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Organization Prevents Children from Falling Victim to Ill-Effects of Segregation
Excerpt taken from The Times of India, published in 2005
By Madhavi Rajadhyaksha/TNN
Mumbai-Having tested positive for HIV, Rohan (4) was brought up in Kamathipura -- one of Bombay's darkest brothel districts. His single mother, a com¬mercial sex worker, died of AIDS, leaving Rohan in the care of a brothel owner on Kamathipura's 13th street.
“He was week and lying on a plain sheet outside the boundaries of the brothel room,” said Elan Govalan, A social worker with Bombay Teen Challenge, a voluntary organization which works in the streets of Mumbai's largest red light area. “Rohan had an enlarged tummy and was bleeding from both ears, “he added. When Rohan started falling sick frequently, the brothel owner didn't know what to do. Moreover, she was scared to handle him for fear of contracting AIDS, said the social worker.
In a Path breaking gesture, Rohan was rescued from the uncaring and discriminatory brothel and ensconced in the warm and welcoming shelter of home. “He was weak and malnourished when we first examined him,” said Physician Dr. Prashantha Saravade, who suspected that Rohan was suffering from abdominal tuberculosis. When tests at Wadia Hospital reconfirmed an HIV-positive status, Rohan was put on anti-retroviral therapy.
Today, Rohan gleefully mingles with other children in the room. For K K Devaraj, the caregiver at the shelter home, Rohan is one of his many children. “Children are innocent, and segregation is only a notion of the adult mind,” said Devaraj, whose extended family includes three of his own children, and 55 others.
“I exercised my citizen's rights and adopted him, as I could not see infants languishing without anyone to look after,” adds Devaraj who took over Rohan's custody with consent of the brothel owner in April.
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