ASHA Foundation provides the following counseling services:
1. Telephone counseling: The helpline numbers are 23543333 and 23542222, and are manned by trained counselors from 9-5 Monday to Friday. The AIDS helpline received around 4,00,000 calls . The manual helpline has received more than 26,000 calls so far.
2. Queries via Email: Our counselors respond to HIV/AIDS-related queries received on our email address ashafblr@yahoo.co.in. So far more than 1000 email queries have been answered.
3. Face-to-Face counseling: We provide pre- and post-test counseling, HIV testing, supportive counseling, crisis counseling, Follow up, counseling,counseling for ARV therapy, adherence counseling, counseling for PMTCT, and counseling for families of HIV positive individuals. So far around 8,500 counseling sessions have been conducted.
4. Awareness Programs with iVolunteers: The staff have trained volunteers from software companies who conduct awareness programs for vulnerable communities during their spare time. Over 25,000 people have been reached.
Global statistics revealed that 35% of those infected with HIV/AIDS were in the age group of 15-25 years. To address this concern, ASHA Foundation started the Adolescent Health Education Project in the year 2000.
ASHA Foundation has trained master trainers who, in turn, train teachers at three-day workshops. After the training, each teacher is given a teachers’ resource manual to teach the curriculum to students in the age group of 13-16 years. ASHA Foundation has developed its own resource manual titled Anmol Ashayein (Precious Hopes).
Mr. Sunil Dutt (famed actor & politician) inaugurated the AHE Project in the year 2000
The resource manual consists of thirty-five lessons divided into six units.
The first unit deals with the self and valuing oneself.
The second unit deals with friendships, both virtual and real, and role models from everyday life.
The third unit deals with infatuation and love, marriage, and sexual intimacy.
The fourth unit deals with HIV/AIDS, STDs, alcohol and drug abuse, smoking etc.
The fifth unit deals with life skills and behavioral choices.
The sixth unit deals with making mistakes, undoing bad choices and being a contributor to society.
The lessons are interactive, with lots of activities and energizers, and each lesson is followed by a period of peer time. Each unit also has a student workbook and a parent manual. Units one and two are taught in class seven, units three and four in class eight and units five and six in class nine.
So far, ASHA Foundation has trained 3380 teachers. Over 2,00,000 students in Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Nagpur and Shimla have completed the curriculum, and currently 50,000 students from around 450 institutions are doing the curriculum.
This project provides the following services:
1.The HIV/AIDS clinic was established in 1998 and provides free consultation and counseling services to HIV positive patients and their families and HIV-positive children. So far around 1300 HIV positive persons are registered at the clinic. Anti retroviral therapy is provided at free or at subsidized cost.
2.Focus on children:This program provides free medical care, free nutritional supplements and financial support for education of children of HIV positive parents. The Foundation also organizes annual picnic days and sports days for them. Many of our children have now reached adulthood and have completed their degrees, vocational training or professional degrees and are working to support their families.
3.Empowerment of women: HIV-infected and -affected women and widows are empowered at ASHA through education, vocational training, job placements, microcredit and formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs). ASHA Foundation also facilitates their access to government schemes such as widows’ pension and subsidised/free government housing.
The program includes
Thus far, 140 nurse-counselors from partner hospitals have been trained in HIV/AIDS and PMTCT issues, 1709 doctors and para-medical staff have been sensitized and the counselors in all these institutions have further sensitized 20,000 people in the community including community health workers.
Since 2003, around 2,00,000 pregnant mothers have been tested, almost 1000 have been found to be HIV positive and treated, and the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child has been reduced from 45% to 1.5 % in our cohort.
In the state of Karnataka, ASHA Foundation has started a psycho-social intervention for HIV-positive children (aged 10-16 years) along with Serious Funnetwork USA and YRG Care Foundation Chennai . CLHIV attend an annual five-day residential summer camp. This program has resulted in improved self-esteem, self -confidence, ART adherence, and social behavior of the children who have attended the camp so far.
Around 500 HIV positive children have attended our camps so far, 100 CLHIV above the age of 18 years have undergone leadership in training (LIT) programs at ASHA Foundation. The LIT program trains older adolescents in leadership skills, time management, problem solving, decision making, and increases their knowledge on positive living.
Around 200 volunteers from Bangalore colleges,have been trained. To assist in these camps and give three weeks of their time each year.
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