Jeevan Sahara Kendra is an HIV/AIDS care project started in August 2002 in Thane, India. This name means "center for life and help" in Hindi.  The HIV epidemic in India is staggering – we expect somewhere near 3 million people are infected with HIV – most of whom do not know that they have the disease.  Because of the fear and stigma linked with the disease many will only find out when it is too late.  The final hospital admission is sadly the time when many people with HIV in India find out for the first time that they have the disease.

In Thane we estimate that there are at least 21,000 people suffering from HIV.  If each of these have 4 direct relatives it means that over 100,000 people are directly infected or affected by HIV in our city of 1.4 million.  As we look out at the people who throng the streets of Thane – we realise that 1 in every 13 people we see will be infected or have a family member who is!

Jeevan Sahara Kendra's vision is to bring hope, healing and life to people suffering from HIV/AIDS. Jeevan Sahara Kendra provides care to people with HIV/AIDS through personal counseling, rational medical help, and compassionate palliative care.  This home-based care is currently done by a small team of field social workers, backed up by an out-patient clinic. 

The Jeevan Sahara Kendra staff diligently and lovingly care for over 120 families affected by HIV.  But with all the good work done by our staff, we know that this work will never be able to fully care for the needs of people with HIV.   Jeevan Sahara has from the beginning been convinced that it is only when the community itself looks after people with HIV that we will see a real difference in our city.   Jeevan Sahara has been supporting efforts by different churches to provide a volunteer network to care for people with HIV/AIDS in their own homes.  The program seeks to share God's heart about HIV with local churches, and challenge people to love their neighbours in the way that God loves them.

Jeevan Sahara Kendra has also just started a small community care center to provide rational clinical care to help families with critically ill HIV positive people who have run out of other options.  The JSK Community Care Center currently provides inpatient care to 1 or 2 of our positive friends at a time and is a back-up to the work done by church partners and staff in people's homes.

Services currently offered through Jeevan Sahara Kendra home-based care network include:

The Jeevan Sahara Kendra is currently setting up an integrated counselling and testing centre to help people with HIV know about their status earlier – and those who have been exposed to HIV risks change their behaviours. 

As of mid 2008 the Jeevan Sahara Kendra has made contact with over 840 people who were suspected of having HIV, of whom over 550 were found to be HIV positive. 

In keeping with JSK's plan, the majority of these contacts are from the Thane municipal area. The program has a current active caseload of over 200 HIV positive contacts in Thane.  Sadly, we have already seen over 130 of our friends die due to AIDS over these past 6 years. 

The JSK Programme has also developed a number of ancillary inputs to support the home-based care programme.  These include: 

Want to know more?

Check out the JSK Web presence at the following sites: 

Jeevan Sahara Kendra

• a simple website about JSK work:   www.JeevanSahara.wordpress.com

Youth Against AIDS

• the low-down on what YAA is up to: www.YouthAgainstAIDS.com

Chai Chats with the Eichers

• stories, musings and life experiences linked with JSK: www.andi-sheba.blogspot.com

 

Want to Support Jeevan Sahara Kendra?

         
 

Candle Lighting at a Support Group Meeting	Child Care Centre Kids Perform a Dance	A Local Pastor Praying--He Has Members of His Church with HIV
A Girl Sends Messages to People with HIV at YAA 07	Hard Rock for Hard Hearts at YAA Fest 07	Role Plays at a Church Training in HIV Care
Sheba Presents a Seminar for Young Women