In the discourse at international AIDS conferences and in the developed world about emotional and material care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs), terms with political connotations such as "synergy", "collaboration" and "mutual responsibility" are frequently heard. The two expressions used most often in this regard are "empowerment" and "increased involvement", referring to a process of individual's regaining the power to make decisions and enabling free choice. In this context PHAs are encouraged to take control of their lives and participate in the design of new and better strategies and policies. The reality, however, is quite different varying by region and local context. It is relatively easy for a person to regain control over his or her own life when most basic needs like housing, food, clothing, work, access to health care and treatment are met. It is much easier for someone to feel actively and effectively involved in the response to HIV/AIDS when he or she is living in a civil society where laws are respected, dialogue is allowed, and where citizens are on an equal footing with one another. In most developing countries, including in Latin America, the communities most vulnerable to HIV infection are young people, men who have sex with men, sex workers, and women. In most countries, discrimination and isolation persist and access to continuous and adequate care is still a dream.

As PHAs, we have organized ourselves to lobby decision-makers for recognition of our fundamental rights. We have been successful in countries like Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama and Venezuela. The situation is not uniform throughout Latin America, however, and as affected people, we have had to develop responses that can meet our needs, primarily to regain recognition of ourselves as individuals rather than as people with a specific health condition.

At what exact moment do we take the road that leads to the feeling of being a victim? It first happens when we accept the medical paradigm as an irreducible reality; within this paradigm, HIV turns us into infectious beings, potentially dangerous. The medical establishment has to identify us in order to control us.  Important aspects of our lives, such as our sexuality or reproduction, become the objects of public scrutiny (This is not evidence of paranoia, when look at all the attempts to criminalize or isolate PHAs). We cease to have names to become numbers.

This feeling of being a victim turns us into objects rather than actors and advocates and in doing so reduces our strength and motivation to live. How can we overcome this? Based on our experience, we think that any strategy to mitigate the personal and social impact of the epidemic should include the following elements:

-Access to information and early diagnostic tests, supported by an adequately constructed social network: It becomes more likely that a person at high risk for contracting HIV, or who has recently been diagnosed with HIV, he or she can make better decisions about: resolve family or social matters, reset priorities and seek adequate medical treatment, etc. This must be accompanied by a system that provides social, psychological and material support, and that allows PHAs to feel "in control" of their situation.

• Opportunities to break down isolation and create informal support networks with other affected persons: People who receive a positive test result often ask themselves: "Is this only happening to me?" Being with other people who are in the same situation can relieve the tension and sense of isolation.
• Develop skills to face crises as they occur: HIV infection is not a terminal situation, but a diverse and fluctuating process that does not proceed in the same way for everyone. The way an individual handles varies for every individual and his/her environment. It is important to develop skills and strategies adapted to the reality of individuals, avoiding standardized answers, and improving training programmes for the affected community.
• Mobilize the community in order to sensitize and improve the social environment: Civil society can be a powerful ally in improving the quality of community response towards PHAs. The media and the press, community organizations and human rights groups should be involved in AIDS-related activities, and the problems of PHAs should be introduced in each step of this collaboration.
• An opportunity for PHAs to tell their stories: Sharing experiences is a powerful tool in the recuperation process of each individual and for involving the community.

All the elements mentioned are strongly interrelated and rooted in the social "body". After all, HIV/AIDS is a disease of the social body, since it affects some of its specific members. Therefore, dealing with HIV/AIDS and supporting affected people contribute to society as a whole.

Nevertheless, no social development strategy will be successful if the affected individual has not discovered an opportunity to revitalize his or her sense of self-responsibility. This sense of taking responsibility for one's self can be defined as the capacity to respond in all one's actions in a healthy and intelligent manner, confronting difficulties in a sensible way and respecting one's own needs and the needs of others.

A person's ability to assume self-responsibility can be enhanced when the community offers affected people:

• correct and appropriate information about the risks and alternatives regarding HIV/AIDS;
• equity in opportunities to access appropriate services and care;
• an opportunity for developing groups that provide emotional support and mutual help for the affected persons themselves;
• laws that protect the individuality, privacy and confidentiality of PHAs and their families, avoiding their criminalization and isolation;
• access to information and the use of appropriate methods for engaging in mature and safe sexuality, independent of one's serological status, with special attention for economically or socially vulnerable groups.

Perhaps we cannot speak of empowering HIV-positive people in Latin America or Africa, but we can try to offer PHAs an opportunity to articulate their own voice and develop their own ways of activism. This may not lead us on a successful journey on the political road, but finding our own voice will improve our conditions of life. The journey to get all the respect a human being deserves is long, but it is the only one within our reach.