Jeeva Nivas is a newly established home in Pondicherry, India, for HIV positive children who are also AIDS orphans. The home is bursting with life and energy. As of the summer of 2008, twenty-one children--boys and girls, from age five to age sixteen--are residing there. Since the opening of the home in September 2006, Carol Collins, International Foundation for Hope President, has been living with the children and directing their daily activities. Carol is thrilled with the progress the children have made.

Nearly all of the children attend schools in the area - nine in a Catholic English medium school, four in a Catholic Tamil medium school, and three in Tamil medium government schools. One boy is in a carpentry apprenticeship program, and four children, who face health issues, are taught at home by two full-time teachers. The 2007 school year was the second year in school for a majority of the children. It was a year full of struggles, tears, and very small steps. In 2008, the children hit their stride, and they are making great progress in their classes (especially in English). More importantly, the children are making friends at school and experiencing the joys of life.

The children are willing to teach others about HIV and what it is like to live with this virus. In early January 2008, the children of Jeeva Nivas had a photography exhibit (their first!) at an art gallery in Pondicherry. The exhibit included black and white photographs that the children took over several months, and it included pictures of life in the ashram and the village in which Jeeva Nivas is located. During a two-week period, many people came to see the exhibit, including over one hundred sponsored children from the Sharana Social and Development Organization (a partner in educational sponsorships for children). Small groups of school children were invited to speak with the HIV positive children and to see the world through the eyes of an HIV positive child (the children found that they shared much in common!). Ending needless anxieties about HIV and AIDS is essential to ending harmful discrimination practices that permeate this part of the world.

Unfortunately, the atmosphere towards HIV positive adults and children in the village remains very unstable. Ignorance about disease transmission has created an environment of fear. From past experiences of rejection and discrimination, the children have learned to keep an important part of their life a secret from those outside the home, but inside Jeeva Nivas, they are fully embraced and loved.