Care and Support 50 HIV+ Orphan Children in India

On November 10th, 11th and November 18th 2018, we at Buds of Christ celebrated Children’s day program at three different locations in Namakkal and Salem districts. More than 100 orphan children and their siblings were brought together for a one day programme to showcase their talents and skills. The hope and confidence of living positively was built in them and their care takers. Orphan children always have limited opportunities to present their skills and talents in their schools due to their health condition and less encouragement from their care takers who are mostly grandparents and extended family members.

That is the reason Buds of Christ makes it a point to Celebrate Children’s Day exclusively for those who have lost one or both parents and give them space to exhibit their skills, knowledge and talents to others like them and their caretakers. Prior to the programme, the children were given tasks to prepare for poem recitation, drawing competition, public speaking etc. The participants were given rewards on the efforts they had put and all the children who had contributed to the event were also rewarded.

In addition to the cultural events, there was puppet show, quiz on the health and rights of children and games competitions to encourage team spirit. For the first time participants, winning events was encouraging and one orphan child remarked after her poem recitation "I felt so excited to do it and my hands and feet were trembling and cannot believe, I have done it"

For us as organisers, we could also realize that the talents and skills within the children, especially orphan children have to be encouraged, to have a positive outlook about their future. Recently during the home visit by the staff team, two orphan girls (9 and 11 year olds) under the care of their grandmother had expressed,"We know if we stop the medication, we will get sick and so we do not think much about the virus within us".