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What if the road is long and lonely It has direction doesn't it? |
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About Us History | Fact Sheet | Founders | Associates | Annual Report | History
A rented house in Bangalore and a vision, is all Ashok Rau and Karl Sequiera had when they started Freedom Foundation in 1992. Convinced that addiction is a mind altering disease which can be treated, they adopted a unique bio-psycho-socio model specific to the Indian context. This included the 12-step treatment programme of Alcoholic Anonymous. Their first patient was an Italian. Slowly, word spread around and people started trickling in.
In 1995, unable to accommodate the increasing flow of patients from all over India, they shifted to a chicken farm.
Karl and Ashok lived on the premises and did everything themselves -- from
cutting grass and doing masonry for the sheds to cooking and looking after patients.
They were different from other agencies. They were accessible and affordable.
An year later, the first tangible support came in the form of a 6-month financial aid -- the result of an individual initiative of a member of INODEP Asia, based in Netherlands.
But where there is an addict, can AIDS be far behind? During a rehabilitation programme, a patient tested HIV positive. He had consumed drugs using a syringe, the most common mode of contacting the deadly virus. Suddenly he had nowhere to go -- neither family nor hospital were willing to take him in. It was then that Freedom Foundation came up with the idea of a separate short stay care home for HIV positive people.
Providentially, Levi Strauss & Company came forward with seed money in the form of a one-time grant that could sustain them for an year. That was in 1996. Freedom Foundation then opened its Day Care Centre for the HIV positive in Hennur. It became the first of its kind in India.
In 1997, Levi Strauss once again granted aid in the form of a maintenance grant. Since then work has been in progress with help from the De-addiction Centre, donations from the individuals and periodic grants. Currently, there is a partial grant from the National Aids Control Organisation (NACO). However, the funds received are insufficient for running the Centre. But, still Freedom Foundation turns none from its doors. Because it has something else in abundance --- sheer faith and the will to serve.
But still, Freedom Foundation turns none from its doors. Because it has something else in abundance --- sheer faith and the will to serve
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