HIV/AIDS - Hope For Living

A drop-in centre for people living with HIV/AIDS at Gorobe Settlement in Port Moresby is just one example of Australia's increasing support for people living with HIV/AIDS in PNG.

Max and Maura Mea know exactly what it's like to live with HIV/AIDS. Both are HIV positive. The devastating effect of the virus on them has included the loss of their two young children to the disease.

But rather than letting the disease defeat them, both are committed to contributing to raising community awareness about HIV.

With the support of the Australian Government and PNG's National AIDS Council, Max and Maura are doing just that.

The couple successfully applied for funding through AusAID's National HIV/AIDS Support Project (NHASP) to build a drop-in centre for people living with HIV at Gorobe Settlement in Port Moresby.

The new centre will enable Max and Maura to conduct an awareness campaign and provide a place where people living with HIV/AIDS can come and receive counselling and information on preventing the further spread of the disease.

'People who are HIV positive can contribute a lot to PNG by sharing their experiences of the disease and by educating others about its dangers,' says Maura.

'When Max and I are sitting round with our peers we talk to them about the dangers of HIV, on how to protect themselves, and on the economic impact that the disease can have on their lives.'

Max is quick to agree: 'Our big aim is to inform the generations that come after us about the sickness. We have to educate the children before it is too late. It is too late for us, but while we are alive we are committed to helping our community. The drop-in centre is a place people can come to seek counselling on how to best deal with the disease.'

Max and Maura are one of more than 20 groups that receive Australian Government funding to conduct community awareness, prevention and care programs across PNG.

2003