Date:01/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/01/stories/2007120153140300.htm

Other States - Orissa

He breaks the silence, takes positive initiative

Sib Kumar Das

— Photo: Lingaraj Panda

RAISING AWARENESS: A passer-by looks at the sand sculpture by Subala Maharana put up on the eve of World AIDS Day in Berhampur on Friday.

BERHAMPUR: HIV positive youths like Kuna (pseudonym) of most AIDS prone area of Orissa, Ganjam district, are now coming out of their cloistered life to save other youths from the HIV scourge.

This 28-year-old HIV afflicted youth of Chadheyapalli village near Aska now runs an information centre, ‘Pravasi Suchana Kendra’ for migratory workers of his area, who usually migrate to Surat in Gujarat in search of work. The HIV virus has made inroads to extreme rural pockets of Ganjam district through these migratory workers. The information centre run by Kuna keeps track of the migratory workers from his village who reach Surat in search of work, through links in Surat. He registers the names of migratory workers in his register and provides basic data about AIDS awareness and precautions against HIV infection. His information centre is part of the ‘Setu Project’ to save migrant workers from Gnajam district from HIV infection in Gujarat.

The new migrant workers take advice of Kuna seriously as he was working in Surat a few years ago. He had a family and a small child at home. He got infected by HIV in Surat through promiscuous relations and passed on the infection to his wife. But luckily his child was not infected. Along with HIV infection he had developed herpes on his whole body. Villagers had ostracised him. But with the intervention of activists of Aruna, an organisation working for rehabilitation of HIV positive persons in Ganjam district, he could get Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) which improved his physical condition. Later the villagers also accepted their fault and donations of fellow villagers and help of local panchayat helped him rebuild his life.

He decided to spearhead AIDS awareness program in his area. “I wanted no youth of my age should suffer like me and they had to take me seriously as I was a live example of life’s errors,” he said.

According to Loknath Mishra of Aruna, several more youths like Kuna, who were erstwhile migrant workers, are now active in AIDS awareness and rehabilitation work of HIV infected persons in the district.