Sneha Shibira
Empowering Resilience, Enriching Lives
Living with HIV brings challenges that go well beyond medicine: stigma, isolation and the emotional weight of a condition few children can talk about openly. Sneha Shibira is a model of learning devised jointly by SS Care Trust and Sneha Charitable Trust, Bangalore, to meet those needs directly.
In each workshop, 15 to 20 HIV-positive children come together for three days. Their facilitator is a young person who is also living with HIV, leading a healthy life and building a career. That peer-led approach makes the sessions relatable, builds a sense of belonging and chips away at stigma. Children leave with practical life skills and a network of peers who understand them.
A nutrition supplementation program for children living with HIV started in 2022, because adequate nutrition is critical to a child whose immune system and metabolism are under strain, and because it supports learning and emotional well-being too. By December 2025 the Trust had held Sneha Shibira workshops in all six talukas of Davangere district, reached more than 150 children and 50 mothers, and distributed over 1,000 nutrition supplements across the district.
Results so far
How it works
- Bring the children togetherWith Sneha Charitable Trust, a group of 15 to 20 children living with HIV from a taluk is invited to a three-day residential workshop.
- Peer-led sessionsA facilitator who is living with HIV leads discussions on health, coping, career and confidence, and mothers join for part of the program.
- Nutrition and follow-upEach child receives nutrition supplements and the team stays in touch with families through the year.
