Keep a Child Alive

KCA Attends Clinton Global Initiative Meeting

At the Clinton Global Initiative Meeting in New York City this week, Keep a Child Alive is presenting our Commitment to expand our work further into India. Since our inception in 2003, Keep a Child Alive has focused on scaling up clinics and care centers for orphans and vulnerable children across Africa. In 2007, we began our outreach to India by funding an orphan care center in Chandrakal, Hyderabad. This experience brought to the forefront the emergency issue of safety for HIV+ women and children in the face of discrimination and destitution in India.

This week, KCA Co-Founders Alicia Keys and Leigh Blake will announce our commitment to care for the vulnerable women and children in India infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Our Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action – “Safe and Sound: Women, Children and HIV in India” – seeks to address the trauma of the AIDS pandemic in India, the cruel impact of the virus on the lives and futures of women, and the heartbreaking stories of abandoned HIV+ children and orphans. Over the next five years, Keep a Child Alive commits to establishing a series of safe-houses to protect HIV+ women and children, and children orphaned by AIDS.

The safe-house structure will foster an environment where vulnerable women and children can feel safe and supported with the medical treatment and care that they need, educational opportunities they would otherwise not have access to, and programs that will help them build skills they can use to sustain their daily lives. KCA will focus our efforts in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra State, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu where we will provide to those in the most desperate need of medical, nutritional and psycho-social support to fight the effects of HIV/AIDS.

And we’re not stopping there. KCA recognizes that the silence and discrimination that surrounds HIV in India are key drivers to the epidemic, and we are committed to breaking that silence in India with a second Commitment to Action through the Clinton Global Initiative. Joining forces with S.A.F.E. (Sponsored Arts for Education), Keep a Child Alive will develop and implement an innovative HIV awareness campaign to reduce the level of stigma against HIV in India. S.A.F.E. is a brilliant organization that uses theatre, combined with community activities and education, to deliver life-saving information about HIV/AIDS to the most under-served populations in Kenya. Keep a Child Alive has previously supported S.A.F.E.’s invaluable work in Kenya, and this commitment marks the joint effort of both organizations to expand our work into India. Together, we will utilize community based education and the powerful forces of public media to raise awareness about HIV through our Commitment to Action – “Breaking the Silence: De-Stigmatization of HIV in India.”

Be a part of KCA’s expansion into India. For more information on becoming a Funding Partner or Implementing Partner for KCA’s Commitments to Action, please email Jennifer Singleton at Jennifer@keepachildalive.org.

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