MOTHERHOOD & AIDS Project
INSPIRIT- ALBINA OLYA TANIA
At 9 am sharp Albina takes her morning dose of antiretroviral therapy. The next dose will be at 9pm.
Albina learned she had become HIV positive in 1995. Back then, the only available therapy was taking medications 5 times a day, but there was no guarantee that these medicines would always be available. To have this rigorous routine interrupted would have been catastrophic to her health. Instead, Albina chose to focus on her professional life and worked diligently. In 2004, she began antiretroviral therapy, which had been made available. This means she takes a couple of pills twice a day and is free to work the rest of the time.
While working with drug addicts in Odessa in the late 90s, Albina set up the NGO Life with a group of friends whose main aim is to improve the quality of life for people with HIV/AIDS. Meanwhile, in 2006, she received a UN Children� Fund award for her �utstanding contribution and personal commitment to the protection of child rights in Ukraine.�
Albina recently set up her own NGO to provide small, yet specific, financial help to individual children in need. She lives with her 16 year-old daughter and partner - both of whom are healthy. Most of her day is spent in the office working on various projects. In September she plans to attend university and complete her formal education.
