13 Mar 2009 | FXB India Releases Book, Hopes Alive: Surviving AIDS and Despair

FXB Releases Book, Hopes Alive: Surviving AIDS and Despair

In February, FXB India Suraksha published a book that narrates the true stories of children, mothers, grandmothers, and other caregivers struggling to overcome poverty and AIDS in India.  Titled Hopes Alive: Surviving AIDS and Despair, the book aims to raise public awareness of the impact the AIDS pandemic has on families and children, many of whom are orphans.

Showing their support, speakers at the book launches in Kolkata and Delhi included Nobel Prize Laureate Dr. Amartya Sen, the Hon’ble Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari, FXB Founder & President Albina du Boisrouvray, and the director general of India’s National AIDS Control Organization Sujata Rao.

"I’m concerned about AIDS-affected children across the globe. Their problem is indeed grave,” said Dr. Sen.

Authored by Patralekha Chatterjee and edited by Sharmila Abraham, the book describes the lives of AIDS-affected children in India in intimate, heartbreaking detail.  Some of the most tragic cases are the so-called “platform children” -  children living at railway stations who pick through garbage to survive.

The book serves as a call to action for governments and civil society to address the problems caused by AIDS and poverty.  Although the stories are set in India, the lessons can be applied globally.

Ms. Rao of NACO remarked, “We would like to thank FXB [India] Suraksha for having brought this whole issue out to us and for being at it. And we are very grateful to you for the work that is done by FXB [India] Suraksha.”

The Hon’ble Vice President of India Shri M. Hamid Ansari applauded FXB, saying, “The efforts of FXB India deserve full appreciation because of the specific focus on reaching out to children who are infected or become orphans as their parents are infected.”

To purchase the book, email info@fxbsuraksha.org.

Click here to read the official press release about Hopes Alive.