FATE OF HIV POSITIVE CHILDREN IS NOT UNCERTAIN: IF THE COMMUNITY JOINS HANDS INTACTLY

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Now they are smiling; the thespians in the murky story of stigma and
discrimination that attracted the curiosity of all philanthropists and
social activists at national and international level. They and their
supporters are grateful to all the campaigners involved in alleviating
the issue and in ensuring the completion of their primary education in
the same school in a friendly ambiance.

The Issue:

The issue occurred during the year 2006 in Mar Dionysius Lower
Primary(MDLP) School located at Pampady, a rural village of Kottayam
District in Kerala State where three HIV positive children and two
affected children were denied continuation of their primary education
due to the opposition of the parents of other pupils in the school.
These children were the inmates of Asha Kiran, one of the Community
Care Centres facilitated by the Kerala State AIDS Control Society. The
incident was disclosed by one of the leading satellite channels of
Kerala, ‘Asianet News’, on 6th December 2006.

The parents were pressurizing the school management by saying that
they would withdraw their kids, if the school management permits these
affected and infected children to continue their studies in the
school. The situation compelled ‘Asha Kiran’ executives to decide not
to send the children to the school due to the fear of persecution from
the opposed parents. The media also took part in the issue with
antagonistic opinions and news that generated curiosity of the viewers/
readers from all strata of the Society and discussions at various
levels.

The Action:

Though it was a complicated issue, the Kerala Community could settle
it properly after a strenuous effort. Immediately after the alertness
by the news story, Kerala State AIDS Control Society took a delegation
to the village from where the issue was reported. The team conducted a
series of meetings with various stakeholders viz. District Collector,
District Medical Officer, elected Members and the President of Pampadi
Grama panchayath, executives of Asha Kiran, media persons, teachers
and management of the MDLP School, etc. and requested their support
through proper sensitization in resolving the issue. The delegation
was a successful initiative that prepared all strata of the Society to
work towards mitigation of the issue. As a result, the State Minister
for Health and Family Welfare, Government of Kerala, District
collector, District Medical Officer, Representatives of Grama
Panchayath, Block Panchayath and District Panchayath, etc. were
actively involved in the meeting of the Parent Teacher Association,
convened on the very second day of reporting of the issue. The meeting
was a failure in persuading all parents to allow their children to
continue studies in the school. Parents exhibited extreme hostility
the supporters of the affected children during the meeting.

It was obvious from the meeting that the issue would not be resolved
without dispelling the doubts and concerns of the villagers and hence
decided to organize a two week long interpersonal communication
campaign to address the concerns of the villagers. Based on the
strategy and action plan prepared by the Kerala State AIDS Society,
all the 6196 households spread over in the village were visited by
trained volunteers, selected from Kudumbasree (Community Development
Society for poverty alleviation), Mahila Swast Sangh, NGOs, etc. The
volunteers formed in teams under the leadership of elected members of
each ward of the Grama Panchayath and met the villagers on a one to
one basis to educate them about HIV/AIDS and clear their doubts
regarding the illness. They distributed materials like leaflets,
posters, etc. on HIV/AIDS, repercussions of stigma and discriminations
associated to the illness, etc. for further reading and message re-
call. Street plays and ventriloquism were performed in various parts
of the village for mobilizing the community to act against stigma and
discrimination towards the HIV infected and affected children.

Kerala State AIDS Control Society arranged an exposure visit for the
elected members of Pampadi Grama Panchayath and the executive members
of the Parent Teachers Association of all the schools in the Grama
Panchayath to the Chathannoor Grama Panchayath in Kollam District that
confronted and tackled a similar issue successfully in the past. The
visit gave more insight to the team on the issue.

Following the initiatives, a joint meeting of the PTA authorities of
all schools in Pampadi Village, Grama Panchayath representatives,
District Medical Officer, executives of Asha Kiran, Assistant
Education Officer and representatives of MDLP School Management were
convened under the chairmanship of the Member of Legislative Assembly
(MLA) of the locality. As an outcome of this meeting, a general body
meeting of the Parent Teachers Association of MDLP School was held on
the 20th day after the reporting of the issue. The result of the
interpersonal communication campaign was visible at the meeting. The
opposition of the parents became meek and gentle during the meeting.
The meeting resulted in the decision to allow the children to continue
their studies in the same school without any fear of stigma and
discrimination.

The Impact:

Now all these five children left from the school. All the children
except one have studied up to fourth standard and proceeded to other
schools for higher studies. The other kid discontinued her studies
from the school at standard II as her relatives accepted her illness
as a derivative of the resolution process of the issue. Now she is
studying in fifth standard in a school at another village, without
having any issue of dishonor and distinction.

Though the issue was pathetic, the planned communication campaign at
local level and state level could generate positive opinions against
stigma and discrimination among the community and an attitude to work
for the eradication of the same. It attracted ample media coverage
that engendered discussions at various levels among the public. It in
turn created a conducive environment in the State for the education of
HIV infected/affected children. The bitter experience of these
children during December 2006 has now become a cause of smile for
several infected/affected children in Kerala.

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