The incidence of HIV/AIDS in India has reached epidemic proportions. In 2002, four million people in India were found to be infected with HIV/AIDS and the numbers are growing rapidly. It is estimated that 80% of the truck drivers are HIV-positive. Residents in remote regions of the Himalayas are especially vulnerable to infections, due to a lack of information about the virus. The region has only been open to foreign visitors since 1991. With a increased influx of people moving in and out of the region, and minimal healthcare available, the indigenous peoples are at high risk for newly introduced communicable diseases. This project is designed to address the inadequacy of education on health and community welfare available in Himalayan border region by providing education on AIDS and other health-related issues to villagers in the Spiti Valley.

Project Setting

The Spiti Valley is a remote high-altitude desert region located in Himachal Pradesh, northern India, about three-days journey from Delhi. Spiti is mountainous, with small villages located in narrow snow-covered valleys at heights of 12,000-18,000 feet. The villages of Spiti, with a population of 20,000 people, are linked by a meager network of unpaved roads. As a result, basic human services, such as health and education, are rudimentary and often lacking altogether. Health care education is even more rare. Although HIV/AIDS is rampant and quickly spreading in India, few people in Spiti have even heard of the disease. This project aims to address this serious and dangerous threat.

Agriculture, animal husbandry, and dairy farming are the main occupations of the people in Spiti. Due to long, harsh winters, these occupations cannot adequately meet the people's basic needs. Women do a large share of agricultural and animal husbandry operations. In spite of their unending labor, however, the high-altitude fields are not producing enough to meet the needs of their families and inclement weather reduces the planting and harvesting opportunities. Under the circumstances, young men often leave Spiti in search of cash incomes, migrating to cities in the plains. Many women labor alone, under great stress, to provide sustenance for their family.

Traditional values are still strong in this area, which has been home to a unique Buddhist culture for over 1000 years. Loving kindness and care for the young, old, and infirm has been the core of women's spiritual practice over the centuries. Rarely, however, have women emerged as community leaders, due to a lack of educational opportunities. With the Tibetan border now sealed and access to their cultural heartland denied, the threat of cultural extinction in Spiti looms large. Social and economic changes seriously endanger traditional values. It is now more urgent than ever that women be granted equal social and educational opportunities.

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