Walking Beside Them: The AIDS Ministry 

For many people living with HIV/AIDS in Peru, isolation can be as difficult to bear as the physical illness itself. Family members and friends sometimes distance themselves out of fear or misunderstanding, leaving patients to navigate serious medical, emotional, and practical challenges largely on their own, often at precisely the moment they most need support and companionship.

Maryknoll accompanies individuals and families affected by HIV/AIDS through a ministry built on presence, advocacy, and practical support. Volunteers and staff make regular visits to homes, hospitals, and shelters, offering not only logistical help but also a consistent human connection to patients who might otherwise feel abandoned by their circumstances.

This project embodies the Catholic Social Teaching principle of Solidarity, a tangible refusal to let illness become a reason for isolation. This ministry also reflects Maryknoll’s founding charism of accompaniment, choosing sustained presence over distant charity and reminding patients, through consistent human contact, that they remain full members of their community rather than people to be quietly set apart.

Gifts to this project support home and hospital visits, access to medication, and emotional accompaniment that remind individuals facing HIV/AIDS in Peru that they are not alone in their illness.