The kids

I've spent the last week consumed by these children, their stories and their futures. They are dealing with incredibly complicated issues, yet their daily lives seem surprisingly simple. One cold, one fever is enough to let the disease take their lives away, yet they live each day with fervent passion for the next. These kids endure more obstacles in a week than most experience in a lifetime.

This project has forced to me to stop and ask myself, "Why do I want to spend my time, emotional and physical energy documenting the struggles of others? Why do I feel the need to tell these stories? Am I really getting a degree in this?" I've been forced to stop and reexamine my intentions, my purpose over and over again. And I think I've got it.

It could have just as easily been me born into an uncaring family with an incurable disease that would eventually end my life. No one decides what kind of life they are born into. These kids do the absolute best with what they have been born into, and I see no other option but to do the best with what I have been born into; eyes to see and ears to hear the stories of others. Yet, these stories are also my story because we are all human, and this is the story of humanity. The struggle of mankind is universal.

Enough about me. Here's to the kids.





Anitha, sits on the floor of the common room in the children's center as everyone crowds around to talk about their first day at school. Anitha's mother was admitted to the adult ward after her father died. Christopher, a Freedom employee, took a promise from Anitha's mother that her two HIV positive children (the girls, Anitha and Anu were positive, their three brothers were negative) would be taken care of. After their mother died, Freedom Foundation opened its doors to the two year old girls, the first of many children who would call the center their home.



Varsha, 14, gets her hair braided by Mangala Gowri, a caretaker at the center. Varsha struggles with issues of security, often comparing herself, her skin color and her appearance with the other girls. Maduri, a caretaker and Freedom employee who is like a mother to the children, says that she needs a lot of assurance from friends. The friends get frustrated with her desire for assurance, and Varsha blames herself, thinking that she's not "good enough".



Raju, 13, sits on a bed in the boys dormitory at the center. Raju's mother was a beggar, could not take care of him, and put him in a hostel. He switched hostels a few times, then came to Freedom Foundation. The first line Anti-Retroviral (ARV) treatments are no longer working for Raju, so they moved him to the second line medication, which is more than three times the price of the first line ARV treatment. Raju was also incredibly fun and rambunctious and was always jumping onto the backs of the older boys.



Before getting ready for bed, the children get their cuts and scrapes examined by Maduri. Maduri and the other caretakers teach the kids how to avoid situations where they might get cut as well as what to do when it does happen.



Anitha laughs as she cleans herself up after an afternoon spent in the playground at Freedom Foundation. In 2000, Anitha's sister Anu died. After her death, Maduri says it was hard on all of the children, not just Anitha, because they are essentially all family.



Annappa, 14, moans in pain as Mangala puts a cold towel on his head to calm a fever. The next day, Annappa was admitted to the mens ward (next door to the childrens center), where he was put on an IV and his condition watched closely. The third day, he was on his feet again. According to Maduri, Annappa has had the most health problems of all the kids, including recurrent tuberculosis and respiratory infections.



Each child has to take their prescribed medicines twice a day, without fail. The blue medicine is the ARV treatment, the orange and black is a multivitamin, and the white is paracetamol, for fever.



Prassamma, 16, pours water into Raju's mouth to gulp down the medicine.



Counselor Shashidhar K.J. tries to maintain order while passing out school supplies on the evening before the first day of the new term. The air was chaotic as the kids grabbed for notebooks, pencils, markers, erasers and rulers before the supply ran out. In the end, there was plenty for everyone.



Anitha rides on the "bus" to the first day of the new term at school. The center owns an ambulance that doubles as the children's transportation to and from school. The caretakers and staff at Freedom Foundation do their best to make sure that the kids have an equal opportunity to get a good education and prepare for their futures.



The HIV/AIDS center has received a notice of eviction, stating that they have to be out of the property by the end of September. The city of Bangalore is constantly sprawling, so the area around the center that was once open fields is now littered with new apartments and housing developments. As the horizon becomes obscured, the staff at Freedom Foundation continue to search for a new location that they can make their permanent home for the patients and children. The alternative is unthinkable; the kids would have no where to go but the streets.