The disease manifests itself by reducing the human body’s resistance to various infections & the ability to combat malignancies & other disorders of cellular functions by paralyzing the body’s immune system. As a result, infections that are normally mild & rather harmless in normal individuals can turn fatal in a person affected by AIDS. Patients can also develop cancers as mutant cells that are normally destroyed at their inception by the immune system are now free to proliferate unchecked. Even though there are several drugs that have been developed to check the multiplication of HIV inside the body, yet there has been no proof till date that the virus can be completely eliminated from the body by these drugs. There is also no vaccine that has been approved till now for the prevention of HIV infection. So prevention is the only way to avoid infection by HIV.

How HIV can enter the body:

• Through transfusions of blood & blood products contaminated with HIV.
• Through cuts & pricks by needles & other sharp objects that have been used on HIV infected patients. Health care professionals are particularly at risk from this.
• Sharing needles for intravenous drug abuse.
• From an HIV infected mother to her child.
• Contact of broken skin with HIV infected blood, placenta & other body fluids.
• Unprotected sexual contact, both heterosexual & homosexual.

HIV is not spread through:

• Kissing, touching, hugging, shaking hands or sharing food with an HIV infected person.
• Coughing or sneezing.

Thus there is no reason to isolate or avoid a person infected with HIV. The greater the taboo associated with the disease, the more likely is an affected person to conceal his/her disease & not seek treatment, thereby endangering himself/herself as well as others in the society.

How to determine if you have been infected by HIV?

As mentioned before, people who carry HIV in their blood may not show any signs & symptoms at the beginning of the infection. If you suspect that you are at risk from any of the above modes of transmission of the virus, then you should approach a testing centre near you, known as VCTC in India. The identity of the individual is kept confidential & in case HIV is detected in the blood, the affected person is also referred for anti retroviral drug treatment from suitable institutions. It is particularly essential for all pregnant women to get themselves tested early in their pregnancy because with proper treatment it is possible to prevent the transmission of the virus to her baby

If you have any of the following symptoms then you must get yourself tested at a VCTC center:

• Very high fever (over 103″) that last for more than three to five days
• Prolonged cough with expectoration (for several weeks).
• Purplish blotches on the skin. (not due to any chemicals or other known causes)
• Sores and infections that persist even after medical treatment.
• Feeling tired or weak over many weeks without any cause.
• Swollen lymph nodes in at least two sites of the body.
• Rapid, unexplained weight loss (10 lbs or more)
• Painful or thick whitish patch in the mouth, or rectum with no apparent cause.
• Repeated colds, flues, or flu like symptoms that last for days at a time and recur frequently.
• Frequent diarrhea that has no apparent cause.

Remember, it is possible to keep the virus under control & lead a normal & healthy life if you are detected & treated early, but in late stages the disease may prove to be fatal.

How to prevent spread of HIV:

• Insist on fresh needles & blades which come in sterilized packs, every time you need an injection or any medical or surgical procedure.
• Use a condom during sexual intercourse. If there is any slipping or breakage then immediately contact the nearest VCTC center.
• Pregnant mothers should volunteer to get themselves tested for HIV before deliver to avoid endangering her baby & also the personnel assisting her delivery.
• Do not share needles or any sharp object that can penetrate your skin & come in contact with your bloodstream.
• Couples getting married should ideally get themselves tested for HIV before the wedding.
• At any suspicion of exposure, get yourself tested. It is safe & easy & might just save your life & those of your loved ones as well.

Remember, AIDS is not a curse & all the superstitions surrounding this disease only makes it easier for the virus to thrive & spread through the community. So let us all come forward & work towards eliminating this deadly disease. Only by combined effort & awareness we can achieve this goal of an AIDS free world.

It was a humid evening of September 2005. A team member of HIVE, while walking down S.P.Mukherjee road spotted an adolescent girl lying on the street, writhing in abdominal pain. As she lay there, people passing by would pause momentarily; some would strike a conversation while others would just move on. Our staff immediately informed the emergency response unit at HIVE, and within a few minutes, the team took her to the emergency ward at M.R.Bangur Hospital.

On the way to the hospital, in an attempt to communicate with the patient, the team realized that she suffered from speaking disabilities and also appeared to be mentally challenged. The doctors examined her, prescribed some medicines and informed the team that she was five months pregnant.

The scenario changed all of a sudden. The hospital refused to admit her. There was no formal guardian of the patient, to whom the team could hand over her responsibility. So HIVE decided to admit her in a private nursing home. As the counselor in the team, started to interact with her, she faintly muttered her name – Gayatri. She was only 16 years of age and had no recollection of how she arrived at Kolkata form Bihar. Young Gayatri- with speaking and mental disabilities had been brutally raped in the city.

It was the most difficult moment for the team to make Gayatri realize that she was indeed carrying a baby. After her pregnancy related blood tests were done, the report was shocking as Gayatri was detected HIV positive. The nursing home according to their policies decided not to keep her admitted any further. So, the search for a safe shelter for Gayatri began and in a few days, HIVE was able to place her in Mother Teresa’s Home.

At her new home, Gayatri was very well taken care of and within a few months, she gave birth to a beautiful boy child. It was February 2006. Gayatri was still recovering from her post natal complications when she suffered from high fever. Unfortunately in two weeks time, she passed away. Another alarming news was waiting to be heard. The baby boy was detected as HIV positive. Even before this little boy learnt to toddle, his fate was sealed. Lying on the bed of Mother Teresa’s home for infants – probably he is still searching for the loving touch of his parents.

Her ordeal ended when a few local residents noticed her lying almost still early on Wednesday morning, the sheets of cloth having come off, exposing her wounds. The thin saree wrapped around her had come off. Led by a local shop-owner, they informed the Tollygunge police station and an NGO. Members of the NGO rushed to the spot and moved her to the Chittaranjan National Medical College Hospital, where her condition is stated to be serious.

“She was extremely weak and was barely being able to speak. She could only mumble a few words, from which we could gather that she had been left at the bridge by her neighbours at Taldi in South 24-Parganas. Last month, she suffered burns while lighting a lamp at her home. But the woman was not treated. On Monday night, she was brought to Kolkata in a car and left on the bridge that remains almost deserted at night,” said Nitai Mukherjee of the NGO.

Police suspect that Sandhya is mentally challenged and doesn’t have a family. She might have been left on the road in the hope that she would be rescued and taken to hospital.

For a day and a half, Sandhya went without food and water. A tube of an anti-burn cream and some medicines were found lying beside her. “There’s no shop or settlement in the immediate vicinity, so few noticed her. Also, she was wrapped from head to toe with hardly any part of her body visible. Last night, she might have tried to move, which displaced the sheets and exposed her wounds. It is clear that she has not received any treatment,” said Babu Saha, a local shopowner.

It was he who informed others in the area and sought help from a local police outpost.

Initially, Sandhya was taken to M R Bangur Hospital, where she received primary treatment. But she couldn’t be admitted there, since the burns ward had no bed available.

“We then took her to CNMCH, where a bed was fortunately vacant. But doctors are not very optimistic about her chances of survival. Her wounds have got infected without treatment. Her exposure to the dirt and dust of the pavement has made things even worse. She is also suffering from acute dehydration. We are keeping our fingers crossed,” said Mukherjee.

Police said a neighbour had brought Sandhya to Kolkata for treatment. But he dumped her on the pavement and fled. “We came to know about it from an NGO and helped them move her to hospital,” said an official of the Tollygunge police station. Sandhya is probably a widow and might have been deserted by her family in Taldi, said police.

Read the original post here

As the jeep went closer to the sole pedestrian on the waterlogged street, the cops realised that it was a young girl. Without wasting any time, they brought her to Shakespeare Sarani police station.

“She was totally drenched and had no clue about where she was coming from or where she was headed. She looked traumatised,” said Hiren Das, the officer-in-charge of Shakespeare Sarani thana.

The police station cannot be the safest of places for a traumatised teenager. So, the cops started looking for a haven for the girl, who after repeated interrogation, revealed her name — Maina.

But finding a safe place turned out to be a difficult task, as all the government and private helplines for destitute children kept on ringing.

When the cops had lost all hope, Nitai Mukherjee responded to the distress call.

“It was around 1.30am when I got to know about the 16 year-old girl. I took out the ambulance and reached the spot with a female colleague,” recounted Mukherjee, executive director, HIVe India, an NGO funded by Hope Foundation, Ireland.

Mukherjee reached the police station by 2.30am. The formalities were completed in an hour’s time and Maina was taken to a home, run by Hope Foundation near Triangular Park, on Rashbehari Avenue.

“A doctor examined her in the morning and gave her medicines. She has slept through the day. She is better, but still looks traumatised,” said the 38-year-old Good Samaritan.

His prompt response came as a relief to the cops, but rescuing people in distress is all in a day’s — and even night’s — work for Mukherjee.

On Tuesday, when most parts of Calcutta was submerged and most citizens stayed indoors, Mukherjee and his team spent the day responding to four such emergencies.

“We rescued three elderly women from the waterlogged streets on Tuesday. Their condition was critical and all of them are in hospital. We will arrange for some accommodation for these people once they are released,” said Mukherjee.

Ranibala Das (name changed on request) disappeared from her house in New Alipore around 1 pm. Later, she was found walking “dangerously” along the railway tracks at Ballygunge station.

“Some people dragged her away from the tracks and contacted us,” said Nitaidas Mukherjee, executive director of HIVE India, an NGO.

“She was looking dazed, but managed to give us some clues about her family. We took help from police to locate her home and reunite her with her sons,” he added.

“She seemed to be suffering from some mental disturbances. Our probe revealed that she took a train from New Alipore and reached Ballygunge,” said a police officer.

Ranibala lives with her four sons and their families. “She is suffering from various geriatric illnesses,” said Rabin, one of the sons.

Nitai Das Mukherjee began playing the Good Samaritan when he was 11 years old. Twenty-seven years later, he leads an organisation known for its selfless service.

Sharmi Adhikary

KOLKATA NEWS LINE – INDIAN EXPRESS  COVERAGE: “Make sure she takes ample rest. You do the cooking today. And don’t you beat her up in a drunk state.”  Broken pieces of a one-sided conversation floated through the faint telephone signal. Nitai Das Mukherjee was in the midst of an emergency rescue mission while we tried to extract an appointment with him.

“Difficult,” he said. “I have to take this lady, living under inhuman conditions, to the hospital tomorrow.” However, after much cajoling he relented to a one-hour tete-a-tete, albeit with a note of caution. “I am famous for missing appointments. Do bear with me if I have to rush out on a emergency,” says Nitai-da.

The next day Nitaida missed the appointment. After an irritating half hour wait, Nitaida rushed into the room apologising for the delay, “Sorry. But this blind boy got robbed. We had to rush to the spot and send him home safely,” he said.
But the wait was worth it. Recounting anecdotes 38-year-old Nitai Das Mukherjee proved to be unassumingly modest. “Everyone does work. I may have formed our organisation called HIVe India but my whole team work their hearts out for bettering the lives of the underpriviledged,” he said.

The first time he did a good deed, Nitaida was in standard five. “We had gone to play football. Two ill-clad boys were lying on the streets. We began our game but my mind was fixed on the sorry sight. After some time I left the game and went over to the boys. They were running a high temperature,” recalls Nitaida.

“My friends and I collected a paltry Rs 4.75 and bought the boys some medicine. That was my first brush with social work. After that whenever I used to see anything untoward on the streets I ran and told my father. He used to arrange for the help. Hence the seeds of social work were rooted,” says Nitaida.

After spending some years helping the poor and the homeless on the Kolkata streets who battle gross illness, infection and death, Nitai-da formed his NGO, HIVe India, six years back. “Initially we had thought about working with those afflicted with HIV. But then we added the e which stands for education, eradication of illnesses, emergency and empowerment. Ours is a 30 member team and all the credit goes to them,” says Nitai-da, showing us the pictures of some vagrants rehabilitated by HIVe India.

Hope Foundation supports the endeavours of HIVe India and donations also pour in from well wishers. Nitai-da and his team are into a host of activities. “There are programmes where we teach the street children. We provide medical aid to any person lying on the streets in a pitiable condition. There are people who have lost their mental balance and need immediate care and compassion. Then there are trafficked girls yearning to go home. Our teams take rounds of the city streets night long to come across any body who might need help,” says Nitai-da.

Nitai-da was inspired by Swami Vivekananda and Netaji. “But what touched me most was that a lady who did even belong to this place poured her heart out for the poor residing in Kolkata. Mother Teresa’s body of work was a big influence for me,” says Nitai-da.
“The street and slum population is gargantuan in Kolkata, so also are the emergencies relating to them. Even though we initially concentrated on HIV related work, our field of activities has expanded. Now we even go ahead to rescue those affected by major disasters. Our motto is that no person should die without getting any care. Every person merits a respectable death. We however, get ample help from government hospitals and the Kolkata Police,” Nitai-da says. “I have no intention to boast. But I would consider our job well done if others are inspired to do as much. We just want to prove that where there is a will there is a way. We can make a big difference even with meagre resources. There is no compassion in this world. Rather there is a need to tap that feeling in people. If responsibilities are handled a bit more passionately then the world will become a better place to reside in,” says the do-gooder with a shy and philosophical air.

The phone rings and Nitaida has to rush out to a woman lying abandoned on the streets, bitten mercilessly by big red ants. Without holding back the good samaritan back we wish him all the luck.

Over the last couple of years, she was not keeping well. She had been treated by eminent physicians but none of them were able to detect the root cause of her illness. Finally, she was suggested by a doctor to undergo Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) for HIV. She never knew what VCT meant. Her husband, manager of a nationalized bank, sensed something could have gone wrong and decided to undertake the test. Unfortunately, Mrs Chowdhury was detected positive. She was completely shattered and too depressed to carry out her normal activities in life. Her husband took her to a psychiatrist who after initial counseling referred her to HIVE. After an initial telephonic discussion with our medical officer she was brought to our outdoor treatment center, one afternoon.

After initial situational analysis, our doctor referred her to the counselor to assess her psychological status. She was hardly able to control herself and would often break down into tears. In order to confirm the diagnosis, it was decided to repeat the test in another laboratory. Unfortunately, the test once again confirmed the previous diagnosis.

HIVE continued to provide the post counseling services. But nothing could alter her mindset. Though her husband was very supportive, she was not responding to counseling at all. The test result came as a terrible shock to her and she could not comprehend how or when it might have happened. The fear of discrimination and ostracization, feeling of shame and guilt had enveloped her completely. She tried to peep into the past trying to explain where the things had gone wrong. For an individual without any risk behavior, the only possible route of infection which came to her mind was the transfusion of two units of blood 8 years ago, during her gall bladder surgery, as she was suffering from anemia.

The next phase of the story is really traumatic. Mrs. Chowdhury started suffering from self imposed stigma and guilt. She withdrew herself from the outside world and cut off her connection with the outside world. She stopped interacting with family, neighbors, relatives – with the fear in mind, that if they come to know about her status, they will all be looking down on her and will shun her. Her greatest fear was regarding her son. She was petrified to think of how her son’s outlook towards her may have changed. On one hand she started thinking that he would also start looking down on her and even believed that he might commit suicide. She also feared that he might be thrown away from his school and his friends will also discard him.

With this level of trauma, she even tried to poison her beloved son – by giving him a cup of tea – with a high concentration of sedatives. Her husband at the right moment noticed the act and some how managed to save his life. The very next morning suffering from a sense of extreme guilt and depression, she tried to set herself on fire. This time also her husband came to her rescue.

Shrouded with the feeling that situation is getting worse by the day, her husband brought her to HIVE’s outdoor treatment center for counseling a couple of times. Each time she would improve a bit but after a few days interval she would again go back to the same situation. Slowly this was developing into an obsessive compulsive disorder, where she started believing that she might have already transferred the infection to her husband and son al. She felt that she was a curse in their life. Her husband in order to clear her of this notion got himself tested during the last visit to HIVE clinic. The doctor and the counselor interacted with her for quite a long period. They assured her and gave her all the information on how to lead a normal life even with the infection. At that time, she seemed a bit convinced.

On the morning of 5th May 2006, we received one of the saddest news that Mrs. Chowdhury had committed suicide on the 3rd evening by hanging herself at home. Though everybody was present in the house at that time nobody came to know of this until she died. The depression, sense of guilt, the fear of infection transmission to her son and trauma of being vilified and discriminated had taken a toll on her psychologically and she left silently for unknown in order that her son and husband can live a life free of this curse.

The real identities of all individuals have been kept confidential.

]]> http://hiveindia.org/2006/05/mrs-chowdhary/feed/ 0 http://hiveindia.org/2006/01/railway-squatters/ http://hiveindia.org/2006/01/railway-squatters/#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2006 12:17:08 +0000 HIVE India http://hiveindia.org/?p=171 Kolkata News Line – Indian Express Coverage: It takes a trek through an unheard-of Nonadanga on the southeastern fringes of the city on a chilly January night to realise the doublespeak of the ruling Left Front coalition. And it takes an uneasy juxtaposition of Anil Biswas’s rhetoric and that camp’s silent wailing to unearth the real import of that doublespeak.

As the CPI(M) state committee today protested against the Kalinganagar police firing that killed 14 tribals in Orissa, and the party’s state secretary, Anil Biswas, demanded ‘‘proper rehabilitation’’ of the displaced tribals, Newsline took a walk through the alleys of Nonadanga to look at the ‘‘pro-poor’’ LF government’s resettlement project.

Situated 12 km from the city centre in south-east Kolkata, Nonadanga ‘‘houses’’ the Ballygunge Tollygunge Rail Colony settlement. It’s a place where the residents — 2,000 or so squatters evicted from Railways’ land near Rabindra Sarovar Lake — have to walk for miles to access a medicine shop or the main road.

Their only shelter against the January chill are thin polythene tents. Half-an-hour’s walk from the nearest bus stop on the outskirts of the city, the shrill cry of a 10-month-old infant is the only direction to the camp.

In an 8×10 feet tent, Madhuri Pal lies awake, like every night, taking care of her shivering daughter. The minimum temperature recorded on Thursday was 11.8 degrees Celsius, and the condensed mist dripped from the polythene tent as Madhuri tried to save her tattered bedding and blanket.

‘‘She can’t sleep in this cold winter,’’ Madhuri said, pointing to her daughter. ‘‘I really don’t know how long we can survive like this.’’
Madhuri had decided not to attend Friday’s mammoth rally in the heart of Kolkata, addressed by CPI(M) leaders Biman Bose and Anil Biswas, demanding justice for tribals displaced by a steel project at Orissa’s Kalinganagar.

She does not understand why the CPI(M) Politburo demands that the Orissa government and the Centre take immediate steps to rehabilitate the tribals, but are not bothered about the resettlement of squatters like her right under their noses.

‘‘This is what the government called proper rehabilitation — only one polythene sheet,’’ fumed Samar Bhowmick, another resident at Nonadanga. ‘‘Most of the males here are daily labourers and earn Rs 50 a day. It is impossible for us to build a home on our own.’’
The State Government has just provided 10 acres of land and two tube wells. There are about 278 tents, placed in horizontal and vertical lines with an open-air kitchen in which a deep hole on the ground serves as a hearth.

Every night, a few people fall ill and have to be aken to a hospital with the help of a local NGO. ‘‘Most of them are children or old people suffering from cold and bronchial troubles. What aggravates the health issue is lack of sanitation and clean bathing water,’’ said Nitaidas Mukherjee, assistant director of Hive India, an NGO working for the settlers.

Thirteen-year-old V. Kartik and friend Pandi were brought to Calcutta about a year ago from their remote village in Tamil Nadu by a neighbour, Rajangan.

The same benefactor stood accused of torturing the boys ? even burning them with hot iron rods ? when they failed to carry out some task or the other.

Kartik managed to escape a few days ago and seek shelter with Hope Calcutta Foundation, a voluntary organisation, before taking his tale of torment to Tollygunge police station on Wednesday.

Pandi was later rescued from the clutches of his alleged tormentor and brought to the police station.

But when Rajangan came to Tollygunge thana, he cried foul. ?We never tortured the boys and they are trying to frame me,? he told Metro.

He, however, could not explain away the burn marks on the bodies of both the boys.

After hearing out the boys and Rajangan, the police advised them to go to Charu Market police station and lodge a formal complaint there.

The place where the incident occurred falls under Charu Market, so please go there,? said a senior officer.

But en route to Charu Market, Rajangan allegedly slipped away and then could not be traced.

A complaint has been lodged with us and we are probing the case. It seems Rajangan has escaped, but we will find him,? said investigating officer of Charu Market police station, R. Pradhan.

At Charu Market police station, the two boys, residents of Budhamangalam village, under Kellavallavu police station in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, narrated how they had been brought to the city by Rajangan, who was from a neighbouring village.

Kartik said he and Pandi were severely beaten up by Rajangan and his wife. They were even singed with hot iron rods. ?They gave us food only once a day and if we asked for food at night, they abused and beat us,? sobbed Kartik.

Rajangan, a businessman dealing in South Indian food ingredients, resides in a one-room, rented apartment in Lake Gardens.

He promised to send me Rs 750 every month if I sent my son to assist him with his business,? said Valamalai, Kartik?s father, who reached the city on Wednesday.

We are poor farmers without any fixed income and so are compelled to send our children so far away,? he added.

After four months, Rajangan stopped sending money to Valamalai. ?We were worried. When we would call Rajangan, he would say that my son was fine but did not let him speak to us,? recounted Valamalai.

Overworked, bruised and burnt, Kartik finally fled Rajangan?s house on September 5. His friend was rescued on Wednesday.