When Designers against AIDS approached a young Swedish model called Peter Zaar Almqvist‏ and asked him to join Models against AIDS, it looks like it was meant to be, because this was his reaction ….
 
Peter Zaar Almqvist  “It would mean the world to me if I could become part of this project! My best friend called me 3 weeks ago and told me that he got infected with HIV because he had unprotected sex with a guy. I felt devastated when he told me this…
 
And I think it is really important that you are spreading the word and getting the message out there because my friends here in London are not taking HIV serious. They think HIV is like getting chlamydia, that it’s a joke!
 
I experienced this first hand. I was dating a guy who was infected but never told me… I found out because one of my friends told me. Thank God I didn’t get infected! I also had the biggest fight of my life with that friend because he doesn’t take safe sex and HIV serious. And this was the guy that told me that the guy I was dating was infected! I told him he was crazy because of not telling this to me earlier. It could have got me killed… I know it’s my duty to wear a condom but still, people should talk about this. This cannot stay a taboo, or a joke!
 
I would be so happy to help DAA spreading the safe sex message and I really hope that I’m a good candidate. This means the world to me. I will contact all my friends and other important people in my network such as Ian McKellen and Natalia Vodianova.
 
It’s really strange that you contacted me today, because I was planning on contacting RFSL (The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights) or another organization to ask them if they needed a model to volunteer. I really want to do something good and useful before I leave the modelling world.
I know I’m not a supermodel, but I have worked for different big magazines such as Vogue, i-D and Elle. I also did a few shoots for Ralph Lauren, Prada, Fred Perry, Top Man, Ed Hardy, Tony & Guy…

Some model friends and me plan to make a safe sex video clip for Models against AIDS. I’m so glad I’m a part of this project - I want to kill the virus, because it’s killing my friends! And I feel that it’s payback time now.
 
If you ever want to do a fundraiser in London, I would love to help with that too, since I have some good connections that we can use for such an event.
 
It’s payback time! That’s my slogan for this project. I will do everything in my power to help DAA, so just let me know what you need and I will fix it. I’m so thankful and glad that you decided to contact me. It really feels like this was meant to be…”


xxx Peter