Forty million people around the world currently live with HIV/AIDS, according to a recent report by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The spread of HIV remains a global health crisis, after more than two decades of efforts to fight the pandemic.
As part of this struggle, the US-Russia Volunteer Initiative (USRVI) [7] for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Awareness has supported young Russian and American volunteers in their efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in Russia and the United States.
Launched in 2004 through a bilateral initiative by Presidents Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush, USRVI provides an opportunity for the exchange of ideas, practices, and techniques in HIV/AIDS prevention by establishing sustainable relationships between Russian and American HIV/AIDS specialists, volunteers, organizations, and communities. The USRVI program is part of IREX’s educational and professional exchange portfolio and is sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
For two months, forty-eight young Russians and Americans clocked in over 13,000 volunteer hours to learn more about HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and advocacy from their peers and counterparts at their host organizations. In exchange, they shared their own skills and experience from their home country. “Our existence and work are changing things: our politics, our culture, and most importantly the lives of people with HIV.” - Ildar, USRVI 2005 Alumnus
For Ildar (Russia), USRVI and his US volunteer experience not only allowed him to grow professionally and share his experience launching an HIV/AIDS counseling center in rural Russia. The US program represented a benchmark in his personal motivation and dedication to assisting people living with HIV/AIDS.
In 2000, he co-founded Kama Plus, a nonprofit organization in Tatarstan that provides services to people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Despite the difficulties for Russian grassroots organizations outside of Moscow to raise funds and generally operate, Ildar and his colleagues have committed their personal funds, time, and energy into developing the programs.
Kama Plus provides counseling, health education and prevention services to HIV positive individuals in his region, trainings to medical personnel and psychology teachers, and education and training to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission. Ildar notes that there are only few organizations of this type operating in Russia, despite the tremendous need for their services.
Ildar volunteered at L.A. Shanti, a Los Angeles nonprofit dedicated to empowering individuals of diverse communities affected by HIV, cancer, and other life-threatening illnesses through counseling, prevention, and education services.
At L.A. Shanti [8], he worked on fundraising as well as establishing Community Forums, participated in the Gay Life Expo and L.A.’s AIDS Walk 2005. Through his experience, Ildar learned new techniques in service-provision to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) that he will incorporate into HIV/AIDS work in Russia, specifically fundraising methods, outreach techniques, and approaches to organizing events and working with the Russian HIV-positive and gay communities. Through his day-to-day interaction with American HIV/AIDS specialists, he also built bridges of cooperation between American and Russian individuals and non-profit organizations dedicated to the struggle against HIV/AIDS.
USRVI 2005 concluded with a conference in Moscow where the Russians and Americans not only discussed their observations, but outlined best practices that can be applied in their own country in the area of HIV/AIDS.
Focused on prevention, USRVI volunteers believe efforts to continue sharing practices, information and innovative approaches and increasing international exchanges of HIV/AIDS professionals and volunteers can be critical in facing the challenges ahead. Through these efforts, they foresee greater international cooperation, a more holistic approach to services for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), improvements in the ability of nongovernmental and grassroots HIV/AIDS organizations to raise funds and attract volunteers, greater public awareness of HIV/AIDS, reduction in HIV transmission from mothers to children, and expansion of more effective peer-to-peer education in HIV prevention among youth.
With increasing government involvement and financial support, particularly targeting youth and marginalized populations, one USRVI volunteer concluded, “HIV/AIDS is not a disaster, if we work together and don’t give up,” as the 18th World AIDS day passed into history.