SANTA
Santa is 65 years old. She is not HIV positive, but has lost two daughters to AIDS. She and her husband are now the caretakers of four young granddaughters. BRA provides free medical care and support to this family and to all the families affected by the loss of family members to AIDS. Santa and I sat together at a USAID/CONECTA-sponsored workshop. In a partner activity where each pair is asked to share their hopes for the future, she began telling me about her past. She told me how she welcomed each of her sick daughters back into her home to care for them while they died, despite the discrimination they faced; people refused to eat meals at her house; terrible things were said about her daughters in hushed voices; and old friends stopped visiting. Santa, a woman of deep religious convictions, told me how her faith in God helped her through this difficult time. I was profoundly impressed by her strength and compassion and grateful that she trusted me enough to share her experiences. Her hope for the future was to protect her granddaughters from what she could not prevent happening to her daughters.

These are only a few of the many lives that BRA’s HIV/AIDS interventions have impacted and we couldn’t have done it without the generous contributions of our partners, sponsors and volunteers. We know that the numbers of people with HIV/AIDS living in the bateyes and rural communities in the Dominican Republic are quiet high. We expect that the number of patients in our program with triple or quadruple this year. Still, we plan to offer the best possible services to each individual patient. Every story, every life counts to us. Thank you for your support.