[procaare] Exclusive school for HIV/AIDS children in India

["AFP" <procaare@healthnet.org>]

Exclusive school for HIV/AIDS children in India
AFP: Thu Sep 21, 2006
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BANGALORE, India (AFP) - A non-profit organisation has set up a school in 
India for children infected with HIV/AIDS and barred from other 
institutions, an official said.

"All the seven orphans and children who have only one parent were turned 
down by other schools," said Jyotish Joseph, director of Karunalayam, the 
organisation which started the school in Andhra Pradesh state.

"We teach them local and English alphabets, mathematics and also take care 
of their medical needs," Joseph told AFP. "The idea is to give them a lively 
and happy atmosphere."

The school in southern Warrangal district, which started operations last 
week, is being staffed by a HIV/AIDS counsellor, a teacher and a nurse.

Before the school was launched, the children had been accommodated with 
adults at the 40-bed center run by the organisation with the help of 
government funds.

"The decision to start a school was taken as we felt that if we put children 
along with adults there were more chances of abuse. Also it demoralises 
them," Joseph said. "But the main purpose is to give them education."

"Here the concept is of exclusive care. In some schools HIV-positive kids 
are pushed around by other children and looked down upon. Others deny them 
admission. They face no such problems in our school," he said.

Two years ago parents of more than 400 children in India's most literate 
state of Kerala threatened to pull their children out of classes if two 
HIV-positive kids were admitted to a government-funded school.

"In India there is a lack of awareness about HIV/AIDS among teachers and 
parents. There needs to be more education," Joseph said. "We plan to take in 
more children maybe 25 initially and open more such schools in other 
regions."

India outstripped South Africa as the country with the largest number of 
HIV/AIDS infections last year. India has 5.7 million people living with AIDS 
against South Africa's 5.5 million.

Source: AFP via Yahoo News
Online: 
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060921/hl_afp/healthindiaaidseducation_060921103158