I still consider it as a wonderful part of my life....a wonderful experiance!
What am i talking about?... ........ The time i spent volunteering at CHES orphanage for AIDS affected children in Chennai.
It was a tough time in my life. Tough is a relative word. Rather i could say, it was the time in my life where things were not going smoothly for me. There were obstacles in my path and i had to fight it out at every step. I was game for it. But i used to spend several evenings, walking alone in the beach, taking my time to stare at the sea for as long as i could as if i was absorbing all the strength from it. I often used to seek out my destiny in life. I wanted to do something which would make me happy from deep inside. Thats when i found out about the NGO CHES (Community health education society).
The next day i rode down to Kodambakkam in Chennai and met Dr. P. Manorama, the founder of the NGO. She spoke to me about the NGO. It was basically an NGO which ran an ashram for orphan kids affected by HIV AIDS. Some children attended public schools, while rest of them were taught in the Ashram itself. She told me that monetary flow was really not an issue. What she wanted was some help of people who could spend time with the kids. Teach them some spoken english, arts and craft making and help them out with the school exams. She told me that she would be really grateful if i could spend some time with the kids instead of donating money. She also assured me that i would not be in danger of catching the virus because of physical contact with the kids. I just had to be careful not to come in contact with their body fluids. I thought about it and decided to oblige to her request.
I spend several weekends with the kids. I taught them spoken english. For the first time i had to think about how to make english learning an interesting experiance. I tried to make it interactive and made them speak it out confidently. It was a lovely experiance, eventhough patience testing at times, when i had to resolve their fights. They used to be so excited to see me and all the kids literally used to come and fall on me. Some of the kids used to come and hold my hands and tell me that i look very beautiful. I always used to look forward to that time of the week when i had to go and interact with them, especially because of the enthusiam they showed in learning. I taught them stainglass painting and made them do their individual works on small square pieces of glass which i prepared for the class. And they wanted to make painting on all the windows and and mirrors after that. Several weeks later when i met Dr.Manorama, she actually was so glad that i interacted with the kids. She narrated an incident when some foreigners came to the ashram and the kids greeted them in english and asked a few questions to them too. She was immensely proud of their effort! I was so happy to learn that my students actually implemented what i taught them. She also told me that they were planning to shift to a new place and there she wanted to have a huge glass partition where all the children could do their stainglass paintings and display it. She told me that they were so excited to do the paintings and showed the small square pieces to her when she came to visit them. Small things like this can give you an immense satisfaction which cannot be explained by words. Life is beautiful i thought!!
Some information about the NGO:
* Home Address : Anantha Illam, CHES(Community Health Education Society), 1,
Kumaran Colony(Near K.R.Vijaya Garden), Sridevi Kuppam Main Valasaravakkam, Chennai-600 087, TN.
Tel: 91-44-24726655 , 44-24840148
Email: ches_cheschennai@yahoo.co.in
* Started in 1994 by Dr.P.Manorama M.D.,DCH.,DM(Gastro) based on two HIV affected kids & now it is a home for 45 HIV+ kids(upto age of 15). This home provides complete shelter/education/medical support for kids.
* They receive orphan kids(HIV affected) from hospitals and government agencies from across Tamil Nadu. After completion of HIV test, based on the results the HIV+ve kids are retained in the ashram & -Ve kids are sent to the Government Child Welfare Society/GULID.
* They are running their own school within the Orphanage for upto 4th standard , for higher classes they send the students to Cauvery School, Saligramam and Kodambakkam Gov School (10 students) for education.
(Courtesy: http://indiasudar.wordpress.com)What am i talking about?... ........ The time i spent volunteering at CHES orphanage for AIDS affected children in Chennai.
It was a tough time in my life. Tough is a relative word. Rather i could say, it was the time in my life where things were not going smoothly for me. There were obstacles in my path and i had to fight it out at every step. I was game for it. But i used to spend several evenings, walking alone in the beach, taking my time to stare at the sea for as long as i could as if i was absorbing all the strength from it. I often used to seek out my destiny in life. I wanted to do something which would make me happy from deep inside. Thats when i found out about the NGO CHES (Community health education society).
The next day i rode down to Kodambakkam in Chennai and met Dr. P. Manorama, the founder of the NGO. She spoke to me about the NGO. It was basically an NGO which ran an ashram for orphan kids affected by HIV AIDS. Some children attended public schools, while rest of them were taught in the Ashram itself. She told me that monetary flow was really not an issue. What she wanted was some help of people who could spend time with the kids. Teach them some spoken english, arts and craft making and help them out with the school exams. She told me that she would be really grateful if i could spend some time with the kids instead of donating money. She also assured me that i would not be in danger of catching the virus because of physical contact with the kids. I just had to be careful not to come in contact with their body fluids. I thought about it and decided to oblige to her request.
I spend several weekends with the kids. I taught them spoken english. For the first time i had to think about how to make english learning an interesting experiance. I tried to make it interactive and made them speak it out confidently. It was a lovely experiance, eventhough patience testing at times, when i had to resolve their fights. They used to be so excited to see me and all the kids literally used to come and fall on me. Some of the kids used to come and hold my hands and tell me that i look very beautiful. I always used to look forward to that time of the week when i had to go and interact with them, especially because of the enthusiam they showed in learning. I taught them stainglass painting and made them do their individual works on small square pieces of glass which i prepared for the class. And they wanted to make painting on all the windows and and mirrors after that. Several weeks later when i met Dr.Manorama, she actually was so glad that i interacted with the kids. She narrated an incident when some foreigners came to the ashram and the kids greeted them in english and asked a few questions to them too. She was immensely proud of their effort! I was so happy to learn that my students actually implemented what i taught them. She also told me that they were planning to shift to a new place and there she wanted to have a huge glass partition where all the children could do their stainglass paintings and display it. She told me that they were so excited to do the paintings and showed the small square pieces to her when she came to visit them. Small things like this can give you an immense satisfaction which cannot be explained by words. Life is beautiful i thought!!
Some information about the NGO:
* Home Address : Anantha Illam, CHES(Community Health Education Society), 1,
Kumaran Colony(Near K.R.Vijaya Garden), Sridevi Kuppam Main Valasaravakkam, Chennai-600 087, TN.
Tel: 91-44-24726655 , 44-24840148
Email: ches_cheschennai@yahoo.co.in
* Started in 1994 by Dr.P.Manorama M.D.,DCH.,DM(Gastro) based on two HIV affected kids & now it is a home for 45 HIV+ kids(upto age of 15). This home provides complete shelter/education/medical support for kids.
* They receive orphan kids(HIV affected) from hospitals and government agencies from across Tamil Nadu. After completion of HIV test, based on the results the HIV+ve kids are retained in the ashram & -Ve kids are sent to the Government Child Welfare Society/GULID.
* They are running their own school within the Orphanage for upto 4th standard , for higher classes they send the students to Cauvery School, Saligramam and Kodambakkam Gov School (10 students) for education.
These kids are suffering because of mistakes of their parents.
ReplyDeleteBut sometime malaria/AIDS overlap data force me to think that HIV can spread through mosquito.
http://www.unaids.org/en/PolicyAndPractice/HIVTreatment/Coinfection/Malaria/default.asp
Mosquito breeding falls with fall in temperature.
http://www.brown.edu/Research/EnvStudies_Theses/full9900/creid/climate_and_malaria.htm
In India, cold north states like J&K, Himachal pradesh have low infection of HIV/AIDS and south states like AP, TN have high infection rate.
http://www.avert.org/indiaaids.htm
And no researcher has ever lived in closed room with HIV infected person and mosquitos to verify that HIV do not spread through mospuitos.
So beware from mosquitos!
And I wish that these innocent kids recover from HIV infection.
-neo.