FACE AIDS works with two associations of people living with HIV and AIDS in Eastern Rwanda. Some association members are HIV-positive, others care for an HIV-positive family member or an AIDS orphan. Almost all association members are subsistence farmers or agricultural day laborers living below the poverty line, with no access to electricity or clean running water.

FACE AIDS is employing the 91 members of these associations to make beaded AIDS awareness pins that we use in our education and fundraising campaigns in the US. The associations make the pins for 6 months, saving some of their income from the project into a group savings account. At the end of 6 months, FACE AIDS provides small-business training and advising and helps the associations transition into more sustainable income-generating activities.

Association members use their incomes from the FACE AIDS project to buy food for their families, school supplies and uniforms for their children and other essential items.

All of the funds raised from FACE AIDS pin sales in the US are donated to Partners in Health in Rwanda, which provides comprehensive healthcare, including HIV treatment, to pin-making association members, as well as almost 500,000 other Rwandans.