Caring for People Affected by HIV & AIDS in Nepal

My name is Lakshmi*. I am 35 years old and live in the mid-west of Nepal. Ten years ago my husband got very sick, I brought him to the hospital where the doctor did all sorts of tests, among them was an HIV test.

This came out positive, the doctor then wanted to test me and my test was also positive too. We were shocked and fearful and told no one. We had no idea what to do, so we did nothing. My husband’s health continued to deteriorate and he died.

I was alone in the world and had to leave the house that we had lived in. I moved back in with my parents. I did not tell them about the HIV diagnosis. I stayed with them for 9 years, then, one day I suddenly I got very sick.

My brother took me to the hospital . A doctor did all sorts of test on me, including HIV, I already knew I was positive, but did not dare to tell them. The doctor then sent us all the way to Kathmandu to do more tests and to get ART** treatment.

In the hospital we met the AIDSLink staff. They were very helpful, counselling me about HIV and AIDS and ART treatment, explaining the results of various tests and showing me where I needed to go in the hospital.

We had no where to stay in Kathmandu and they took us to their Care Centre where they provided a good service and made us very welcome. I have learnt many things about HIV that I never knew before and I am feeling well. For the last ten years I have been hopeless, fearful, weak and full of shame. Now hope for the future has returned to my life.

*Name changed.

** ART: anti-retroviral treatment for HIV.

GG Rewards Bonus Day is Wednesday, July 18th. On this day donations made between 9:00am to 11:59pm EDT* to Superstar ranked organizations (such as AIDSLink) will be matched at 50% (there will be $120,000 in matching funds available). All day long there will be a 100% match on new recurring donations, $9,000 in bonus prizes, and promotional prizes!

We are again going to raise funds for AIDSLink Nepal on this day. Please encourage your friends and family to consider making a donation on July 18th. Click here to see the project.

Last year we raised over $15,000 which has made huge difference to the ministry.

These are some of the things that your donations in 2017 helped achieve.

• Sixty-six new clients and 196 current clients (from outside Kathmandu) made use of the services offered at the Care Centre.
• We continue to have a good relationship with the various hospitals and were able to help 1,815 patients (access lab. tests, Dr’s. check up, HIV test, CD4 count, viral load, caring for in-patients needs, counselling about HIV treatment, etc). Of these 382 were new patients whom we helped navigate the hospital system.
• There are 36 children in the scholarship programme. One child had a heart problem and needed an operation which we helped her mother pay for.
• We are running three support-groups. Two are outside Kathmandu. We have staff in two areas outside Kathmandu.
• We held 17 HIV awareness programmes around the country.
• The death of a co-worker shocked us and there were many question around how to best help her children (their father passed on a few years previously). One of the children (who is himself living with HIV) became suicidal and is staying at the Care Centre until we find a better solution.  

* 9am on 18th July EDT is 2pm 18th July in the UK and 3pm in South Africa. 11.59pm 18th July is 4.59am 19th July in the UK and 5:59am i.n South Africa.