Church helps community fight AIDS

Madhya Pradesh: A visit by the Church of North India to Banchhara community in Madhya Pradesh has helped educate people about AIDS and improve care for people living with the disease.

The community is vulnerable to HIV/AIDS because many young Banchhara women are involved in prostitution to a range of men including truck drivers and the local police.

The CBHS organised a cricket match between the Banchhara and police at Dhodhar village in Ratlam in order to build relationships with the community, which had previously resisted their AIDS work. Following the match, members of the community said they were more than willing to be volunteers in the CBHS project to fight HIV/AIDS.

AIDS programme coordinator Karuna Roy ran an AIDS awareness workshop at the local Central Reserve Police Force, and a workshop training non–governmental organisation representatives and local government representatives how to educate about AIDS.

She visited the Christian hospitals in local villages Neemuch and Ratlam to plan hospice facilities for HIV/AIDS patients.