HIV-Free Babies and Treatment of Infected Families

COVID-19 epidemic has been spreading all over the world since December 2019. The epidemic has brought not only the risk of death from infection but also psychological pressure. The crisis has had an impact on the work and sustainability of the non-profits. We have also been affected due to the pandemic. Our children being HIV+ve, makes them into high risk category due to their compromised immunity.We have been practising the disciplines and implementing various policies that have been issued by the government in order to break the chain of transmission of Covid-19 including by staying at home, keeping a minimum physical distance of 1 meter, and washing hands with soap.

This has also inhibited educational activities of the children.The schools have temporarily closed in an effort to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The alternate method of online learning is introduced by the schools in their efforts to reduce the direct impact of covid, especially for the more vulnerable and disadvantaged communities like ours. Though initially we had some hiccups, the children adapted quickly to the new platform of distance learning.

Given that the typical sources of funding such as philanthropy and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are now flowing towards COVID-19 relief and healthcare-related work, there are concerns among non-profits regarding the long-term sustainability of their programmes and organisations. We have also been faced with similar challenges. We have no committed funding from any reliable source for the last two years and we have been sustaining with individual donations and support of small organisations. With Covid most of these companies are facing closure themselves.

Amidst all these problems, 4 of our children who finished their studies, had taken training and got placed in different places. Two of them got placed in an old age home and one boy in a call centre after finishing B.Com. Another girl is pursuing CA as she wanted to pursue higher studies. One of these boys had a persistent eye problem and we got his operation done. We are in the process of inducting new children to the centre. We have 20 children in the age group of 1^st standard to 10^th standard. We have 5 children in 10^th standard. All the children are on ART medicines which are procured once in 2 months or 3 months due to Corona.

In Hyderabad, currently there are only 8 girl children as per the government regulation to have only gender specific homes. There is no committed funding for that centre also and we are supporting them from what we receive in Bangalore.  There also all the children are on ART medication. 

We had to suspend our community support temporarily due to lack of funds. We have 60 HIV positive families, mostly widows that we support in the community with Nutrition support and another 40 HIV +ve children whom we support for education. Short-term suspension of these programmes may have a long-lasting impact, especially among marginalised and vulnerable communities.With most CSR funding being directed towards relief work, and corporates experiencing financial pressure and stepping back from regular communications, there will be significant declines in financial support from this source in the near future.

Links:

• Freedom Foundation