Reducing stigma and discrimination of HIV/AIDS victims’ project was implemented in Ajia Sub County, Arua district. The project focused on providing nutritional education and counseling, vocational and modern farming skills for care givers, people living with HIV/AIDS and orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), especially those from low income families.

This project was necessary because people of Ajia Sub County live in a vicious cycle of poverty, characterized by low incomes leading to low savings and investments and therefore low production.

The majority of the residents who were engaged in economic activities did not have access to financial services, thus seriously limiting their productivity, investment ability and resulting in poor living standards. The villages are vast and signs of HIV/AIDS pandemic were evident. It was keenly observed and with shared information through interviews from villagers that many family units were of HIV/AIDS orphaned children, infected parents, poor guardians and single parents. The individual business enterprises were not thriving leading to the justification that the families in the area were poverty ridden.

The project beneficiaries were OVCs, People Living with HIV/AIDS, Care givers and the wider community who had access to the services provided. The direct beneficiaries of the project were 200 people. Hear International (HI) worked with the 65 volunteer peer educators who trained the care givers voluntarily. The role of volunteer peer educators was to provide basic nutritional information for the people living with HIV/AIDS, Care givers and OVCs.
However, it was envisaged that the target families would attain the knowledge and skills to enable them raise their own resources locally and externally. Target communities would after the end of the project raise their own technical inputs in form of trained man power. The sustainability would accrue mainly from the trained community personnel in the project area and the project strategic approach of linking all the arrangements in line with the normal Government policy in addressing the problem of HIV/AIDS.

Year of Implementation: April 2014- March 2015

Project funded by: US Embassy Kampala