It helps to have a role model

Asha Rekha Mahila Mandali is a community based organisation of female sex workers in Praksham district, Andre Pradesh state, India. Asha Rekha supports Chirala Mahila Mandali, an NGO, in implementing the HIV prevention programme. As part of capacity building, the Asha Rekhe CBO leaders visited Prema Sangham female sex workers CBO based in Chitlore. The CBO leaders of Prema Sangham demonstrated how it had evolved itself as an independent organisation managing HIV prevention project for its community members. Prema Sangham is assisting its members with nutrition support for prevention services for sex workers who are not infected by generating local revenues.

Having witnessed the abilities of the community in delivering and in managing HIV prevention project and the skills of the community to demonstrate the same to others, the leaders from Univale Mahila Mandali learned to become like them. Leaders got together as a team and developed a plan to accomplish this dream. It has gone ahead and implemented the plan with the help of mentors from the organisation they visited. It took two years of combined efforts to get equipped with skills to manage HIV prevention programmes, generate resources to visit PLHIV and demonstrate good practices through regular rehearsals.

During the recent assessment SRCS declared the Ashe Rekha Mahila Mandali as demonstration site and the leaders are proud to say that they accomplished their dream.

As a demonstration site Ashe Rekha Mahila Mandali is now helping several other CBO leaders to learn from their experience.

The lesson from the story is that when we have a role model, we can recognise that we can aspire to similar achievements. The role model can also help us by dreaming with us and working together with us to accomplish our dream.