Care and Support 50 HIV+ Orphan Children in India

The regular meetings for HIV positive young people are being organised at the hospitals and Buds of Christ centres at Namakkal and Salem. The recently organised session was on River of Life activity, where the young people are paired and asked to share their past memories to their peers. The memories include both the sad and happy instances in their lives. After they completed marking their life experiences on time line, they discuss the future plans for the next 5 years and then 10 years.

The session on the river of life activity conducted with young people in Salem and Tiruchengode brought in a lot of emotions, when they reflected their past. Almost all the children had expressed the loss of their parents to HIV and their own diagnosis of HIV was hard to take at that time. But as years have passed by ,now they have found hope and confidence about their future.

One adolescent orphan girl shared "It was difficult for me, when I lost my father and mother in the same year. I was just 10 years old and everybody around me also thought, I would also follow the same fate. But I am now 18 years and doing my college and I know I have more to achieve in life”.

Another girl 17 year old living with HIV and her widowed mother, expressed that “I admire the courage and the determination my mother has after my father passed away. Though she is illiterate, she works hard as a coolie worker and supports me and my brother. Recently when she was bed ridden I was completely shaken, but the will power she had within her, brought her back to normal health and is back to work. Seeing her courageous stand, even when HIV causes fear for me, I often tell myself that I will not allow HIV to win over me and move ahead”.

The participants gained a lot of confidence through the sharing they had as a group and also had reflected their coping mechanisms from their past experiences. They also were able to reflect on the people they had felt supported during those challenging situations. The participants, had set their plans for future which enabled them to also foresee their future ups and downs for which they are prepared. The support group meetings are conducted every month on all weekends at Salem and Tiruchengode Buds of Christ’s NALAM Child Development Centres.