Indian Writing

A report about HIV+ children in Guntur who work to support their families:

Fifty-year-old Mani, a former sex worker and HIV-positive, adopted orphan Sambasiva who too is infected like her. But finding a mother has been no solace for the 15-year-old who has never gone to school. Mani is too sick to work, which leaves Sambasiva to toil 12 hours a day in a vegetable shop to earn a meagre Rs 25. Living with Mani in a dingy room in a brothel, Sambasiva is often sent out by neighbouring aunties to buy cigarettes and liquor when clients arrive, for which service he gets small tips. Ratnam, coordinator of NGO HELP, which works with HIV-infected children in Chilakaluripeta, says it is extremely difficult to motivate such children to study. “So all we do is provide them with food and facilitate anti-retro viral therapy (ARV) in advanced cases.”