Care and Support 50 HIV+ Orphan Children in India

The World AIDS day 2017 has been remarkable in two aspects, one the recognition of Buds of Christ work by the Government of Tamil nadu, Salem District on World AIDS Day as Best Performance Award for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care Services for Children and the other is the leadership the young people have taken in organising the event of World AIDS Day at Salem GH on December 2^nd 2017.

It is not too easy to tell an adolescent affected by chronic illness to not lose hope, but can live positively. Yes the theme taken up by Buds of Christ to support the universal theme “My Health | My Right” is “WE CAN LIVE WITH HIV". The message was taken forward by the young people who are born with HIV to the younger generation.

The World AIDS day was commemorated by Buds of Christ on 2nd of December at the Government hospital, Salem District. It was a combined effort of young people affected by HIV from Namakkal and Salem together to organise the event with a focus on children living with HIV.

The Chief guest for the meeting was Dr. Arunachalam, Senior Medical Officer of Salem ART centre and District Program Manager of District AIDS Prevention and control unit, Salem. The meeting started with the formal welcome address and the cultural event focusing on the need for confidence despite challenges. Then a presentation of the issues that they had identified in the group and the solution that they have thought of was shared by the youth leaders from Salem. A skit depicting one of the concern, the "self stigma" was shown and how a support group can make a difference was also shared. The Chief guest and the other two doctors also shared the importance of being confident and also expressed their support free from stigma and discrimination. There were two young girls who shared their positive lives to encourage others to lead a quality life. The children who participated in the drawing competition were also rewarded with prizes from the guest.

“I am new to the group and this is my first time in a public event. I was amazed at the courage and confidence the two sister had while sharing their personal challenges and how they have overcome, it really motivates me to think positively” - 16 year old girl, but recently informed about her status

“When seeing my child, I am filled with tears, but at the same time seeing her so cheerful and confident makes me feel good” - care taker of her 15 year old child

“My son has not spoken anywhere and was surprised to see him presenting the issues, especially in front of the big audience” - a coolie worker mother of a 17 year old boy living with HIV.

We at Buds of Christ would like to share about some of our young people, who faced challenges and failures in their lives, but yet have emerged as successors in what they firmly believed.

Hariharan is an orphan boy, born with HIV and lives with his grandmother. He completed his 12th school education and joined college, but dropped out in the first semester, as he was not interested in studies but to learn something that is vocational. He tried taking up odd jobs, but could not sustain as he found it did not match his area of interest. In one of the meetings, he expressed his desire to become a driver and Buds of Christ supported the cost for learning driving in a driving school and he has completed it with success. He has received his driving license and now currently a mini-auto driver in a private firm. He is now able to support his grand mother and feels proud saying "I cannot give back what she has given me, because when nobody wanted me when my parents died, she took care of me. I cannot replace that love, but satisfied that I am able to earn and support her now”.

Nadiya, a semi-orphan girl, born with HIV who battled against many storms in her life and stood as an achiever and role model in surpassing all the challenging situations in her life. She faced extreme form of discrimination and violence within her own family due to her HIV status and her mother's condition. She had to fight many challenges of being sent out of home, had to find a temporary stay in a hostel and discriminated when experienced violence from her step brother and their family. She was not sure of her future, as her interest was in nursing but HIV status limited her choice. Following that, her failure in 10th public exams left her totally confused for more than 2 years. She was constantly followed up and supported with counseling and nutrition care, then after two years, she firmly decided she wanted to take up beautician course. She on her own identified a person in her village who taught her the basic skills and referred her to a professional beautician course. She out of her smartness was able to enroll in the course free of cost. Seeing her commitment and interest, one of the trainer recruited her as her assistant in the parlor she owns and now after two years she is now taken complete in charge of the parlor. She was also able to convince the parlor owner in providing training for other girls living with HIV free of cost.

Currently she has been able to train 3 young girls through her references and they also have been able to settle into jobs with her support. Nadiya expresses "The problem or limitation can be changed to opportunity if there is a change in the mind. I wanted to serve people through nursing but HIV placed a limitation for me, but I changed my thought, and here too I am able to serve people and make them present beautiful through my work”.

Karthik, another HIV positive boy, from a bonded labor family in brick industry, and a drop out of school due to the side effects of ARV treatment has changed his life from a negative situation to a positive hope. Though he was a good oratorical speaker in his school and a friendly person, his knowledge of his HIV status was, when he was in his 9th standard. That gave him shock and left him passive for more than a year. Then after completing his 10th with the support of a sensitive counselor, he did not feel encouraged to do anything further as the self stigma of HIV overwhelmed him.

The peer support from the support group and constant home visits brought him out, but did not encourage positive thoughts in him. It took two more years to come out of that to think about his future and all during that time, Buds of Christ supported his nutrition needs and emotional needs. He tried to vocationally equip himself, and joined Photoshop and Coreldraw designing course. After successful completion and practice, he later joined a photo studio. In the studio, he learnt the photography and designing techniques. Now he has over 5 years of experience in photography, managing a photo-studio and has the ability to train others in his professional line. Looking at his commitment to work and honesty, his boss offered him to completely own and use a well set-up photo studio.

His message to the young people is "HIV is within our bodies, but it cannot defeat our future. I was depressed and lost all hope, when I came to know about my status, but now I stand with confidence and say WE CAN when we have the confidence within ourselves”.