Care and Support 50 HIV+ Orphan Children in India

Buds of Christ dedicate the month of March to celebrate our widow mothers and grandmothers breakthrough journeys of Hope and Confidence in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

In Salem district, this has been the first women’s day celebration for women and was organized on 8^th March 2021. Around 30 women participated in the event and most comprised of widow mothers and grand mothers who take care of children living with HIV. The event started with women sharing their uniqueness which ranged across various fields like sewing, traditional snack preparations, beautician, basket weaving etc. Then Mr. Jeyapaul, Director of Buds of Christ shared about the centre programmes. Then Ms. Sangeetha who had shared her life journey of living with HIV followed it. She also shared about the important decisions she had taken in her life to build a brighter future for her daughters and that had needed courage and risk taking. With just 8^th grade in education and 19 years old, she lost her husband to HIV leaving. She was left with her two small daughters to be cared. She took the risk of moving out of the village to work with Buds of Christ and now she is proud to see her elder daughter pursuing her post graduate degree and her second daughter pursuing her graduation at the Salem University. Her life journey of success was a motivation to many women gathered at the event. Then Dr. Rani, Medical doctor shared about the importance of Nutrition and reproductive health of women and the day ended with a good lunch.

At Tiruchengode, Namakkal district the women’s day cerebration was organized on 12^th March 2021 and is the fifth year of celebration. The programme started with the introduction of the theme of the women’s day followed by the centre’s roles in the empowerment of children and women. Then  Ms. Mary Latha, District Programme Manager-In charge of Dist AIDS Prevention and Control Unit, Namakkal district encouraged the audience with her motivational talk. This was followed by a session on nutrition by Ms. Shalini a young woman living with HIV and staff of the centre. Then a competitive event for women was organized to display their skill in preparing traditional snacks. Many mothers and grandmother displayed their expertise in preparing variety nutrient rich snacks. Each woman presented her prepared snack and also shared the nutrient content and the functions of it that revealed the learning they have gained through various sessions on health from the centre. The best 7 recipes were rewarded. Two women (one widow mother and another grandmother) shared their life testimonies and that encouraged the women to lead a life with hope and confidence. The day ended with a grand lunch.

Buds of Christ was encouraged to witness the progress the widow mothers have made through the programmes of the center along with their children’s growth and development. The different levels of empowerment from physical health to emotional to economic independence have helped them to provide a better future for themselves and their children. We at Buds of Christ salute these women and celebrate their success journey.

It has been almost a year for the younger children between the age group of 6 and 12 years to come together as group for learning about their health and also to play and do activities together in a group. The first meeting for the year 2021 was organized on 18^th February and 9 children participated along with their care takers. The support groups have been very effective in building hope and also remove fears about HIV as they find the space safe and supportive.

The sessions for the children have been planned based on the 50 indicators that has been developed on topics related to HIV information, understanding health monitoring indicators, hygiene, life skills, adherence to treatment and positive prevention. The indicators have been developed with the involvement of young people living with HIV who have been part of the centre from their school age.

The first session included group games to build a bonding among themselves and their care takers. The health topics covered were on Personal Hygiene and its benefits and basics of nutrition. The sessions were handled by the youth volunteers of the centre. A life skill session on self awareness was also conducted on that day.

The children enjoyed the time together; especially the games .The learning was easier as it involved activity based sessions and also the support of the care taker. The most interesting one that captivated the children was the hand print that each child enjoyed and shared about it till the end of the day.

A newly enrolled child (Elakiya, 11 year old girl ) living with her widowed mother was initially scared to come to the centre as she thought it was hostel for children, but at the end of the day she was very happy and enthusiastic; and she expressed she wanted to come more frequently.

For 8 year old girl Anu (who has lost both her parents), it was an exciting moment to come out with her grandmother and meet her friends and play games and craft time together .

We thank all our well wishers who have helped us to organize the group meetings and encourage children living with HIV lead a happy and productive life.