Julia Wilson (35), who practises at Archway House Natural Health Centre in Coventry Road, spent almost three months at the Maun Homeopathy Project providing support for people with the disease.

Miss Wilson, of Lathkill Street, said: “Botswana is an economically and politically stable country that provides free HIV drugs. However, conventional medicine leaves many gaps. We were there to work alongside the anti-retroviral drugs, combating the side-effects and offering emotional support.”

The project in Maun, a town in north Botswana, has been running for three years and has treated more than 4,000 people. Although there is some funding available, it relies heavily on donations from the UK.

It works alongside other organisations such as Women Against Rape and the local health service to run clinics and offer visits to people’s homes.

Homeopathy is a holistic procedure which involves administering tiny amounts of drugs to stimulate the body’s defence mechanism.

It is not a cure for HIV but can relieve the painful side-effects of the anti-retroviral drugs and help with the emotional stress that comes with being diagnosed as HIV positive.

Miss Wilson said: ”We were also involved in workshops which have an emphasis on educating people about HIV and Aids and teaching them to behave more responsibly.”

Over 35 per cent of people in Botswana are HIV positive, one of the highest infection rates in the world, according to figures from the World Health Authority.

There is also a serious problem of rape in southern Africa which contributes to the spread of the disease. Communities are dealing with illness, trauma, social stigma and multiple bereavement on a daily basis.

An important aspect of the project is training local people in homeopathy so that they may continue the work when the UK volunteers have returned home. Miss Wilson will continue to mentor one of the students via email.

She said: “We are really passionate about training up local people so that they can take over from us. It will be two years before they are qualified but they are going to be brilliant, they are naturals. In the end there will be no need for us to be there.”

Although Miss Wilson has no immediate plans to return to Maun, she is going to remain actively involved through her mentoring and intends to attend the graduation of the homeopathy students.

She added: “Some days I felt really hopeless out there but these feelings were outweighed by all of the positive stories we heard. My experience in Botswana has made me feel very grateful for what we have here.”