Women in a Pang VDC – 7 in Parbat, Western Nepal, are told to be mailing condoms to their husbands working overseas to protect them from sexually transmitted diseases.

They wrote letters urging them not to have sex with others — but they have been enclosing condoms just in case.

“As I learned that unsafe relations make a person vulnerable to HIV, I send condom along with the letter to my husband,” says Laxmi Sunar, member of the local women’s group, adding, “Hesitating to talk about sexual relations will not help. We should change behavior.” (Kantipur)

After many were diagnosed with HIV in the district, Red Cross started HIV and AIDS awareness program. Though the donor has terminated the project, the impact can still been seen as the women have set the habit of often writing to their husbands about HIV and AIDS.