News

News

Tea With Friends

Tea

In spite of the challenges of COVID 19, and in keeping with the restrictions, AIDSLink Nepal has been able to help nearly 300 clients each month.

Visiting families in their homes and drinking cups and cups of tea with them gives us opportunities to talk and listen.

One lady was sharing about her time in lockdown. She was fearful and worried about what would happen to her daughter if she died. Then she lost her job and had to leave the city. Staying in the village is hard for her and makes her daughter's education harder. Lockdown continued and lasted half a year in the end.
She decided to come back to the city because of her need for ART medicine. As a widowed mother living with her teenage daughter she alone has to provide food, housing, and for her daughter’s education, even though she is often sick.

When she came to the city, she was unable to find a job. No one was willing to give her work because of COVID19. She felt lonely and desperate. But the AIDSLink staff kept calling and encouraging her throughout this hard time.

They helped with money for her daughter's education. She said,” I appreciated this support so much. After my husband died, I felt like no one cared for me. It is really hard to live in a community when you have HIV and if I tell people I have it I am unable to get a job. The AIDSLink team became one of the pillars of my life.”

Channels of Hope Facilitator Training in Cebu, Philippines.

The Philippines has one of the fastest rates of new HIV infections in the world. For some time we have been wanting to respond. One very tangible step was to conduct a Channels of Hope Facilitator Training in Cebu in April.

Postive about life

Many young girls in Kyrgyzstan face sexual abuse and often end up pregnant or kicked out of the house. They remain uneducated and in menial jobs, continuing to face the same kind of victimisation as adults. After years of mistreatment and the burden of supporting their families in difficult circumstances, these women are vulnerable and have low self-esteem. The activities of the three Dorcas Ministries—named after the woman in the Bible from Joppa named Dorcas (Acts 9:36)—are designed to make a difference in the lives of silently suffering women.

Building honest relationships in Zambia

Two years ago, our team started working in one of the rural areas around Kabwe in Zambia. They hold regular support group meetings for people living with HIV and others who are affected.

Hope transmitted. HopeXchanged.

2016 ended on a high with the HopeXchange. For five days, 25 leaders of various AIDSLink ministries from 17 Nations gathered together.

So what happens at a HopeXchange?

In the lead up to the event, the decision was made to do away with the usual format of PowerPoint presentations (they often cause participants much stress), but instead give time for people to simply share stories. No one was disappointed. The raw honesty of those who shared set this ‘story time’ apart.