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Young World
Inspiring fight
ANASUYA MENON
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She is an example to emulate because of her work among the HIV positive.
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Photo: K. Ananthan
Making a difference: Aswathi.
R. Aswathi, a Std. XI student of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, has taken upon herself the responsibility of making students aware of their role in helping their lesser privileged counterparts. She has joined hands with Native Medicare Charitable Trust, a non-Governmental organisation (NGO) in Coimbatore working for children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, to take the message across to all the schools in the city.
Working closely with the children’s support group, “Roja Koottam”, formed by NMCT, she has identified the problems such as education, treatment and social stigma, faced by HIV positive children.
She attends every meeting of Roja Koottam and helps children develop their talent.
She teaches them English, a little bit of music, dance and painting.
“Since most of them study in Tamil medium schools, they are interested in learning English,” she says.
She along with the members of Roja Koottam will visit schools in the city to talk about the disease and the problems faced by children who have fallen prey to HIV/AIDS.
“I heard stories of each of the members of Roja Koottam and learnt that they need medicines, books and nutritional supplements,” Aswathi says.
That is when she decided to talk to other students and garner support for the cause of HIV positive children.
One of her goals is also to set up a library for them. “If one student from each school donates a book, we can have a library for them,” she says.
The schools have also responded to her suggestion in conducting meetings with the higher secondary students. Seven schools have already fixed the date for the meeting
Good work continues
Though she started working for the children of Roja Koottam as part of a project to be presented at the national finals of the Horlicks WizKid competition in Bangalore, she developed a strong desire to work for them.
“I have made friends with the children. I will continue the work even after the completion of the project,” she says.
Her project, “Unite for children, unite against AIDS” is an attempt at making the youth aware of HIV/AIDS and the problems faced by the children traumatised by the disease. Aswathi will represent Coimbatore at the National finals of the Horlicks WizKid competition.
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