Jyoti Dhawale was raised in a military background. She had traveled all over India due to her father's postings, hence her life was filled with diversity and rich traditions. She started as a blogger for The Well Project in 2011. She climbed up the ladder as a Community Advisory Board member and Global Ambassador for people living with HIV in India, representing The Well Project in international fora.
Diagnosed with HIV in 2005, she faced ostracization from society, stigma in social circles, and even had to give up her only child, a son, to her ex-husband. After five years of remaining in the closet, she decided to come out of the closet and "be" the change.
Jyoti is partially deaf, with her hearing level decreasing year by year. Her hearing disability is also accompanied by a slight speech defect – a disability she has due to physical abuse by her stepmother when she was three. She is also a survivor of intimate partner violence, marital rape, and emotional abuse. In initial years she had also faced homelessness and hunger - being on the streets made her highly prone to sex traffickers. All this suffering made her resilient, teaching her compassion and humility.
Jyoti has received many awards and recognition for her work. She is even known internationally and has been nominated in Thailand as a fierce HIV activist and a strong Community Ally for the LGBTQ community. She has even left her mark as an HIV advocate in Africa. She has appeared in several publications, television shows, and documentary films. Her Instagram handle @fauzibrat_jeh is an open book about her day-to-day life living as an HIV-positive woman.
In addition to her work for The Well Project, she is a HIV peer counselor and she also listens to people whosoever come to her in a depressed state or for daily life advice. Being a long-term survivor of HIV, changing HIV medication regimens six times has taken a toll on her physical, emotional, and mental health. However, still, she manages it beautifully, treating her body as a "temple." She strongly lives by practicing what you preach. She has been invited as a Chief Guest for many functions, and also holds talk shows in colleges, corporates, and community centers, breaking the stigma and myths surrounding HIV.
Jyoti has been twice divorced by negative partners, making her very aware of the challenges that HIV can create in the marriage relationship, but it has not diminished her spirits. Her life experience is her biggest teacher from which she reflects and imparts knowledge to those she counsels.
