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Success Stories


“Mission for my life……”

Date02-02-2009
Focus AreaHIV/AIDS
ProgramHIV/AIDS
 
Satpal B.K 37, HIV positive has started working with Helping Hands Nepal. People in the village recognize him as a person who works for HIV awareness rather than as an HIV positive person. Satpal says," I have found a mission for my life”.

Going back to his old times, Satpal says, “life had become very difficult without sufficient income for a decent living. With my wife and three sons, I couldn’t think of any better option than migrating to India to look for employment. During my 10 years in India, I moved from place to place. With no knowledge that I would ever acquire HIV/AIDS, and being away from the family for so long, my friends and I started going to ‘kholis’ (brothels).”

In 2008, when Satpal was on his way towards his home in Bardiya for holidays, he saw a Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) centre in Gulariya established by an NGO called GERUWA (Rural Awareness Association), supported by UNDP. There he was attended by a counselor who provided him all the basic information about HIV and AIDS. After undergoing a test, Satpal discovered that he was HIV positive.

Satpal's life took a very difficult turn because he was not able to disclose his HIV status to the family members. As the days passed by, his wife also started becoming sick but Satpal could not reveal her the reasons. He decided to take help from the VCT counselor of GERUWA again. When he brought his wife to the Centre, and after going through the test, she was also found to be HIV infected. The counselor referred both of them to the Bheri Zonal Hospital for necessary treatment.
When Satpal publicly disclosed his HIV status—he only found himself ignored and discarded by his relatives, friends and neighbours. Satpal again visited the counselor and disclosed the situation looking for ways to regain the trust and dignity that he had lost. The counselor put him in touch with outreach workers, peer educators, social workers, teachers and other respected sections of the society.

Satpal also joined the HIV awareness campaign in his village. A successful campaign launched in the village by the GERUWA helped Satpal to regain a place for himself in the village.

Now, Satpal and his Counselor Sudhansu Prakash Sharma are jointly working to form groups of People Living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) in the district and are searching for some initial funds to start off this group. This is the first time that a PLWHA group is being formed in the village.
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