Eleven-year-old Ramya loves to paint. An introvert, it is hard to coax more than a few words from her. Put a paint brush in her hands and she does not hesitate to express herself on canvas. Hemanth, on the other hand, is outgoing and loves to make friends. The 12-year-old’s passion is dance. Play a Michael Jackson track and he will be moonwalking across the floor. He hopes to be a dancing heartthrob of the masses one day. Meanwhile, nine-year-old Pawan is a star gazer, with a deep fascination for the night sky. The prospective astronomer aims to one day escape gravity to land on another planet and make his country proud. Similarly, Pooja, an endearing 14-year-old, wants to become a teacher when she grows up and make a difference in people’s lives, while 11-year-old Venkatesh aspires to be a doctor. And then there are Sunny, Charles, Sunitha, Kiran and many more.
These are stories of normal children leading normal lives with hopes and dreams like any other youngster. What sets them apart is the presence of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Yes, you read it right, they are HIV positive. But, no, this is not a story about their struggle or survival. This is their story of hope and positivity. Which is where Camp Rainbow comes in. A fun endeavour catering to children with the virus, the annual residential and day camp is a carefully-structured, psycho-social intervention that builds positivity among children, helps recover their childhood, restore their hope and renew their sense of possibility. The camp brings together, not just activities and games; it also educates children on confident living and encourages them to pursue their dreams.
The camps, which are part of the Global Partnership Programme of Seriousfun Children’s Network in the US, are organised in Bengaluru by ASHA Foundation. Founder Dr. Glory Alexander says, “Many of the children are orphans, have single parents, or are from institutions and all of them are HIV positive. We want them to forget all that and have a good time at the camp. At the same time, we want to show them that we care for their welfare – we treat them with safety, love and respect and give them an opportunity to know more about HIV, learn life skills and team building, and give them a platform to exhibit their talents.”
Held at the spacious Visthar campus in Doddagubbi since 2014, the camp concluded its third edition recently. Dr. Glory adds: “Studies have shown that these camps improve their self-esteem, confidence, adherence to medication, responsibility towards themselves and improves their social behaviour.
The children take back good memories, a sense of self-worth and belonging.”
The camp is fun not just for the kids but also for the volunteers. Deepak Samuel, who has been helping out for the last two years, says his experience has been very good. “It is about creating lasting memories. Though we spend a few days with them, at the end of the camp, it is like we’ve been friends for ages. We learn so much from one another and when they return each year, seeing the joy on their faces, is an incomparable feeling.”
Camp Coordinator Saranya Lenin says the smiles on the youngsters’ faces and the joy they experience justifies the work she puts in. “Not just the children, but also the volunteers and camp staff grow to be better human beings. It makes me want to do more for these young people. Camp Rainbow is the place where we forget our worries, team up and make it the best days for the participants.”
She says though the children come from different social backgrounds, “They all share a similar illness. To remove the stigma and discrimination from their minds, we first have to treat them as normal children and accept them as they are. Loving them, respecting them and giving importance to their physical and emotional safety certainly brings a lot of change in their lives. Appreciating them and praising them in all the small ways we can also boosts their self-esteem, confidence and social responsibility.”
Saranya says, “At Camp Rainbow, apart from a range of quirky, creative and catchy chants and group shout-outs, one of our favourite is when we shout out: ‘Camp Rainbow, how do you feel?’And everyone shouts back, ‘We feel sooooo gooood!’ That is how we all feel working with these special children at the camp.”
