From 1 to 16 March 2023, Ms. Donatella Campioni, President, and Mr. Nicolas Ryter, Project Coordinator, carried out a monitoring mission in the Dindigul region of Tamil Nadu in southern India.

MAP has funded the Masstrust programme since 2007, providing medical, psychosocial, nutritional and educational support to 152 children, young people and their families affected by HIV/AIDS across 97 villages in the Dindigul region. Masstrust’s local team and its 5 Health Outreach Workers visit the field every day to ensure regular contact with beneficiaries and to ensure that antiretroviral treatment is taken daily. Most of the youth are either orphans or abandoned by one or both parents and live with their immediate family. In India, when a person is HIV positive, the stigma is extremely high and often leads to social exclusion. The Masstrust team is therefore very careful to be discreet and to support the beneficiaries as much as possible.

In 10 days, we had the chance to meet 47 children and young people in the programme, across 40 different villages. Each visit was a great moment of sharing to learn more about each other’s history and the challenges they face. Some are also MAP scholarship holders, and are pursuing university studies in the hope that they can help other children affected by HIV/AIDS and set an example for them. Despite the stigma and difficulties of everyday life, they shared their stories, their dreams and their smiles.