Saturday, Jan 12th 2008.
We took the college bus with 40 volunteers on an exposure programme to KNP + (Karnataka’s Network of People living with HIV and AIDS). It is a pioneer organisation in the field of education programmes on HIV and empowering the people who are HIV affected through skill training, etc. The visit was part of the exposure programme for volunteers in CSA called ‘Vikas’ (meaning development).
Ms. Asha, who is the general secretary of the network in Karnataka state, led the session, with disarming boldness. She also shared her personal testimony, which was very inspirational, with us. The end of the session also found volunteers asking various questions which helped further the students’ knowledge on the topic. Many student volunteers agreed that they learnt a thing or two more about HIV and AIDS and the need to spread awareness.
The visit was followed by a short discussion in the bus which handled topics like, their feelings after the visit, critique and understanding of the functioning of KNP+, what the role of students was, etc. The trend of having a short discussion on the bus is a recent one and has been found to be a an effective tool in sharing various perspectives on the vist and acquanting oneself further with the organisation.
The informative exposure programme concluded with coffee, back at the college kiosk!
