Nobody knows it, but Ashok* is HIV positive. He works as a street vendor selling roasted corn. If people did know he was living with HIV they wouldn’t buy his corn. Most people in Nepal don’t know that you can’t get HIV by eating food cooked by an HIV positive person. His small business cost about US$50 to set up and now it provides enough income for him to feed his family. This is the sort of self-sustaining enterprise that AIDSLink* Nepal wants to help people set up. 

Rajiv* has been living with HIV for about 4 years. Like many of Nepal’s HIV positive people, he was injecting drugs and probably got the virus through a dirty needle. His family is wealthy, but when they heard he was HIV positive they threw him out. However, friends lobbied his family who eventually gave him some money to set up a small street stall also selling food. He has proven to be an adept business man and in an ironic twist, some of his family members now work for him.

HIV was first discovered in the Himalayan Kingdom in 1988. There are now over 75,000 cases. Many cases are amongst commercial sex workers and injecting drug users, but HIV is increasingly being brought home to the family by men who have been working as migrant labourers in nearby India. Driven by poverty, they go there in order to earn money and provide for their families. Staying away for years at a time, they sometimes bring home more than financial support. Eight percent of those returning are HIV positive. Many don’t even know it. Others find out when they try and apply for a job in the Arabian Peninsula, a place which pays better, but requires an HIV test before giving the visa.

That’s what happened with Krishna*.

When you look in Krishna’s eyes you see the joy of Christ, the joy of hope. But, there are moments when you also see behind the joy, or mingled with it, a deep pain. 

Coming from one of Nepal’s villages, life was never easy. He studied hard and did well at the village school, but had to drop out for financial reasons. He then went to work in Mumbai, India. On one of his trips back home he got married. It was an arranged marriage and a good match. But soon he returned to Mumbai in order to support his wife. 

On one of his trips back to Nepal, Krishna heard that he could make more money if he took a job in the Arabian Peninsula. He applied for a visa and started the process. The day he got his positive HIV test result was a dark day. He was in a daze. He didn’t go home, not wanting to see or talk to anyone. He contemplated suicide. Eventually he told his family who said they wanted nothing more to do with him. His wife was shocked, but opted to stay with him. She then went for an HIV test which came back negative and remains negative to this day. 

They ended up living in a shack by the river that flows through the centre of Kathmandu. Krishna got very sick, but with the help of some local believers he was able to access lifesaving ART** at the local hospital. He grew stronger and as they shared Christ with him, he soon put his trust in Jesus. Even though Jesus accepted him, the church didn’t, refusing to baptise him.  He was fired from his job with an NGO and found work as a labourer, digging roads twelve hours a day. This was not good for his health. 

Krishna, is very brave. His desire is to serve God. He has risked being open about his HIV status and is willing to share his story with others. He has now joined AIDSLink Nepal and will be focussing on helping those who are living with HIV. He will also be working with the churches, trying to help pastors understand that a person living with HIV is, first of all, a person. If you were to ask Krishna how you can pray for him he would ask you to pray for his wife, who is still a Hindu, to come to Christ.

Theoretically the government of Nepal provides ART for all who need it. However, this life saving treatment is hard to access outside the capital city (Kathmandu), while still being a critical need in the villages of Nepal. The trip to the city can often take days and then having spent all their money on travel, they have nowhere to stay. This trip needs to be made monthly. Some move their entire families to Kathmandu ending up unemployed, sick and living in the slums with the children dropping out of school. Others start the treatment but then can’t continue to access it, building resistance to the drugs and making them ineffective.

AIDSLink Nepal is responding by identifying the most needy children, who have one or both parents living with HIV, and raising funds to sponsor them through primary school. Eventually, they hope to start a Care Centre where those coming on their monthly trek to the city can stay in a supportive environment. If needed someone can accompany them to the hospital and help them get treatment. Prayer and counseling will also be available. 

At the same time, they are sensitising and mobilising the church for action. The church, although it has been slow to take up its role in the HIV pandemic, has the potential to provide home based care, child care and show the love and acceptance of Christ.

Those suffering from AIDS in Nepal are often abandoned and left destitute. AIDSLink personnel help them access medical treatment, take them to hospitals, lobby on their behalf and counsel family members. HIV infected and affected people need not only the spoken love of Christ, they also, and possibly more so, need the “touching” love of Christ and many are responding to that touch.

All names have been changed

*AIDSLink and OM are partnering to make a difference in the HIV and AIDS pandemic.

** Antiretroviral treatment does not cure HIV but when taken properly can extend the lifespan of an HIV positive person for many years, helping them to live a productive life and protecting their children from becoming orphans.