Personal Statement

Looking to learn more about the ground realities of living with AIDS in Mumbai, Itraveled to India in the summer of 2009 to work alongside the director of the Mumbai District AIDS Control Society (MDACS). I spent time with the doctors and patients of governmental hospitals, visited the red-light districts, and talked with families living in slums. The majority of people with whom I spoke cited the same major gap in the government's AIDS relief effort.

Clinics receive money from the Global Fund,the Gates Foundation, and foreign governments to provide treatment for the individuals living with HIV who have reached a critical illness level; however,this provision of antiretroviral treatment (ART) is rendered ineffective for any patient who is simultaneously suffering from malnutrition. Unfortunately,most children that qualify for free or subsidized treatment receive aid due to their low socio-economic status, which means that a majority of children who are receiving the ART to suppress the HIV virus are not benefiting from it because they are malnourished. Through AIDS Relief International, I hope to have a lasting impact on children living with HIV/AIDS in Mumbai and around the world.