Coimbatore student represents India at GenFest 2012

Aswathi R, a final-year, BTech biotechnology student of Bannari Amman  Institute of Technology, Sathyamangalam, Tamil Nadu, represented India’s social initiatives and youth involvement at the GenFest 2012 at Budapest that concluded yesterday.

Her inclination towards social initiatives began six years ago through an article on HIV/ AIDS. “The theme of this year’s workshop is ‘Building Bridges’ and aims to bridge gaps between individuals, groups or even nations,” explains Aswathi. The workshop featured 15,000 youths from over 180 countries. She has been working on a social awareness project on ‘Stigma eradication and resource mobilisation for HIV-affected children’ with Shanti Ashram, a Gandhian organisation in Coimbatore.

Initially, she visited nearly 12-13 private schools in the city to spread the word that even HIV-affected children have dreams like any other child.

“Around 99 per cent of Class IX-XII students were aware of its scientific implications. Yet they tend to ignore the HIV-affected children,” says Aswathi. She took three HIV-affected children with her and they shared their dreams with the students. “The students were moved to tears. Also, I never expected such an overwhelming response from them. I realised that many of these children have always wanted to help HIV patients but did not know how to do so,” she explains. 

“Shanti Ashram gave me an international platform to present my project. Earlier I did so at ‘Youth for Peace’, an international workshop,” she says. Aswathi is now working towards finding sponsors to fund the education of HIV-affected children. She also collects educational material, clothes, etc for them. “I would like to do my MS in stem cell technology,” she adds.