Kolkata: Café Positive, India’s first café run by HIV-positive teens have finally opened shop in Jodhpur Park, Kolkata. Run by 10-HIV positive people, the initiative is a one-of-its-kind in the country. It is backed by an NGO called Offer, that helps underprivileged children suffering from HIV/AIDS.
The 10 people who run the café are residents of a home for HIV-positive people. Their families abandoned them after they were declared HIV-positive during childhood.
The biggest hurdle for the NGO was to find a place for the café. It took six months to find a place in the city and then Indrajyoti Dasgupta, a member of the Rotary Club of Kolkata helped them with his garage in Jodhpur Pak to run the café.
There’s a lot of stigma in society that comes with this disease. Keeping all of that in mind, the staff has been trained accordingly to hygienically prepare the food; and there is a glass wall in the cafeteria that will give customers a clear view of the food being prepared.