The Ketaketi Ashram at Bansbari looks like any other children's home. The ashram is filled with the children's frolic and laughter. But, the other side of the ashram tells the sorry tale of how children have become the unwitting victims of their parents' folly and mistakes.
Almost all the children in the ashram are orphans and HIV positive, the unwanted gift they had received from their parents when they were born. Despite being unfortunate from birth, the ashram has tried to provide them a home with a caretaker they call mother and brothers and sisters who share similar fate.
Altogether 32 children live in the ashram. This is the maximum number the ashram can accommodate. Most of them are orphans and few of them have mothers with HIV/AIDS.
Besides being infected with HIV they also another thing in common, all of them have come from low economic background and are from rural areas. The majority of the children had their fathers working in India and when they returned they carried the deadly virus with them.
Shiva (name changed), 14, from Nawalparasi has been staying in the Ashram for the last one year. He said his parents died when he was very small. The father died seven years ago and the mother followed a year later. He has an elder brother and elder sister. After the parents died, they were taken care of by their maternal uncle.
He said he used to suffer from pneumonia, fever, chest pain, cough and mainly ear infection. The maternal uncle knew his condition and brought him to the Ashram. He said his elder brother went to Mumbai to work and his elder sister is married. Both are clean.
He does not know he has HIV or what it means. He is taking ARV, and says he takes the medicine because of wounds, fever and cough. He is studying in a government school in Class 8 and he said that he wanted to be a doctor. The school and other children in the school do not know he is HIV positive.
Sangita Thapa, in-charge of the Ashram, said that these symptoms were common to every children most of the time and they should be provided antibiotic with ARV. Half of the children living with HIV are taking ARV (Anti-retroviral Treatment), she said. She said ARV are given to children only after their CD4 count falls below 500.
The children are so innocent that those not requiring ARV now often ask when they would be starting the medicine. The ashram does not have a child psychologist but a doctor visits the shelter once a week for other infections.
Biswash (name changed), 13, is from Accham he is also staying there since last year. He said that he was studying in Class 6 in the village. He had suffered from wounds on the head and was brought to Pokhara. There he was referred to Kathmandu. In Kathmandu, he was diagnosed of HIV and the cost of the treatment for wounds was borne by an NGO named FNC and then was referred to the Ashram. He said his father used to work in India and now he is dead.
Sita (name changed), 12, of Damauli said that she had been taking ARV since 2060 BS along with her mother. Her father was an Indian army personnel and when he died they came to Kathmandu. Both Sita and her mother know they are HIV positive. The mother works in an organisation working for HIV-affected people. She had one brother who is also dead now. She said she has enough property in the village but due to obvious reasons they could not stay in the village.
The Ashram, run by Nava Kiran Plus, has been providing shelter to these children since last one year. Nava Kiran Plus established its own school at Swoyambhu when other schools were not willing to take in these children. The school offers education from Nursery to Class 5 and only the children of the Ashram study there.
Chief Coordinator at Nava Kiran Plus Rajiv Kafle said earlier, we were honest enough to tell the school about the situation of the children hoping they would understand and would provide care and support to the children.
But as soon as the school found it out they expelled the children. �For some children we had to change school three times in a single year," he added. �They were even not willing to take in our children who were not HIV positive."
But establishing a separate school for our children only has its effect. The children have begun to ask why they are the only ones studying in the school, Kafle said. �To avoid possible psychological effects, we will close the school from next year and will try to enroll the children in other schools in small numbers even if we have to conceal their identity," said Kafle.
The schools too have their own problems. The principal of a school, which rejected to admit such children, said that she also has to live in the society and she could not afford to lose other students for the sake of a few. She said, �I was willing to admit such children but after other parents found it out their delegation came and threatened us to take their children out if the children of the ashram came to the school.
�We tried to convince the parents saying not all children of the ashram are HIV infected and even the virus does not get transmitted by physical contacts and studying together," she said. But their argument was what if those children scratch their children and caused wounds. After they remained unconvinced. I had to reject the children from the ashram. I cannot risk losing her job and livelihood."
Citing the sorry state of HIV world, Kafle said a 13-year-old girl from Accham district brought her small brother, who has HIV, to the Ashram. She is the eldest of the three children and after her parents died of HIV, she had to bear the responsibility of her younger siblings. She and her younger brother are clean but the youngest is HIV positive.
It is estimated that 4000 children are infected by HIV/AIDS in the country. -
Source
Linear Mode
