HIV/AIDS organizations and their members have made it their life’s mission to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and to provide support and care for those who are “sankramit” (or ‘infected’). It is this commitment and devotion that removes all barriers of caste, poverty, gender and issues of being positive and negative.

Tara BK is one young woman who knows how important it is to make everyone feel accepted and says that all HIV positive people need continued support, “Our group has been told to limit ourselves to 14 wards, but for me where there is a positive person or a person with AIDS, I will make myself available.” Tara went from despair at being HIV positive to being made President of the Dip Jyoti Samai Bikas Group in Western Nepal. Read more about Tara’s story.

The illiterate are taking care of what is most needed

Support organizations are a new phenomenon in Nepal. All stakeholders in the chain are learning by doing. There are many challenges that they face as they try to fit into a set organizational culture of planning, budgeting, monitoring, reporting and networking. Kamala says she wants donor organizations to know how hard they are working: “These organizations need things on paper, but we are illiterate and we cannot provide information on time and as it is required.  But we are working hard,” she says.

Kamala is also concerned about the future of programs. She says there is too much at stake: “You know that with each dose of ART that we miss, our CD4 count will decrease.  The people in the community who are not happy with us are saying, “These people will be perky only while they get external help and then, wait and see!” She says they cannot afford to have a break in their effort to help the people. Because that would mean a break in the confidence building and empowerment into which people such as Tara and Kamala have invested their lives.