Working in Mumbai was very challenging. I worked with HIV/AIDS aftercare for the poorest of poor. Looking at the living conditions brought tears to my eyes. One evening, we were on a home visit.

Walking for more than 45 minutes, the passage was small and dirty. There was a huge pile of garbage-a couple of dogs and pigs were near it. A few small children were playing on the top of a mountain of garbage.

With lot of struggle and difficulties, I managed to start vocational training for children infected with HIV. I have worked to create a platform for them so that they can perform and display their talents. Thus helping in inclusion and fight discrimination and stigma.

After much difficulty, we were able to establish vocational training. Courses were offered for girls training to be beauticians, tailors and cooks, along with simple courses for boys in cycle repairing, tailoring, and electrical basics. Many men and boys were given counseling on de-addiction. The population was provided with HIV counseling and importance of condom use.

One of the most affected povertystricken groups is children with special needs are also terribly affected by the poverty since they cannot take care of themselves. They either die by roadside or you can find them in a government orphanage. I have introduced routines of exercise and meditation (as of marital arts) to the around 30 special needs children living in orphanages. The changes are very impressive. As a second-Dan black belt in martial arts, I have many years of experience teaching children martial arts. It has been very rewarding teaching deaf and mute children who went on to win tournaments.That itself is a very big achievement and you can analyze the hidden power of this training. The changes that we saw while teaching the orphanage residents are very encouraging. The conditions of residents at government orphanages are miserable, no water, no electricity, dirty torn unwashed clothes, beddings are stinking and you can see dirt and fecal matter all over the place. The food is not up to the mark. All the residents are malnourished, medication is not on time and above all, the caretakers were abusive to the children. It is very difficult to survive in these conditions.

A lot of hard work is involved and improving the standards is not an overnight task. The exercises and meditation helped them a lot with regular sessions of game therapy, water therapy and dance. Changes were seen in the areas of concentration, body balance, stamina, and togetherness, lowering of aggression, eye-hand coordination and more. Psychological changes seen in them are very encouraging and presently I am doing research to investigate how this training methodology may help to assist with their rehabilitation and integration into the workforce and society.

Anand Koti is a graduate in Industrial Psychology (H), PG in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management, PG in Hospital and Health Management (H), Foundation course; Educating Children with Special Need Children. He is a 2nd Dan Black belt in Karate.