History
The Committee Against SIDA was founded on August 29, 1999, through the initiative of five young people from the communities of Santa Marta and El Zapote, in the municipality of Ciudad Victoria, in the department of Cabañas. The office is located in the canton of El Zapote.
CoCoSI was founded with the purpose of providing guidance and raising awareness about HIV/AIDS prevention. The idea originated from the rehabilitation center in the community of Santa Marta—a project dedicated to providing physical and psychological therapy to people affected by the armed conflict in El Salvador. This is how the idea was born to form a group of individuals committed to HIV/AIDS prevention and education. The young people had realized that there was no information about HIV/AIDS available in their communities. In this former conflict zone, where residents had endured both war and extreme poverty, the population experienced high levels of post-traumatic stress from the war. The Ministries of Health and Education did not take on the responsibility of educating or preventing the spread of HIV among the residents of this region.
That is what compelled young leaders from the repopulated communities to take on the responsibility of ensuring that their residents were educated in AIDS prevention.
From the Santa Marta rehabilitation center, an organization called the "Team Against AIDS," which worked on AIDS prevention, was invited to give an HIV/AIDS workshop to some community teachers and students. This workshop was the foundation of the Committee Against AIDS (CoCoSI).
In the year 2000, new members joined, and that was when the committee’s first work plan was developed. Without any formal guidance, relying only on the knowledge gained from classes and life experience, and without any financial resources—just the desire to do something for the community—the work plan that was created and carried out led the Committee Against AIDS to gain recognition at the community level.
This is how efforts were made to coordinate certain activities with other organizations, such as the Association for Economic and Social Development (ADES), the Team Maíz El Salvador Association, the Entre Amigos Association, Vivo Positivo Atlacat Association, among others.
ADES is an NGO from the department of Cabañas. This organization began supporting us by providing transportation and developing projects to apply for funding. This is how the first funds were obtained for the work being carried out by CoCoSI. Additionally, meetings started to be held with international delegations visiting the community. This helped to gain greater recognition at the local, national, and international levels.
In its early days, CoCoSI was not widely accepted by the community. People would say that if you were part of CoCoSI, it was because you had AIDS, and they didn’t want AIDS in the community. Members of CoCoSI were called derogatory names like "AIDS carriers" when walking through the streets. However, this situation gradually changed as people became more aware of the important work being done by the association.
As the work progressed, new methods of intervention and engagement were adopted, including theatrical campaigns to raise awareness about the issue. Through this approach, the population was educated and sensitized while simultaneously being entertained.
In 2007, CoCoSI obtained legal status, becoming a legally recognized association. Day by day, CoCoSI continues to improve and professionalize its intervention methods with the populations it serves (people living with HIV, students, teachers, women victims of violence, men undergoing gender identity processes), using more dynamic methodologies that encourage active participation from the community.
The Committee Against AIDS (CoCoSI) is made up of a group of 15 to 20 young volunteers between the ages of 17 and 35. The main purpose of the members is to inform, educate, and raise awareness among the population on various topics such as HIV/AIDS, sexuality, violence, national issues, and others. Their work takes place in the department of Cabañas and beyond, specifically in border communities with Honduras.
Currently, CoCoSI is the only association working on HIV prevention, support, and risk mitigation for people living with the virus in the department of Cabañas. It coordinates joint actions with MINSAL and the person in charge of HIV in penitentiary centers. Additionally, CoCoSI is part of RED-PREVENSIDA. Through its work, it has achieved recognition at the local, national, and international levels.
"IF SOME FIGHT FOR A DAY AND ACHIEVE GREAT VICTORIES, WHY NOT FIGHT FOR GENDER EQUALITY IN OUR COUNTRY
CoCoSI: Transforming the Present."
