Aasra Campaign Info

AASRA stands for Advocacy for Alternatives, Sexuality, Reproductive health & AIDS. We are advocates for a better India, World and our purpose is to look for practical and simple alternatives, with inspiration from Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Aurobindo. We believe that information and training are the two most powerful tools of development, and we try to make this available to as many people as possible. Our strength is drawn from the support of ordinary people. Ordinary people, when united, can do extra-ordinary things. CHILD PROTECTION CAMPAIGN: the objective is to make our local areas as childfriendly as possible. This means looking at issues of domestic violence and violence outside the home. We must recognise physical and mental violence happening within the school system and empower teachers and parents to address this. We understand that every child has the right to joyful education, play and recreation as well as the right to express herself/himself. Every child has the right to protection against infection be it malaria, polio or HIV/AIDS. We hold workshops and training sessions on child abuse/ child sexual abuse with teachers, parents, other professionals, and young people. We train youth to become peer educators on issues of domestic violence, peer violence, health, joyful learning, HIV/AIDS within their own local communities. With the help of local community, we are running the AASRA HOUSE OF CHILDREN, which is a safe space for children. Several activities take place here such as non-formal education, creative activity for children 8 to 16; reading room etc. We also support poor children by getting sponsors for their school education. CAMPAIGN AGAINST HIV/AIDS : AASRA conducts workshops with people of all ages, [especially those between 16 and 30] on HIV/AIDS awareness and management; as well as family life education. We also conduct training for counsellors in association with other organisations like Holy Family Hospital. We have a postal counselling service for questions on gender, sexuality, sexually transmitted infections, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS related questions. Our postal counselling address is AASRA, GPO Box 68, Patna 800 001. Telephone and face to face counselling is also available. All counselling is confidential. Our AASRA YUVA MANCH performs street plays and uses group media to highlight issues and encourage discussion on a variety of topics. CAMPAIGN FOR PEACE AND NON-VIOLENCE: We recognise that one of the main roots of violence is the corruption that has seeped into public and personal life. Our members try to adopt a non-violent stance against corruption by persuasion. Another cause for corruption is lack of information. We try to devise low cost ways and means to inform people about government schemes and procedures that directly affect their lives.