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MOTHER + CHILD

Orphan and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in the HIV/AIDS context were within the preview of the Foundation since 1996. Reaching out to nearly 200 children every year, the Foundation has about 700 children registered till date. The Foundation also has specialized facilities at Bangalore and Hyderabad that care for HIV positive abandoned orphans.

Freedom Foundation has been one of the first organisations in the civil society sector to set up an effective PPTCT (Prevention of Parent To Child Transmission) intervention in the country. There are currently two major initiatives by the Foundation; one in and around Bangalore and the other in and around Hyderabad.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

The Bangalore intervention has been hailed as an ideal public/private partnership. The Foundation’s PMTCT interventions at Bangalore work very closely with the BBMP (Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike) and KSAPS (Karnataka State Aids Prevention Society) at the various maternity hospitals within the public health system. The Hyderabad intervention works within the private sector hospitals. Both these interventions reach out to about 45,000 women annually.

PROGRAMMES:

  • Early Childhood Care Centers (Creche/Balwadi)
  • Child care centers will be run all day from morning to evening
  • Children aged 1 to 3 will be enrolled and cared for in Creches
  • Children aged 3 to 6 will be enrolled in pre-primary centers (called Balwadis)
  • There will be 6 to 7 such centers that will accommodate between 30-40 children each
  • Teachers and caregivers will be hired from local areas and trained on child care, nutrition and health activities.
  • These centers will ensure that children’s nutrition and growth requirements are met, by providing food and monitoring growth charts
  • The centers will engage children in age-appropriate learning activities and inculcate the interest of education in them
  • The centers will also hold community education sessions to spread awareness on basic health care

AN ECOSYSTEM OF CAREGIVERS

The caregiver network is one of the unique initiatives started by the Freedom Foundation Trust. We induct HIV +ve women and train them to better care for orphans with HIV. So much so, the children forget their orphanhood and lead a normal, healthy life.

This initiative ensures that the children are cared for while they are with us and even after they leave. With a moral responsibility to deliver care and support, the trust gives the children a family and a community.

AN ALUMNI OF POSITIVE CHILDREN

Our alumni of kids is the ripple effect of the caregiver model. The children, who have left our residential care centre, continue to support the trust in whatever form they could. This has further strengthened our belief of ‘by the people, for the people’.

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