Oleg was forced to leave his home due to Russian aggression in Ukraine and move to Prykarpattia. There he was temporarily placed in a communal facility, along with many other people, as an internally displaced person.
In addition, Oleg is a person with a disability and an HIV-positive drug user. When the man was forced to change his place of residence, he firmly decided that he wanted to change his life for the better, get rid of this terrible addiction, start receiving ART and, if possible, go abroad. To do this, the man tried to join the program of OST but was refused.
Despite this, Oleg did not give up and decided that he would go to receive treatment for HIV. However, new challenges have arisen here as well – incomprehensible “extracts” from the military registration and enlistment office are needed. The man then appealed to the military registration and enlistment office with a request to deregister him as an HIV-infected consumer of psychoactive substances in order to go abroad for treatment. Oleg was again denied, saying that the military registration and enlistment office could not remove him from the military register, but they were ready to provide a “deferment” for treatment for two months.
To get help, Oleg turned, on the recommendation of a friend, to the representative of the Charitable Foundation “Volna” in the region, the documentator of the REAct project. After all, he did not understand what to do next.
The documentator listened carefully to Oleg’s case, reviewed the documents, and provided initial advice. On the same day, the client was escorted to the regional drug dispensary. And in a few days – to the AIDS center – to conduct relevant examinations and tests. Thanks to the assistance and support of the documentator in medical institutions, Oleg was put on the appropriate records, after which he received OST and ART as soon as possible.
However, this did not solve the difficult financial situation of the client, who agreed to start searching for work. Therefore, for a start, Oleg was provided with food and financial support. The documentator, in turn, continued his job search for Oleg and, who was soon hired as a social worker at the CF “Zahid Shans”.
To support Oleg and improve his living conditions, with the assistance of a documentator, the ICF “Alliance for Public Health” paid for the man’s stay in the apartment for the first three months.
In connection with the recent events, Oleg decided not to leave Ukraine but instead began to help people who found themselves in difficult life circumstances.