A 'royal' adoption in Gujarat

NEW DELHI, FEB. 21. Though she has a title and claims close lineage to the Grimaldi royal family of Monaco, Countess Albina Du Boisrouvray prefers to be known for the humanitarian causes she espouses. The loss of her 24-year-old son, a rescue helicopter pilot, in a crash in 1986, moved the Countess to dissolve a large chunk of her wealth and establish a worldwide humanitarian organisation in his name - Francois Xavier Bagnoud (FXB).

The FXB has mobilised worldwide initiatives in paediatric AIDS and health and human rights. In the city recently for the launch of FXB India Society, the Countess has now turned her attention to Gujarat and hopes to adopt a village ``where we feel there is the greatest need to address our skills.''

By adopting a village, she means rebuilding houses, rehabilitating orphans and reuniting children with their parents.

The Gujarat visit came spontaneously. ``I don't plan things in advance. I go to a place, assess the needs, the people, look around for trustworthy people and then start work there,'' she says.

The FXB team proposes to visit two places, about a couple of hours drive from Bhuj. ``I want to see for myself where it is necessary to work. There's no point in everyone rushing to the same place,'' according to her.

Countess Albina also plans to visit Rajasthan to assess the impact of FXB's ongoing programmes started two years ago. The main focus of the Switzerland-based NGO is AIDS orphans. Despite denials, the fact is that India has all the roads of AIDS transmission as those in Africa where the situation is critical today, she says. While praising the National AIDS Control Organisation's response to the situation, she feels blocks still remain at many levels.

``It's a denial of the epidemic and a denial of the real reasons of how it spreads so quickly,'' she observes. In

Rajasthan, the organisation wants to work closely with migrant workers as they return invariably home during festivals. FXB figures, she claims, show higher rates of AIDS transmission during this season - October to March - than during the other seasons of the year. ``Men who go to work in Mumbai get infected, return home and infect their wives. We want to work with these workers at both ends, their workplace in the city and in their villages,'' she says.

- UNI

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