“Anu P.,” a 6-year-old in Maharashtra, was sent home from kindergarten in 2003 by her teacher, who instructed Anu’s older sister to tell her “please not to come again to the school.” Her grandfather, who had been caring for Anu and her siblings after their parents died of AIDS, explained, “The teacher didn’t allow her to come to school because she believes Anu is HIV-positive. I believe that other parents were talking amongst themselves, so the teacher said she shouldn’t come.” Her grandfather said he was afraid that if he protested, Anu’s older sister might be sent away from school as well. A nearby private doctor told Anu’s family not to bring the girl to his clinic “because if you do, other people won’t come.’” The reason the man gave, her uncle said, was because of HIV. Anu’s 66 year-old grandmother had been taking her on foot to the government hospital, but the distance had become too far for her to walk, her grandfather explained.
“Sharmila A.,” age 10, was HIV-positive and had lost both of her parents to AIDS. She stopped going to school in the fourth grade. “When I went to school, I sat separately from the other children, in the last mat. I sat alone. The other children wanted to be with me, but the teacher would tell them not to play with me. She said, ‘This disease will spread to you also, so do not play with her,’” Sharmila said. When she developed tuberculosis, she began traveling some four to five hours to reach a government-run hospital for free medical care. However, the hospital in Tamil Nadu did not provide antiretroviral drugs, and her health did not improve. Sharmila died in January 2004.
“Kannammal P.” put her oldest daughter in an orphanage when she became unable to care for all of her children, she told us. Shortly thereafter, her husband was diagnosed with HIV. She went back to the orphanage and asked them for help. Instead, she said, “they asked the child to be tested, and then they wanted her to leave. . . . Despite pleading with the school authorities, they said, ‘Sorry, please find another place. We are not free to take her.’” Her daughter’s HIV test, she said, was negative.
