Life Skills Education Toolkit for Orphans and Vulnerable Children in India

The Life Skills Education (LSE) Toolkit was developed to address the risk of HIV for vulnerable children and children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. A variety of programs for children from diverse settings were involved in the creation of the Toolkit. These included programs that worked with children living in shelter homes, the streets, communities, and urban and rural red light areas. Children involved included those living with parents with HIV or orphaned by AIDS, children of sex workers, and those from marginalized communities or migrant populations. This LSE Toolkit takes a child participatory approach and deals with the "whole child"—feelings, beliefs, development needs—and equips children with life skills required to make safe choices and lead healthy lifestyles. This toolkit is unique in aiming to develop essential life skills to manage and cope with risk situations in HIV/AIDS and to cope with difficult circumstances related to care and support including loss. The child friendly participatory approach uses active learning methods including games, role plays, debates, brainstorming, drama, story telling, group learning, case studies, and poster making.