That was how he found himself at the forefront of an initiative to educate others about HIV, dispelling the sources of misconceptions and misinformation in society. He knew there was a dire need to change the way people perceived the virus and to remove notions that it spawned. He had heard about a training program through the Humsafar Trust, an NGO supported by Avert Society and instinctively knew that this was his calling. 

He ventured into the program armed with what he believed was an in-depth knowledge about HIV. After all, who hadn’t heard about it? Television, hoardings and well-meaning people were generating enough awareness about it. He was confident about his knowledge, until he saw the scale at which the training was planned and the quality of the trainers he was to learn from.

Vijay learnt about the enormity of the infection and its implications for the society. The trainers were a group of dedicated individuals with only one goal – to be able to communicate the need for action to each and every person – helping them prepare and develop a sense of compassion and empathy in the society at large. It was this determination that transferred itself to every peer educator who had come forward to be part of this change.

 

Vijay was no exception. He gained a renewed sense of purpose and understood that peer educators and program beneficiaries can mutually identify with each other as members of a specific socio-cultural reality. It enabled him to step into the real world, better equipped to handle questions about HIV. He was confident of channeling the information to the members of his community.

 

 This confidence bore fruit when his neighbors knocked on his door late one night – asking for advice to help a family member diagnosed with HIV.