The difference we make
Over ten years ago, a shy little boy walked into Nireekshana ACET’s clinic in Hyderabad with his grandmother. Sunny had lost his parents at an early age and now his younger sister was dying of an AIDS-related illness. The Nireekshana ACET staff tested him for HIV and were relieved to find his status was negative.
Because there was no one...
When Meena was 24 years old and pregnant with her 2nd child, she was diagnosed with HIV. Her husband knew that he was HIV positive before they were married but he did not disclose his status to her. She was scared and worried but the local government hospital in Hyderabad told her about Nireeshana ACET.
During her first visit to the...
The year 2002 has very poignant memories for Teen, who was then a nine-year old school girl. That was the year her mother died and she came to live at the House of Grace (a partner of ACET Thailand), a home for children infected or affected by HIV.
Prior to this she rarely saw her dad as he was a soldier and often away on military duty....
“ACET Belarus volunteers have been teaching in our school for a while now. I like the topic of relationships most of all. Just like many other girls I dream about having a family. Unfortunately, I haven’t experienced many examples of successful marriages, but after the lessons The Science of Love and My Soul’s Territory, I started believing...
“My name is Nesta and I live in Bulawayo. I am 27 years old and a mother of two. I used to spend a lot of my time drinking with my friends and that is how I eventually started sex work. In most cases I would meet people who didn’t want to have sex with condoms. I knew little about HIV and I realise now that I believed many myths about the virus...
“I first learned about my HIV status in 2008. I refused to go to the hospital for medication. I could not imagine myself being seen among people living with HIV at the clinic. I imagined that members of my community would see me and I would not be able to bear the shame.”
Elizabeth, like many people in Nigeria, did not know the dangers...