Art Masters build a roof

Even as social activists, the Rajasthan Network for People Living with HIV and AIDS (RNP+) and human rights groups are fighting to ensure a roof over the heads of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, they have found support from leading artists. About a dozen painters, photographers and well-known sculptor Himmat Shah have donated works for an auction to raise funds for the cause.

The auction will be held in Jaipur tomorrow (December 10), which is Human Rights Day. Artists Jatin Das, Mannu Parekh, Ashish Poddar, Anoop Kamath, Ritu Kamath, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Thirthankar Biswas, Vijendra Sharma and Gopi Gajwani are among those who have contributed towards the auction. Acclaimed photographer Raghu Rai has donated two award-winning works, while young photographer and teacher of creative photography Nitin Rai has come up with a colourful cameo of sand dunes and the desert festival. Anoop Kamath and Ritu Kamath have donated four and three works respectively, which are part of a series. Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are being used to promote the auction and find buyers.

More than 150 HIV-positive children will take part in an on-the-spot painting competition judged by famous artists attending the auction. The 12 best paintings by the children will be used on calendars, greeting cards and diaries for sale to corporate houses, hospitals and pharma companies. Noel Mcpereira of Midwife Films has been meeting artists and seeking support for the fund-raising.

Children living in care homes run by RNP+ and its district-level networks in Jaipur, Jalore, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur and Chittorgarh have in the past too participated in art competitions at the district level. The best among them will compete at tomorrow's art carnival and the children are looking forward to it with excitement after practising hard. All of them are anxious to find a permanent home, as they currently find themselves shunted from one rented premise to another owing to their HIV-positive status. Attending school, braving all the discrimination they face day to day, the children derive great satisfaction from the fact that they too are contributing to the fund-raising drive.

Of the 23,647 PLHIV (people living with HIV) in Rajasthan, 2,000 are children who have registered for anti-retroviral therapy. Brijesh Dubey, founder and president of RNP+, used to be a pastor and school principal in Sawai Madhopur until he was diagnosed as HIV-positive. For over a decade now, his work has focused on the care and support of HIV-positive children, especially orphans.

He formed the RNP+ in 2002 and received funding from Rajasthan State AIDS Control Society, Indo Canadian HIV/AIDS Program (ICHAP) and FXB, an international donor. With aid from The Global Fund in 2007, he formed a network of Positive people in all 32 districts of the State.

It was at the district networks that he learnt of the problems faced by HIV/AIDs orphans and their struggle for existence. The first batch of three children aged five to 14 was brought under the care of the Jalore district-level network. Unfortunately, however, two of the children died and this disturbed him as well as galvanised him to speed up care and protection services. Today there are 29 Positive children at the Vatsalya Child Care Home in Jalore. The District Collector provided two buildings that serve as home and office. In 2009 the Jaipur Home was started. Currently there are 106 children in six care homes. A donor agency, Keep a Child Alive (KCA), supports the children in the Jaipur and Jalore homes.

On a visit to Jaipur, the KCA head wanted to provide better accommodation for the children, and a double-storeyed bungalow was rented in Hanuman Nagar. But within a week of moving in, the children were asked by police to vacate as residents of the colony objected to their presence. Intervention by the Collector, as well as the media, did not help. “It's a class issue,” says Dubey. The children are insecure, having been forced to move three homes in two years.

Though the homes in Jalore and Jaipur receive adequate international funding, the other four homes are dependent on local funds. The art carnival is an attempt to shore up these resources. Dr Shashi Sahai, head of the Department of Life Long Learning, Rajasthan University, has provided space at the University for the auction. The University will also provide food and lodging for the participating 150-plus Positive children.

“We are pinning our hopes on the art auction. Should there be sufficient buyers with deep pockets, we hope to buy land and build a permanent home for these children. They should not be kicked around like footballs,” says Dubey.

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