Priyadarshini Seva Mandali

Main activities are:

• Providing children infected with HIV/AIDS with nutrition support: PSM works in co-operation with other NGOs in the vicinity to implement this program. They have so far reached out to over 100 children, and the impact of their work is seen when the CD4 cell count (a type of white blood cell that fights infection) for several children showed an increase. Those children are now able to attend school regularly. Apart from medicine and nutrition for the children, parents of Children Living with HIV/AIDS (CLHA) are counselled to help them overcome the stigma of the disease.
• Providing medical support for children infected with HIV/AIDS: Nearly 60 children from very poor families are provided with medical support while 25 children are given education support through this initiative.
• Running the Midday meal program for the elderly: PSM’s field staff alerts the organization to the difficulties faced by senior citizens in getting one square meal a day, and the Midday meal program provides around 50 elderly individuals a meal every day.
• Destitute senior citizen home: The home set up by the organization admits senior citizens and provides them with comprehensive medical, nutritional and psychological resources. They have a medical attendant on call and provide food and accommodation free of cost. PSM also conducts the final rites of citizens who breathe their last at the home if no one claims the body.
• Support of pregnant women affected by HIV/AIDS: PSM supports pregnant women infected or affected with HIV/AIDS by paying for the cost of the baby’s delivery in a hospital, and for their stay in PSM 10 days prior to, and post the delivery. During this period PSM arranges for their medical appointments and food, free of cost. They also supply the mother with clothes and baby food for six months.