By Mary Julie | Program Director
20 young adolescents who access the hospital for treatment are brought together as a support group every month at the Government treatment centre. Often these children, come alone or with their care takers to collect their medications that are offered free of cost at the government hospital, but they also carry a lot of questions along with fear and stigma which often is unaddressed. It is for these reasons the support groups have been started with good support from the medical team.
The young people were first asked to write few lines about a pin that was placed in front of them. They could bring about 5 to six sentences each and then the trainer collected all the information from the group which totalled to about 20 different qualities a pin could be used. Then each child was asked to reflect, how we are made unique and how each of us have special qualities that is special to us. The key message insisted was “If an ordinary pin could bring in so many qualities and use, how much more we as human beings can do with our potential”.
This was further reinforced through a glass demonstration exercise. This helped the young people understand that the physical area of the glass cannot determine, the number of pins that can go inside the tumbler, in the same way each of us have potential that often have left unmeasured and limited by the circumstances and challenges around each one of them.
Following the exercise, each adolescent was asked to share how they have felt personally and for most of them who were surprised at the fact, how much as an individual each can do more than what each thinks.
"I was caught by surprise, because i thought only 5 pins could get into the tumbler and the water might spill over, but later I saw more pins could be accommodated. It made me also realize, that I should not think about the problems and challenges I am going through now, I can do more than what I am doing" - expressed by an orphan adolescent girl
“I was very happy to realise, that I am unique and if a pin can have more than 20 qualities, I also can have more qualities within me."-expressed by an orphan boy
The support group meetings are organised every month for the HIV positive adolescents administering them with treatment literacy and life skills.
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