The inventors of computers & internet would have hardly imagined one day it would help some of the most unlikely people get over their sense of isolation, deprivation and help build self-esteem. Nor did Ashok Rau--founder of Freedom Foundation <www.thefreedomfoundation.org>, a Bangalore based voluntary group offering treatment programs for alcoholic, drug-addict and HIV positive people--think how computers would become change agents for his beloved HIV positive kids. Currently the Foundation supports 141 HIV positive kids apart from several hundred HIV positive adults; and offers them a home away from their homes. The Foundation also offers anti-retroviral medication. Ashok can be reached at <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Ashok fought against all odds in the wake of a personal tragedy to establish Freedom Foundation in 1992; as a care center for people dealing with alcoholism and drug-addiction. However Ashok's work came into limelight when the first HIV case was isolated in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in 1986; and UNAIDS/WHO started alerting India and the world that there are 5-7 million HIV positive people in India--making it one of the single largest countries in the world having HIV positive cases. And what a challenge it has been for him-apart from facing the social stigma of running a care center for sexually transmitted diseased people; not getting any form of moral, financial or material support apart from that of close knit family & friends. However his persistence, fierce determination and courage; brought hopes to a large number of deprived people including HIV positive kids Gradually the Center started gaining reputation as an ideal low-cost community-based home by the Indian National AIDS Control Organization and the State AIDS Prevention Society. Ashok Rau has also been nominated by the President of India as a member of the Technical Resource Group on HIV/AIDS. The rehabilitation & restoration of HIV positive kids has been a top priority for Ashok. He has tried to help kids cope with the psychological social stress resulting from their condition. Freedom Foundation has maintained complete transparency with the kids about their being HIV positive and has tried to work towards opening up a space of acceptability to the reality of AIDS; first amongst the kids and their families and at the second stage amongst the community. The Foundation tried to persuade several schools to admit their children for a few years; before they could convince a Missionary Charity School (the name of the school has been kept confidential in deference to the wishes of the Freedom Foundation and that of the School as well ) to admit their HIV positive kids. He was successful in his endeavors and managed to get 15 kids admitted in the school. Slowly the kids started learning English apart from local language Kannada. The school teachers have also been very helpful in their assimilation process. The teachers counseled other children to accept the Freedom Foundation kids amongst them; encouraging them to play in groups. They also took the onerous responsibility upon themselves of educating the children about the ultimate fate of the Freedom Foundation's kids. They tried to alert calmly and carefully that their friends may not always be with them; and that every day spent at the school was critical for the kids. It has been very tough for the teachers as well as for the school management-handling objections of parents, dealing with the trauma of the Freedom Foundation kids and with their insecurities, systematically working on a process of assimilation for the HIV positive kids. The Foundation prioritized the assimilation needs of the kids by allocating their computers used for accounting for their education. The machines were upgraded and made net enabled, The kids were given basic training to use computers and the net. They were provided details of bulletin boards and URLs of other HIV positive organizations; so that they could chat with their compatriots else-where. Due to this bold step, communication flood-gates opened at the Freedom Foundation. The kids started using the machines for long hours--simply chatting with other HIV positive kids from other countries. The chats present a very fascinating perspective into the minds of HIV positive kids and this may be novel experiment first of its type in India whereby technology has been deployed for restoring self-esteem and confidence in a group of kids who had nothing but despair and fear in their hearts until couple of years. Ten year old, Mahesh asked his HIV positive friend, a much older & wiser boy from South Africa "How long are you going to live? I want to meet you, but may not get the chance at all. I am too weak to travel to South Africa. No one will take me there. My friends here tell me I may not live to see this Diwali (India's festival of lights). Can you come down to Bangalore and meet me and my other friends?". With utmost wisdom and care for his long-distance friend in his heart; the South-African kid tried to counsel Mahesh. He said " Don't be afraid. Even if you are not there, all of us will meet in the heaven and celebrate Diwali & Christmas together. Don't despair; you may get well. Our Doctors were telling us we now have a good chance of recovery" . So it went on and on-hours & hours of chatting; interaction; exchange of sorrow, fear, happiness and insecurity. They went to bed happier. After all they were united in their spirits and in their minds about their state; and about their lives. The Internet and the Computers were all that were needed to transform these lives; waiting silently for their deaths. Twelve year old Ramaiah emailed his Thai friend a colored scanned picture of his favorite Indian movie-actor Shahrukh Khan. His friend sent him a thank you email from Bangkok and asked him if he needed the picture of his favorite hero who happens to be a Thai basket ball player. Ramaiah was thrilled to know and narrated the email to his HIV positive parents seeped in India's film-culture; that basket ball players could be celebrities as well. Says Ashok Rau emotionally "At least they don't think about death constantly now, thanks to the computer and to the internet" Chetan Sharma-Founder & Managing Director, Datamation 361 Patparganj Industrial Area, Delhi-110 092 (India) www.datamationindia.com Ph#91-11-2167230/2169162/2167973/2168017 Cellular # 9811039482 ------------ ***GKD is an initiative of the Global Knowledge Partnership*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.globalknowledge.org>
