For Esther " a dying AIDS sufferer in the slums of Nairobi " the only running water is the local drain and sewer flowing outside her door.

Her situation is a far cry from the running water, sanitation and electricity most Australians take for granted.

Humanitarian workers say Esther's story is alarmingly common.  After her husband infected her with HIV/AIDS, he left her to fend for herself. 

As she grew sicker and sicker she was unable to work, which meant she could not buy food or care for her children. The stigma attached to AIDS means relatives and neighbours of women like Esther are often unwilling to help.

Bible Society NSW has joined forces with African Enterprise to fund a unique HIV/AIDS care and prevention project, which is helping people like Esther in Kenya and Uganda. 

Bible Society donors fund the Home-Based Care program, allowing over 180 workers to be trained in both Kenya and Uganda.

The project aims to address two related problems " illiteracy and the high level of HIV/AIDS infection in the community.

Esther's Home Base Care worker is one of many hands-on volunteers who were recruited from the local church. 

After caring for their physical needs, the workers talk to their patient about Christian faith and tell them that God loves and cares for them. 

Esther has told her carer that she recently gave her life to the Lord. 

"Counselling is a key part of the course," says Bible Society NSW CEO Daniel Willis. 

"It is important that carers assure the HIV/AIDS patients that they are not worse sinners because they are suffering from AIDS.

"Unfortunately, many people think that God doesn't care for them anymore because they are sick," he says.

Bible Society contributions have also funded an HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention program, which is teaching thousands of primary and secondary school students the Christian values of chastity in singleness and faithfulness in marriage.

In one example, the students at Nansana School in the Ugandan capital of Kampala are communicating the anti-AIDS message through song and dance, to celebrate the strength of youth without AIDS.

God's word is proving to be a useful weapon in the battle against the brutal enemy of the AIDS virus.

According to the Bible Society, 80 per cent of AIDS patients visited under the project have made a profession of Christian faith.