Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
BBC News - Wednesday, 3 December, 2003
Leonardo Rocha, BBC, Brasilia
Fale is a village outside the modernist 1960s capital, Brasilia, with a fluctuating population of 150 to 200 people.
Those who live there are all HIV positive, with the exception of a new generation of children.
They work locally in low-paid jobs and the children go to state schools.
And they all get their free cocktail of anti-retroviral drugs, like every one of the 130,000 Aids patients in Brazil.
The village is on the fringes of the Brazilian capital, in one of Brasilia's poorest satellite-towns, Recanto das Emas.
It looks like it is miles away from the centre of power. It has not received any financial support from the federal government.
The local government in Brasilia does its part, supplying Fale with free water and electricity. But most of the money that keeps the place alive comes from the pockets of the volunteers who work there - predominantly from the local middle class.
They state proudly that the Fale model is an example to be followed across the world.
Love and children
Paula is a former circus worker, now in her late 30s. She was infected by her first husband about 10 years ago.
Her days in the circus are a well-preserved memory, in cuttings and photos of Paula wearing clown costumes and make-up. She is one of those who found a new life and a new love at Fale.
"I looked after my husband until the last day of his life. He died here, at Fale. Then I met Misael, who was also HIV positive.
"I've never been so happy. We have our own family, with the children from my first marriage and our one-year-old daughter. Life means a lot more to me now," she says. None of her three children is HIV positive.
Paula and Misael built their own house at the village. All the houses were built by those who live there. The Fale residents also run the communal canteen, following a very strict rota displayed on a notice board on the wall.
People at Fale live like most in any other poor village in Brazil. The houses are simple, but clean. There are dogs, cats and chicken all around the place, and lively, noisy children show a special gift for dancing.
The radio is always on, playing music. A wall of huge mango trees in the lower part of their land mark the edge of the property.
Starting a community
Fale is Portuguese for speak up. It is also an acronym for Assistance Foundation Luke the Evangelist.
It was founded in 1994 by Jussara Meguerian, a middle-class lawyer who was asked to help a young woman who had been kicked out from home. Her parents found out she had Aids.
She let her stay in a little used country home, with large grounds around it. Others came and it became a village.
When Jussara moved to Brasilia, two years later, she decided to repeat the experiment there. Word of mouth led dozens of people to the property.
"Most of those who came here were poor to start with. Aids cost many of them their families and their jobs. Fale gave them a new place to live in community, a new life, restored their dignity," Jussara says.
Among the volunteers at the village is Dulcineia Ramos Araujo, a retired civil servant who lost a son to Aids nine years ago on 1 December, World Aids Day.
"Instead of destroying my life in mourning, I decided to give something back, to make a positive contribution to all of those who have the same disease," she says.
The Brazilian Aids Program is praised internationally for its boldness and for its access to treatment, including free drugs for all of those infected by HIV.
Doctors and authorities agree that the programme would not have the same results without the support of civil society, through a network of local NGOs and altruistic initiatives such as Fale.
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