Working with Children affected by HIV in India

[Guest guest]

DEAR SIR/MADAM,

The inventors of computers & internet would have hardly imagined one day

it would help some of the most unlikely people get over their sense of

isolation, deprivation and help build self-esteem.

Nor did Ashok Rau--founder of Freedom Foundation

<www.thefreedomfoundation.org>, a Bangalore based voluntary group

offering treatment programs for alcoholic, drug-addict and HIV positive

people--think how computers would become change agents for his beloved

HIV positive kids. Currently the Foundation supports 141 HIV positive

kids apart from several hundred HIV positive adults; and offers them a

home away from their homes. The Foundation also offers anti-retroviral

medication. Ashok can be reached at <freedom@...>

Ashok fought against all odds in the wake of a personal tragedy to

establish Freedom Foundation in 1992; as a care center for people

dealing with alcoholism and drug-addiction. However Ashok's work came

into limelight when the first HIV case was isolated in the southern

state of Tamil Nadu in 1986; and UNAIDS/WHO started alerting India and

the world that there are 5-7 million HIV positive people in

India--making it one of the single largest countries in the world having

HIV positive cases.

And what a challenge it has been for him-apart from facing the social

stigma of running a care center for sexually transmitted diseased

people; not getting any form of moral, financial or material support

apart from that of close knit family & friends. However his persistence,

fierce determination and courage; brought hopes to a large number of

deprived people including HIV positive kids Gradually the Center started

gaining reputation as an ideal low-cost community-based home by the

Indian National AIDS Control Organization and the State AIDS Prevention

Society. Ashok Rau has also been nominated by the President of India as

a member of the Technical Resource Group on HIV/AIDS.

The rehabilitation & restoration of HIV positive kids has been a top

priority for Ashok. He has tried to help kids cope with the

psychological social stress resulting from their condition. Freedom

Foundation has maintained complete transparency with the kids about

their being HIV positive and has tried to work towards opening up a

space of acceptability to the reality of AIDS; first amongst the kids

and their families and at the second stage amongst the community.

The

Foundation tried to persuade several schools to admit their children for

a few years; before they could convince a Missionary Charity School (the

name of the school has been kept confidential in deference to the wishes

of the Freedom Foundation and that of the School as well ) to admit

their HIV positive kids. He was successful in his endeavors and managed

to get 15 kids admitted in the school. Slowly the kids started learning

English apart from local language Kannada. The school teachers have also

been very helpful in their assimilation process. The teachers counseled

other children to accept the Freedom Foundation kids amongst them;

encouraging them to play in groups.

They also took the onerous

responsibility upon themselves of educating the children about the

ultimate fate of the Freedom Foundation's kids. They tried to alert

calmly and carefully that their friends may not always be with them;

and that every day spent at the school was critical for the kids. It

has been very tough for the teachers as well as for the school

management-handling objections of parents, dealing with the trauma of

the Freedom Foundation kids and with their insecurities, systematically

working on a process of assimilation for the HIV positive kids.

The Foundation prioritized the assimilation needs of the kids by

allocating their computers used for accounting for their education. The

machines were upgraded and made net enabled, The kids were given basic

training to use computers and the net. They were provided details of

bulletin boards and URLs of other HIV positive organizations; so that

they could chat with their compatriots else-where.

Due to this bold step, communication flood-gates opened at the Freedom

Foundation. The kids started using the machines for long hours--simply

chatting with other HIV positive kids from other countries. The chats

present a very fascinating perspective into the minds of HIV positive

kids and this may be novel experiment first of its type in India whereby

technology has been deployed for restoring self-esteem and confidence

in a group of kids who had nothing but despair and fear in their hearts

until couple of years.

Ten year old, Mahesh asked his HIV positive friend, a much older & wiser

boy from South Africa " How long are you going to live? I want to meet

you, but may not get the chance at all. I am too weak to travel to South

Africa. No one will take me there. My friends here tell me I may not

live to see this Diwali (India's festival of lights). Can you come down

to Bangalore and meet me and my other friends? " . With utmost wisdom and

care for his long-distance friend in his heart; the South-African kid

tried to counsel Mahesh. He said " Don't be afraid. Even if you are not

there, all of us will meet in the heaven and celebrate Diwali &

Christmas together. Don't despair; you may get well. Our Doctors were

telling us we now have a good chance of recovery " . So it went on and

on-hours & hours of chatting; interaction; exchange of sorrow, fear,

happiness and insecurity. They went to bed happier. After all they were

united in their spirits and in their minds about their state; and about

their lives. The Internet and the Computers were all that were needed to

transform these lives; waiting silently for their deaths.

Twelve year old Ramaiah emailed his Thai friend a colored scanned

picture of his favorite Indian movie-actor Shahrukh Khan. His friend

sent him a thank you email from Bangkok and asked him if he needed the

picture of his favorite hero who happens to be a Thai basket ball

player. Ramaiah was thrilled to know and narrated the email to his HIV

positive parents seeped in India's film-culture; that basket ball

players could be celebrities as well.

Says Ashok Rau emotionally " At least they don't think about death

constantly now, thanks to the computer and to the internet "

Your could contact Freedom foundation at the following address:

Mr. Ashok Rau, Freedom Foundation Trust

180 Hennur Cross, Bangalore-560 043 (India)

www.thefreedomfoundation.org

Ph# 91-80-5449766/544 0134

email : freedom@...

_________________________________

Article Posted by :

Chetan Sharma-Founder & Managing Director, Datamation

361 Patparganj Industrial Area, Delhi-110 092 (India)

www.datamationindia.com

Ph#91-11-2167230/2169162/2167973/2168017

Cellular 9811039482

E-mail: <csharma@...>