ My Drugs #Showmax #Thomas Muchimba Buttenschøn

Posted By

Thabiso Moloi

With many, many years of PR, digital & influencer marketing work under his belt, Thabiso has worked on a great number of technology, business and consumer brands. In addition, he has become obsessed with most things under the sun including music, series, sports, movies etc which he now regularly writes about. You can find him on Twitter: @Thabz_14