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Children of HIV Positive Individuals Living In Dignity (Project CHILD)

Goal: To promote home-care for restoring hope and enhancing the quality of life of persons and families infected/ affected by HIV/AIDS, especially children.

The origin of Project CHILD goes back to the year 1993, soon after Committed Communities Development Trust (CCDT) started the Ankur Health Post in Kamathipura - the largest red light area in Mumbai. While working with women in prostitution, it was found that several were HIV positive.

The first to feel the repercussions of the HIV/AIDS epidemic were the children of these women. Not only were the children facing stigma and discrimination but they also had to suffer the anguish of their mothers dying and leaving them abandoned, seeing their families broken. Most of these children felt deprived of their childhood. Forced to abandon their studies, they frequently assumed adult roles and responsibilities. The difficult circumstances in which these children lived, exposed many of them to unimaginable abuse and exploitation and put them at risk to HIV/AIDS.

CCDT recognized the necessity for a project to address the needs of HIV positive individuals and their children. Project CHILD started in June 1995 and was the first of its kind in India. It is a home-based care program, enabling families to stay together. When it seen that the epidemic had not affected the red light area alone; but was also widespread in the general population, the project widened its scope to encompass families in Mumbai city, Navi Mumbai and Thane.

CHILD is a comprehensive HIV/AIDS program addressing issues of prevention, care and support using a community-based approach. It is a strongly structured program that focuses intensively on children affected and infected by HIV/AIDS, orphans, child headed families, children living in street situations, brothels, child care institutions and children at risk of drug addiction, physical and sexual abuse and exploitation. It goes beyond, to their mothers and families. Looking after child-headed families is one of the major challenges for this project.

Activities of Project CHILD include:

Home visits
Medical support
Educational support
Nutritional support
Psychosocial support
Vocational support
Support groups
Counseling in non-institutional settings

Hospital visits
VCCTC (Voluntary Confidential Counseling Centre) visits
Networking and linkages with NGOs & other organisations
Institutional visits
Legal visits
Camps
Outreach in the community
Awareness, sensitization and training programs

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