in Nicaragua

AIDSail is currently in the process of developing HIV prevention and intervention programs in Nicaragua along the Atlantic Coast. Access to health care has been fairly difficult along the Atlantic Coast because the area is geographically isolated and few roads access the many communities along the coast. AIDSail is collaborating with local nonprofit organizations in Managua to extend services into rural communities along the Atlantic coast.

AIDSail is also working with International Community of Women (ICW) in Nicaragua to support economic development programs for women living with HIV. ICW clients requested sewing machines and start up funding to purchase clothing to start a business (see ICW Sewing Program) which is providing supplemental income for at least 12 women living with HIV to support themselves and their families. Supporting the development and collaboration of women's cooperatives is one of the ways that AIDSail is helping women. AIDSail provided a weeklong Domestic Violence Peer Education training for women at ICW Nicaragua.

AIDSail recently held a forum for women of Corn Island (see Corn Island Forum) to start to build a dialog about how local women would like to respond to issues of HIV prevention, the problem of domestic violence towards women and economic development. Women in the region see a lack of economic opportunities as the most significant barrier in preventing HIV and reducing violence. By involving women in solving their problems, the community has mobilized to start a Women's Economic Development Cooperative that will set aside a portion of their income to support their own health care and social programs for women—something that they can take ownership of.

Through this program AIDSail is working with local women to develop:

• School uniform sewing programs
• Bakery
• Aquaculture farming
• Expansion of agriculture program
• Program for food packaging and export of local produce and foodstuff

AIDSail is in the field in Nicaragua:
Women's Community Health Peer Educator Training for HIV
Women's health medical screening and prenatal exams HIV testing
Working with Nicaraguan Children's Fund providing primary care with Volunteer physicians, dentists, and nurses
Conducting regional evaluation of women's HIV risk and developing a training that responds to local needs.
Setting up a domestic violence intervention for victim referral and documentation of incidence, and development of victim peer support program
Providing basic business training for women to assess market potential for their microdevelopment enterprises
Providing confidentiality training for local health care workers
Training in speaking with your patient about HIV for local health care workers