Lost child hood due to neglected care


Babu 13 years old is living with HIV and is an orphan. His parents and one brother all died to HIV and AIDS. He was brought up by his maternal grandmother and when she could not manage his care costs, he was given over to his paternal grandmother. His father’s grandmother is also well advanced in age and goes for coolie work to support her living .Seeing this condition, Babu decided to stop his education and start bringing income to his family. Being a small boy he was made to do very menial but hard jobs and was paid very less for the work. This also resulted in his acquaintances with adults in the community. He could not play or enjoy with children of his age. The acquaintances with the young adults of the village lead him into smoking, drinking and even taking the local drugs. Through this habit, the relationship with his grandmother became severe and there was nobody to support him. The income that he earned could not get him the things he wanted, so got engaged into small petty thefts within the village. This resulted in the villagers during against him.

In this situation he met a lorry driver in that village and requested him to take him along with him for work to northern part of India. But when they had reached Chennai, he found he could not do the hard work and got into a small hotel in Chennai. He had to work very hard and had very few hours to sleep. In addition he also did not take medicines due to the fear of being identified of his HIV status. This affected his health badly causing severe skin infections.

In that condition, he contacted Buds of Christ and was brought back to his village. With counseling offered at the center and support rendered by children like him through children support group he got back to treatment in the government ART center. He is provided a monthly nutritional support and is on treatment, and visits Buds of Christ and interacts with other children.

The need for proper care and support is essential in helping orphan children see a better and brighter future. We believed and that has enabled us to do it. You too can!

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