ActionAid Fellowship Programme
After becoming an ActionAid fellow in India, Girija started caring and supporting those living with HIV, particularly women who were widows or had been deserted.
The fellowship programme that Girija is involved with, taps the leadership skills of people living with HIV and seeks to develop comprehensive leadership skills at district, state and national levels.
Thirty fellows are supported under the fellowship programme from across 12 states in India.
In Girija’s case, after she married, her husband lost all his money and was thrown out of his house.
After a few years spent working as an auto driver, he started falling sick frequently and was finally diagnosed as being HIV positive and died soon after. Girija too was diagnosed as being HIV positive.
She fell sick often and was not able to feed her children. She went to her in laws house along with her children but they didn’t allow them inside.
Due to her deteriorating health Girija was admitted to the Government hospital for three months, however by this time the Deputy Commissioner of Davangere district allotted a house to her and admitted her children to residential school and also helped them with their studies.
For over four years Girija struggled for survival and found it difficult to eat one meal a day. Luckily the doctors allowed her to stay in the hospital premises even after getting discharged and she started helping patients who did not have anybody to care for them.
Girija is forever grateful to the doctors.
“Dr. Murugesh used to sit on my bed and talk about HIV transmission with his students. It was his way of leading with example when he was advising them not to discriminate,” she says.
“He always used this to instill confidence in me. Even after discharging me from the hospital he allowed me to stay in the hospital. I cannot forget him till I live. Even today if I go to him he takes care of me like before.”
In 2006 Girija became an ActionAid fellow, mainly working to facilitate health services to people with HIV/AIDS by referring and linking them to places for management of opportunistic infections, anti retroviral therapy and care centres.
“Everything depends on the doctors," she explains.
"If they give good care to the patients then definitely we get confidence to survive and lead a productive life. Poor people should get good treatment in the Government hospitals. I am trying for the same and to some extent able to do it”.
When Girija first began working as a fellow, she was depressed and worried about her children. She says that she was afraid even to sleep. Now she has gained hope in life. She has dedicated her entire life for to work for those living with HIV, particularly women and children.
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