OUR STORY
"The System tells us to be grateful for what little we are given. We are here to ask: what if care wasn't rationed, but reimagined" The Second Circle Project was started with the idea that people living with HIV deserve more than just medicines. They require care which listens, respects and uplifts. We focus on the everyday realities of mental health, loneliness, identity, and belonging. Our approach is rights-based and centred on the idea that everyone deserves a life filled with connection, dignity and possibility.
Our Programs
At Second Circle Project Foundation, we believe that care goes beyond clinics and prescriptions. Our programs are built on a rights-based framework that affirms the dignity, autonomy, and full personhood of people living with HIV (PLHIV). We do not see individuals as passive recipients of services or as patients to be "fixed." Instead, we co-create safe, inclusive, and non-pathologizing spaces that center healing, solidarity, and justice.
Holistic Aftercare & Healing Circles
We offer compassionate, community-led aftercare spaces where PLHIV can connect, reflect, and grow together. These are not therapy sessions in the traditional sense, but healing circles rooted in peer support, storytelling, creative expression, and mental wellness. We challenge medicalised approaches by valuing lived experiences and everyday resilience.
Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing
Mental health is a human right. Our approach integrates counselling, peer listening, art-based interventions, and collective care practices without pathologizing distress. We prioritize access to culturally sensitive, non-judgmental support, especially for those who areoften invisible within public health systems.
Legal & Policy Advocacy
We actively work to challenge discriminatory laws, insurance exclusions, and systemic neglect faced by PLHIV. Through legal aid, PILs, and direct policy engagement, we advocate for the structural changes necessary to ensure full rights and protections, beyond token representation or symbolic inclusion.
Awareness Without Stigma
Our education and outreach campaigns move away from fear-based messaging. Instead, we
focus on creating affirming, accurate, and sex-positive conversations about HIV,
relationships, consent, and identity—especially among young people, queer communities,
and those left out of mainstream narratives.
Community Mobilization & Leadership Building
We invest in the leadership of PLHIV and marginalized communities. Through fellowships, internships, and training spaces, we build collective capacities, not just to survive, but to lead. Our work reimagines advocacy as something grounded in care, not jargon or elitist panels.