Dr. Ammar Burqan, a physician who works for Caritas Jordan, helps refugees understand the risks and realities of HIV and AIDS. Photo by Jennifer Hardy/CRS

Jordan has a very low rate of HIV and AIDS. CRS partner Caritas Jordan uses education to help keep that rate low: teaching people about HIV in case some migrate to areas where it is more widespread.

Caritas’ educational sessions in Jordanian schools teach the facts about HIV transmission and dispel myths that make people feel invincible. Caritas Jordan medical staff have recognized a group at even greater risk than average Jordanians—refugees who may resettle to countries with a higher prevalence of HIV.

During a training session for refugees at a Caritas Jordan clinic in Amman, Dr. Ammar Burqan drew his audience into a question and answer exchange.
(more…)

Women living with HIV learn skills such as sewing and tailoring during a six month program at a teaching center in India. Photo by Stephen Cunliffe for CRS

Freelance writer Steve Cunliffe reports on a CRS program for HIV-affected women in India:

“Two years ago my husband ran off and I was forced to take my two children and move back to my parent’s home. Last year I became very ill; I was supposed to die, but God saved me. After recovering, I decided that I needed to improve my life and circumstances for the sake of my children,” says 30-year-old Sumati. “A friend brought me to Bosco Mangaal, where I received further antiretroviral treatment until I was healthy and strong enough to begin training in tailoring.”

Mangaal, meaning ‘light’ in the local language, seems a very apt name for a social services partner of a major Catholic Relief Services HIV project in India, LIFE AID. Women living with HIV learn skills such as sewing and tailoring at their teaching center. The six-month training program culminates with an opportunity for the most skilled, committed and productive ladies to band together and form a co-op that receives ongoing support, such as interest-free loans and marketing assistance, from Bosco Mangaal.
(more…)

“The sisters are like our parents. I love this place and am very happy here. I want to stay, but soon I will be ready to go because I will be done with class five.”

Nelson*, 13, lost both his parents and a sister to HIV-related illness. After the death of his parents, Nelson and his siblings were sent to live with relatives. Severe financial constraints forced all the children to drop out of school; however, after his younger sister succumbed to AIDS, child welfare finally intervened. When they discovered that he too was HIV-positive, Nelson was referred to Carmel Jyoti Care Centre and enrolled in the Breeze Course School, a part of Catholic Relief Services Project LIFE AID, which helps vulnerable children catch up on schoolwork they may have missed.

Sister Regina explained, “Carmel Jyoti cares for HIV-infected and -affected children. Almost every child you see here is an orphan. The Breeze Course School, staffed by nuns, operates on a five-class system that takes the young students two to three years to complete. The aim is not only to equip these children academically, but also socially, for reintegration into regular schools by the time they complete their final exams at the end of class five. Upon completion of the Breeze Course, the children return to their relatives, ready to continue their schooling in the local community.”
(more…)

A doctor in Cambodia draws blood to test for HIV. Photo by David Snyder for CRS

In Cambodian villages, CRS staff and partners go house to house to make sure HIV-positive patients are taking their medication. Sometimes, though, patients decline this home-based care. CRS field staff sent in this story of how, with perseverance and tact, they overcame one woman’s reluctance.

“Stigma and discrimination about HIV are decreasing in Cambodia, but self-stigma and fear remain in some areas. We saw this with Mrs. Sophear, who is 27 years old and lives in Yieng village with her husband.

“While she was pregnant, she went to a local hospital for her prenatal care and was told that she was HIV positive. She was very worried and did not tell her husband. When the time came to give birth, she took steps to prevent mother-child transmission of the virus, but hid the reason from her husband.
(more…)

Painting by CRS beneficiary Tich, from Zimbabwe. Photo by Jim Stipe/CRS

After wrapping up Catholic Relief Services’ Continuum of Care Forum in Washington D.C. yesterday, most participants are headed to their homes all over the world. Three of the attendees have a little more work to do, though. At the forum, the audience heard from three people who have benefitted from life-saving HIV treatment and support services, and CRS wants our supporters to hear their inspiring stories, too. Today Christine, Danny, both from Zambia, and Tich of Zimbabwe are working with the CRS video team to record special messages for you.

Tich (pronounced “Teach”) has a wisdom beyond his 19 years. Then again, he had to grow up fast. Tich began getting sick at the age of 11, at first diagnosed with meningitis, then with tuberculosis. He remembers going to a clinic to receive different tests, and the doctor asked to speak with his mother alone. After that, he began taking medicine, but his mother never told him why. When he learned that his medicines were commonly used for HIV, he went to a clinic alone to be tested. He did not let the positive result discourage him. Tich has chosen to channel his talents into helping other young people living with HIV.

“I tell them, ‘Yes, we have HIV, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a future, that doesn’t mean we can’t go somewhere else and make good decisions in our lives.’ “

One way of expressing his feelings is through painting and drawing, a skill he lends to his work with children and young people. ”I help them create their own books about their lives, and they write everything and do all of the illustrations. It is good for them to process their feelings in this way.”

Tich brought several pieces of artwork to share in his message to you, the supporters who make possible the programs that changed his future. One, he said, particularly illustrates his life. It shows a man breaking free of chains that have bound him. Be on the lookout for the final video around Thanksgiving.

Christine Katyeka traveled from Zambia to Washington, D.C., to share her story of leading a healthy life with HIV. Today, she’ll tell her story at the Catholic Relief Services’ HIV Forum, held in the nation’s capitol. It’s fitting that she will speak in a city where funding of a bill called PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) gave her access to life-saving medicine.

Christine is bright, energetic, and full of inner strength. She had to rely on those qualities when her first husband wanted to take on a second wife.

“I thought to myself, ‘I am too smart to live in polygamy.’ “

It took strength to move back to her parents’ home, and to gather the courage to get an HIV test when she failed to recover from repeat infections. After she received a positive diagnosis, her father discouraged her from beginning anti-retroviral therapy.

“He said I would die if I started taking strong medicine. I had to find courage within myself to start treatment.”

She found a source to nurture that courage in a HIV support group where she met her husband, Danny.  They are the proud parents of a healthy toddler girl who does not have HIV.  And eventually, Christine’s father was won over by the profound improvement in his daughter’s health.

“Now he tells everyone to get tested, to get in treatment. He says ‘Look at my Christine!’  And they go.”

CRS’ HIV Continuum of Care Forum is underway in Washington, D.C., and experts from around the world are gathered to share best practices for providing services to people living with HIV. Although many of the discussions will be technical, the conference also highlights stories from people like Christine, individuals whose lives have been changed by quality HIV treatment and support services.

Ambassador Eric Goosby, the United States Global AIDS coordinator, is among the speakers at a two-day forum in Washington D.C. on September 15 and 16, Participants at the forum will examine the care of HIV and AIDS patients around the world.

Michele Jina (right) dispenses anti-retroviral drugs at the main pharmacy at Hospital Esperance, located in northern Haiti. The hospital is supported by the AIDSRelief consortium, led by CRS. Photo by Rick D’Elia for CRS

The forum, sponsored by Catholic Relief Services, will feature presentations from practitioners and researchers from countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, as well as CRS headquarters in Baltimore. They will showcase innovative and promising practices from CRS care and treatment programs.

Focusing on the continuum of care, our experts will deliver presentations on how to treat HIV and AIDS patients over the long term, addressing a variety of needs of those of all ages in all stages—from pediatric to palliative care.

Dignity and quality of life are at the heart of CRS’ HIV and AIDS programming. CRS supports more than 280 HIV and AIDS projects in the poorest and most vulnerable regions of the developing world. In 2009, CRS will help nearly 24 million people affected by the pandemic—more than 8 million directly and nearly 16 million indirectly.

The forum will feature four beneficiaries of CRS’ work in Zambia, Zimbabwe and Uganda. CRS President Ken Hackett will be among those addressing the gathering, which will be held at the Academy for Educational Development Conference Center, 1825 Connecticut Ave., in Washington, D.C.

To register, visit http://continuumofcareforum.eventbrite.com/.

A group of students from Austin, TX, recently visited CRS’ HIV and AIDS program in India. Liza Manjarrez, a campus minister who accompanied them, reflects on the trip:

For over a year, I had been planning an international immersion trip to India. The trip, for students, would focus on building community, doing justice, living simply, and engaging spiritually.
(more…)

The four Jackson children lost their parents, likely to AIDS, six years ago. Evelin, at left, has cared for her two sisters and 9-year-old brother since she was 18. Photo by Debbie DeVoe/CRS

Until I moved to Africa, I had no understanding of how HIV is destroying families. Now I see the damage on just about every visit I make to the field.

Last week in Tanzania, I met multiple families with children who had lost one or both parents to AIDS. These children are left to face issues I can barely imagine confronting as an adult:

- Deep grief over the loss of one or both parents
- Appreciation for relatives who take them in but also guilt and possible abuse for increasing their caregivers’ hardship
- Hunger, likely every day, as caregivers simply can’t earn enough to feed the larger household
(more…)

Lane Hartill, CRS regional information officer for West Africa, sends this report from Cameroon.

There’s a frank conversation going on in a mud house in eastern Cameroon.

A handful of orphans live here, and they are raising themselves. There is an older sister who’s 21, but she’s rarely home and, from what I can gather, isn’t much of a mother. She comes home only at night and brings along a man. He’s new, says her 16 year-old sister, Edwige. She’s been seeing him since her first husband died.
(more…)