Today, 1st of December, is World AIDS Day—a grim reminder of this killer disease, which has devastated millions of families all over the world. In Uttar Pradesh alone, more than 35,000 AIDS patients were registered with the state AIDS Control Office till September, 2010. How many more unregistered people would there be, is anybody’s guess. Amongst the registered ones, there are 1597 male and 777 female HIV positive children. Read more
With a view to lend a helping hand, UNICEF has organized a training workshop for such children at its pavilion at the ongoing Lucknow Mahotsava—a gala, annual event, spread over 10 days.
The first batch of child reporters and Bal Bandhus (little friends), who arrived in Lucknow on Nov 25 have already completed a very successful training in the media tools. The second batch from Lalitpur district that started their training in the five media tools of communication at UNICEF Pavilion at the Lucknow Mahotsava from Nov 30th.
This second group of children will also be joined at the UNICEF Pavilion by HIV positive affected and infected children who will be coming from six districts of Uttar Pradesh. The children will be brought in by a non-government Lucknow based organisation named UMEED which works for the rehabilitation and welfare of children living with HIV/AIDS and is part of the workshops from Nov 30-2 Dec 2010 .
Apart from learning the five media tools from the 18 master trainers from Maharajganj who are conducting the workshop, the HIV positive children will also be celebrating the World AIDS Day today in Lucknow at the Mahotsava.
Let all of us contribute in some way or the other to keep the spirit of these young fighters high.
Anjali Singh - CNS
(The author is a UNICEF consultant and a senior journalist. She is also the Director of Saaksham Foundation)
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