Success story of combating AIDS discrimination in Indian Villages

February 25, 2004

Dear All,

Mellacheruvu is a remote village in Chittoor District of Andhra Pradesh. It is

25 Kms away from the nearest town and has over 50 houses with a population not

exceeding 200 people. It is in this village that M and R, a HIV positive couple

live. They have two children, a boy and a girl who are in higher secondary

school. Their parents also live in an adjacent hut, while their brothers have

moved away to a bigger town long time back.

Owing to frequent illness of the husband, the villagers suspected the worst.

With M's wife also falling ill, they concluded it was AIDS. T! he couple

continued to live there and cultivated their two-acre land. Soon people in the

village stopped coming to their house, did not invite them to any function and

were not willing to share either food or water with the family. This ostracizing

did not bother M much. Their son was in a government hostel and their daughter

continued to live with them. The final straw came when the laborers refused to

step into their field for fear they may contract HIV!

PLHAs in the region had formed a forum and met once every month. Various issues

ranging from health, nutrition, education of children, livelihood options and

incidences of discrimination are discussed by the PLHAs and attempts made to

address them. During the monthly forum meeting in January, 2004 M and his wife

brought this extreme step of discrimination to t! he rest of the members of the

forum. The members decided the villagers needed education and informed M that

some of them would visit the village on 31st January and talk to the villagers.

On 31st January, 04 10 women PLHAs, 4 male PLHAs along with four staff members

of a NGO working in the District visited the village. The couple prepared lunch

for everyone, and as the villagers stared openly, the visitors had their lunch

in M's house. Then the group went around the village talking to the people and

educating them about HIV. Fears were allayed. Many villagers made the group

including M sit in their huts and offered them water. The talk was friendly, and

! the group could see a change in the attitude of the villagers. Later the group

went to M's field and worked in it, setting an example to the laborers. In the

evening all returned to their respective places.

A week later, the feedback from M is that people are friendlier now, and though

they are hesitant, do talk with them. One of them even invited them home and

spoke with them for sometime.

The PLHAs are pleased their collectivization has helped one of their members,

and are motivated to work together to fight stigma and discrimination.

PLHA Forum

E-mail: <plha@...>

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