Approximately 3,780 children and youth under age 14 are living with HIV/AIDS in the Dominican Republic. Help us make their lives easier.

Why we care: Female youth living with or directly impacted by HIV/AIDS are often subject to more stigmatization and discrimination than their peers.

How we’re solving this: We directly assist these female youths by providing free medical care, a personal tutor, and psychological workshops.

According to the 2010 UNAIDS report, an estimated 3,780 children and youth between the ages of 0 to 14 are HIV-positive. Only 37 percent of them have received any type of treatment.

As one of the only direct HIV/AIDS-specialized service providers in the northern part of the country, Global Fund for Children assists individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDs by providing a better quality of life through educational, psychosocial, and medical services.

Our program provides health education and psychological workshops to 42 female youths and their families to help them better understand not only how to live with their condition, but also ways of preventing further spread of the virus. These workshops are paired with free medical care from specialized staff that provides individualized treatment to each girl. These treatments include home visits to assess the health and socioeconomic status of each female youth and to follow up and track these prescribed medical treatments.

We also recognize the integral role education plays in each girl’s future, so we pair each girl with a personal tutor who is also affected by HIV/AIDS. This allows the tutor to share firsthand the knowledge they have gained on how to care for themselves and how to manage the treatments needed to live the long and healthy life each girl deserves.

By facilitating health education, medical treatment, and relationship building, we are reducing the stigma surrounding girls affected by HIV/AIDS, ensuring a better and brighter future for the young females of the Dominican Republic.