The second Sunday in May is Mother’s Day in many countries. The feminist Ann Jarvis initiated it in the US in 1907 to honor her mother. But being a mom is a risk for many women all over the world.

Counsellors like Laxmipriya (left) have enabled several adolescent girls living in slums of Bhubaneswar to understand the merits of safe sex. (Copyright: Rakhi Ghosh\WFS)

Pooja Behara (name changed), 16, would probably have never realised that she was suffering from a sexually transmitted disease (STD) had Sabita Buta, a counsellor with a local non government organisation, not come into her cramped slum in Bhubaneswar, the state capital of Odisha, to talk to the adolescent children about HIV/AIDS and the importance of safe sex, sometime early last year.