Support for providing nutritious food and learning materials to 60 children of HIV/AIDS positive parents of Virudhunagar District.

While implementing HIV/ AIDS care and support programme in the Virudhunagar district, we came to understand that the children of HIV positive parents are living in wretched conditions. These children are deprived of their right to good health and education. MVKS is concerned with ensuring good health and education for these children. it has designed a programme to improve the health of the children and their access to quality education leading to increased retention in schools.

The following activities are envisaged by MVKS for the well-being of the children:-

1. Identified 60 children in difficult circumstance and assessed their problems and need.

2. In consultation with the parents and taking in consideration the opinions of the children, we have designed an action plan.

The action plan contains 2 main activities.

1. Providing nutritional supplements

2. Providing learning aids to the children-

Under the guidance of the organisation director, the project coordinator and the representatives of community support groups procure the food items from wholesale dealers and distribute the food items in the homes of the children so that parents can cook the food and feed the children. The food items are distributed to the homes on monthly basis. To ensure the retention of children in schools, we supply these children with school supplies like notebooks, pens, instrumental boxes, water can, school stationeries and uniform at the beginning of the school year.

The children of HIV positive children are getting nutritious food daily and their has been a noticeable improvement in their health.

The children are free from the diseases and sickness which arise from malnutrition. The rate of child deaths in this area has gone down.

Children are now attending school regularly and they concentrate on studies, leading to an improvement in their standard of education. The school supplies distributed regularly to children have reduced the parents' financial burden. The school dropout rate has reduced to nil.