Theme Charity

All the children are on family assistance supported by this project

1. The three musketeers (let to right) Muthusamy,Samuvel and Sathish. All three are on antiretroviral treatment (ART) and all orphans living with grandparents. They are great friends and prefer to stay at Arogya Agam (AA) as much as possible.
Muthusamy has been very depressed, his uncles won’t let him play with their children. He is also given a hard time at school. He was brought to our hospital suffering from chicken pox in its advanced stage, this can be serious for children with HIV. Special drugs were given and he recovered well.
Samuvel watched his mother die of TB and shortly after his grandmother who was looking after him died of cancer – he ran away but was found and currently goes to school from AA and stays with various relations at week ends.
Sathish has been in and out of AA for 2 years. For 18 months he never smiled. Now he seems OK most of the time although he cries when he talks about his dead parents. He is 12 and lives on and off with his very old and tired granny. He is at present being looked after at AA.

2. Kathirayammal
She is an orphan and looked after by her old granny. They both spoke at the meeting held for those the project is sponsoring. Granny said that the support given by AA allowed her to keep the girl with her, otherwise she would have gone to an institution.

3. Oviya
Oviya’s mother and father are both alive and she has two younger brothers. All five are HIV positive. The father gives no support and when he has money he gets drunk. All three children are unforgiving but who knows what is going on in the father’s head. He refuses all treatment or contact with AA. Fortunately her grandfather lives nearby and is very supportive. Her elder brother is 13 and looks healthy and normal. But one day he also will need ART.

4. Shivakumar
Shivakumar seemed to be doing well on ART. But one day, out of the blue, he woke up completely blind. He must have been terrified. With our support his mum took him on a round of specialist hospitals but within 2 days he was dead. ART is not a cure and neurological symptoms are quite common.

5. Galakshmi
Nagalakshmi is 14 and both she and her mother are on ART. She explained that since her mother is often unwell and survives by doing coolie work it was decided that her 17 year old brother should stop school so as to work. But now that they have the family support from AA this was not necessary and her brother, Murugan, continues his studies.

6. Kisakasan
His mother used to be a sex worker until she was too sick with HIV. His mother dared to complain that the government services were not helping – one day three jeeploads of officials arrived to enquire and the news was out that they were HIV infected. After that they were not allowed into the house by his grandmother and so had to live in a lean-too shed outside. Kisakasan was isolated at school despite our best efforts. He has run away from two institutions. His mother is nearly always sick despite ART. Kisakasan acts the rowdy but has a lovely nature, he is really healthy now after starting ART. Here he is pictured looking after our nurse’s adopted daughter – he likes to be accepted and loved.

7. Kumar
John’s unofficial adopted son was found dying 5 years ago. He had watched his mother drink poison and die because she was getting troubled by insults about her HIV status. He was the first child in Theni district to get ART. In those days the treatment was costly. He taught John the hard way about living with a child who has had never known real childhood and who suffers from HIV, but for the past three years he has never been ill, not even for a day!

 
8. Pandeeswaran
A cheeky fourteen year old, good at school and cricket and a reformed tobacco addict. On ART for over 3 years, while being dressed down and told that smoking would reduce his immunity he smiled and produced his latest result knowing that he has the highest and best blood count of all our children! It wasn’t medical advice that stopped his smoking, he was banned from his cricket team until he did!

Can You Assist?

If you are able to offer your time, skills, enthusiasm, or funds to this project please contact:-
 Jill Pirdas - 04 93 72 11 89
Send e-mail: info@internationalclub.fr