Fighting HIV with Stepping Stones

Alexandra embracing a participant at a Stepping Stones session

Alexandra Villavicencio, an HIV positive mother from Guayaquil in Ecuador, has turned her life around and started fighting HIV in her community, with help from Plan’s Stepping Stones workshops.

When Alexandra was diagnosed with HIV she was torn apart when her family abandoned her, she was fired from her job and then discovered that her baby son was HIV positive too.

“It’s really horrible to feel alone, without family, without anyone’s support,” she said.

But then Alexandra was invited to a Plan Stepping Stones workshop. “I learned about sexual rights, gender, love. I was a very timid, frightened, shy girl. I thought they’d reject me because I’m HIV positive but they didn’t. They opened the door to me.”

View video of Alexandra attending a Stepping Stones session to raise awareness of HIV (2.74mb | 3 minutes)

Stepping Stones

Developed in Uganda in 1994, the Stepping Stones methodology has been adapted for use across the Americas and promotes sexual rights, individual empowerment and HIV prevention for youths aged 14 and over, as well as adults.  

Plan Stepping Stones facilitator Maximo Reyes explained: “The workshops educate young people about HIV and AIDS – but not just that. It’s also about relationships, love, sexuality, our relationships with our families. We found that the message flows much quicker when it’s passed from young person to young person.”

Taking action

The workshops gave Alexandra much-needed support and encouragement. “Plan was like a training school where it all began for me,” she said.

Now Alexandra is working as a counsellor in a local hospital, giving support to HIV positive women and providing advice to help them give birth to healthy children.

“In my caseload, not one child whose mother is HIV positive has been born positive… I always tell people: ‘You know what? You can do it. I don’t want you to go through what I’ve been through’. If I’d had the support I’m giving now maybe my son wouldn’t have been infected.”

Download ‘Paso a Paso’ – a Stepping Stones training package – and other Plan publications from the Americas