| 1) | Discuss societal problems in India will colleagues at Tata Institute of Fundamental researc, Mumbai and Indian Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai and get their help in analysing them. | |
| 2) | Interact with NGO's working on HIV/AIDS and learn from them. The six I visited were Humsafar, Rotary/UNAIDS, Mumbai District Aids Society in Mumbai; The George Foundation, Bangalore; Y.R.G. Care, Chennai; and RBGM foundation, New Delhi. | |
| 3) | SCHOOLS. Lectures to school students on "HIV/AIDS" and on "WATER POLLUTION AND SHORTAGE" To Develop a curriculum on "Health, Hygiene, and Environment" for school teachers -- carry out a 5 day teacher training program on it in Chandigarh. | |
| 3) | INDUSTRIAL ASSOCIATIONS: Make owners and workers aware of HIV/AIDS and its impact on industry. Develop peer groups within workers. |
SCHOOLS:
(A) I am deeply convinced that long term sustainable and effective awareness on issues of health and environment has to begin in schools. For this I am continuing to develop a program for training teachers on a wide variety of issues on Health and Environment that includes HIV/AIDS. The first implementation of this 5 day program was carried out in Chandigarh during this trip. Teachers from 7 schools attended and the response was very good. The next instalment will be in October where the partnership between parents, teachers, principals, and students will be developed further. The outline of the course is given later in the description of the teacher training program held on Feb 7 - 11.
(B) My experience with giving HIV/AIDS lectures to school students is that in order to be successful we need to take into account the following: The message in schools has to be acceptable not only to students, but also to the teachers and the principal. Otherwise there will not be follow ups. My talks are a mix of information, morality, and patriotism and tailored by me on the spot to suit the needs of the situation as I read it. Also, I make an effort to involve the students during the presentation. This is done by asking them questions or their opinion on issues. Finally the question answers session at the end is essential and I believe they retained much more from that than from the talk. The format that works well is one hour for the presentation and one hour for questions.
THE SUMMARY OF THE MESSAGE OF TALK GIVEN IN SCHOOLS IS
| 1) | No risky Sex | |
| 2) | Avoid alcohol and drugs (impair judgement and may lead to risky sex) | |
| 3) | Dont cheat yourself or others | |
| 4) | Help and educate others | |
| 5) | Work hard to make India proud |
INDUSTRIES: My recommendations for follow up by the Industry were
| 1) | Develop peer groups within the organization that carry the message to other workers, friends, relatives, and associates. Provide regular training to them and an evaluation of their work. Provide financial incentives to these workers as that helps keep their interest. | |
| 2) | Regular awareness lectures on STD's, hygiene, and HIV/AIDS. Teaching of correct use of condoms to prevent STD's. | |
| 3) | Each industry should contract with a good STD and TB clinic for early detection and treatment for the worker and family. Actually full family medicine clinics will be more effective in bringing the workers and their family in -- these should include STD and HIV/AIDS testing, diagnosis and counseling. | |
| 4) | Provide full immunization for the whole family at reasonable subsidized rates |
VISIT TO NGO HUMSAFAR TRUST: see separate article titled "On the HIV beat in Bombay"
The following is a brief description of the audience and an outline of the lectures that I gave. I have also briefly listed my perception of the response and the contact person. Hopefully, institutions that showed interest are approached by other activists for follow up.
| Jan. 29: | TIME: | 10 am - 2.00 pm |
| PLACE: | TIFR, and Deutsch Bank, Mumbai | |
| PEOPLE: | Rajiv Gavai and Ravi Singh | |
| Jan. 29: | TIME: | 3.00 pm - 5.00 pm |
| PLACE: | Mumbai District Aids Society in Mumbai | |
| PEOPLE: | Dr. Shantha Sankaranarayanan | |
| AGENDA: | HIV/AIDS IN INDIA | |
| FUTURE: | Already working with a scientist in Alabama on understanding risk factors in young adults. | |
| Jan. 29: | TIME: | 6.00 pm - 7.00 pm |
| PLACE: | Rotary International and UNAIDS | |
| PEOPLE: | Dr. Ganesh Rane and Dr. Inamdar | |
| AGENDA: | Visit Snehanilaya, St. Catherine's Home, Andheri West | |
| IMPACT: | It was an eye-opening emotional experience to watch Sister Rohini and colleague take care of 22 HIV+ children between ages 4 months - 10 years. | |
| Jan. 29: | TIME: | 8.00 pm - 12.00 pm |
| PLACE: | Humsafar Trust | |
| PEOPLE: | Ashok Row Kavi and Harish | |
| AGENDA: | To accompany Harish on his beat to distribute condoms | |
| IMPACT: | The work Humsafar is doing with limited resources is very impressive. Going on the beat with Harish was very educational. See article "On the beat in Bombay". | |
| JAN. 30: | TIME: | 7 am - 6 pm |
| PLACE: | TIFR, Mumbai | |
| PEOPLE: | Ajay Patel, Shobasachi, Pamela Vergara, Rajiv Gavai & wife | |
| AGENDA: | THE HIV/AIDS AND OTHER CRISIS IN INDIA | |
| JAN 31: | TIME: | 7.00 - 7.30 |
| PLACE: | Taj Hotel, Mumbai | |
| PEOPLE: | Jayant Bhuyan, Director CII Western region | |
| AGENDA: | How to make Industries more responsive to preventing HIV/AIDS in their work force. Networking industries. | |
| FEB. 1: | TIME: | 8.00 am - 6.00pm |
| PLACE: | The George Foundation, Bangalore | |
| PEOPLE: | Abraham George, Jude Devdas, Lalita Lal | |
| AGENDA: | Developing primary education and health care in rural India | |
| HOST: | Abraham George | |
| GOAL: | Visited Shanti Bhavan -- what a treat. Discussed ways of duplicating of such projects all over India. | |
| FEB. 2: | TIME: | 2.00 pm - 3.30pm |
| PLACE: | Y.R.G. CARE, Chennai | |
| PEOPLE: | Drs. Kumarasamy, Toku, and Madhivanan | |
| AGENDA: | To see firsthand the great work that they are doing dealing with the heavy load of HIV/AIDS patients (screening 15-25 patients and diagnosing on average 5 new infections a day). Their work indicates that intervention is having an effect and the infection rate is slowing down in Tamil Naidu. | |
| FEB. 2: | TIME: | 5.00 pm - 6.30pm |
| PLACE: | Indian Institute of Mathematical Sciences | |
| AUDIENCE: | 30 Scientists | |
| TALK TITLE: | A Physicist looks at Social problems | |
| HOST: | Profs. Baskaran and Hari Das | |
| MESSAGE: | Possible non-linear amplification of the various problems in India, and their potential impact. | |
| FUTURE: | Co-ordinate with their literacy program to incorporate health and hygiene into it. | |
| FEB. 4: | TIME: | 8.30 - 10.30 |
| PLACE: | Vasant Valley School, New Delhi | |
| AUDIENCE: | 200 students of 9 and 11 class | |
| TALK TITLE: | WATER POLLUTION AND SCARCITY IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Vasant Valley School | |
| GOAL: | To explain why water is essential for the human race to survive and how we use it every moment of the day. To review how we pollute water and what we can do to prevent pollution and clean our precious resources. Looming scarcity of groundwater resources throughout India. | |
| IMPACT: | Very good response in terms of questions asked and the desire to help conserve water. | |
| FEB. 4: | TIME: | 11.30 am - 1.30 pm |
| PLACE: | Modi Care, Rajouri Gardens, New Delhi | |
| AUDIENCE: | 30 of their partners and shareholders | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA (Hindi) | |
| HOST: | Samir Modi, Director, and Juhi Sahai | |
| GOAL: | To give a social background to the societal problems in India and how HIV spreads and thrives as a result of these. | |
| IMPACT: | Very good response and questions. Many are eager to help spread the message and organize themselves to develop community improvement programs | |
| FUTURE: | Modi Care and the partners will start community based programs to fight pollution and increase social awareness in addition to HIV/AIDS work. | |
| FEB. 4: | TIME: | 3.00 am - 5.00 pm |
| PLACE: | Habitat Center, New Delhi | |
| AUDIENCE: | 1 principal and 7 teachers of Delhi Schools | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA (Hindi) | |
| HOST: | Samir and Shavani Modi, and Juhi Sahai | |
| GOAL: | To encourage schools to develop a curriculum on health and environment, and to make students aware of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis pandemics. | |
| IMPACT: | Not sure | |
| FUTURE: | Modi Care and I will keep trying with Delhi schools. | |
| FEB. 5: | TIME: | 9.30 - 10.30 am |
| PLACE: | Safdarjang Hospital, New Delhi | |
| PEOPLE: | Dr. Bitra George, | |
| AGENDA: | To revisit the STD/HIV counseling and testing center set by Dr. Bitra George and to discuss how to duplicate these centers in the rest of the country. Importance of training new doctors before duplicating centers. | |
| FEB. 5: | TIME: | 11.30 - 12.30 am |
| PLACE: | ShramShakti Bhavan, New Delhi | |
| PEOPLE: | Dr. Lakshmidhar Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of labor | |
| AGENDA: | How to incorporate "Health and Environment" knowledge in school education. | |
| FEB. 5: | TIME: | 1.30 - 2.30 am |
| PLACE: | Bluebells School, New Delhi | |
| PEOPLE: | Ms. Suman Kumar, Principal | |
| AGENDA: | How to incorporate "Health and Environment" knowledge in their school education and train teachers. Work with computer teacher Akash Deep Sharma on developing a multi-media CD presentation of an anti-smoking lecture. | |
| FEB. 7: | TIME: | 11.00 am - 1.00 pm |
| PLACE: | Maholi Industrial Association, Chandigarh | |
| AUDIENCE: | (A) 20 Industrialists (B) about 50 workers | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | CII Northern India, Ms Shona Dalal | |
| GOAL: | To educate them on (i) what is HIV, (ii) how to protect oneself from getting infected, and (iii) why we need to develop a community responsibility. | |
| IMPACT: | Most Industrialists did not want to do anything themselves, wanted someone else to fix their problems | |
| FUTURE: | Not their problem | |
| FEB. 7: | TIME: | 3.00 Pm - 5.00 pm |
| PLACE: | CII Conference room, Chandigarh | |
| AUDIENCE: | 20 teachers from 8 schools | |
| AGENDA: | TEACHER TRAINING: HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT | |
| HOST: | CII Northern India, Mr Piyush Behl, Ms Shona Dalal | |
| TOPIC: | LECTURE 1: Overview of infectious diseases, health and hygiene issues, societal and environmental problems, and emotional and psychological development of children. | |
| IMPACT: | Very good response in terms of questions asked | |
| FUTURE: | Teachers to develop this program in their school. | |
| FEB. 8: | TIME: | MORNING 8.30 - 10.30 |
| PLACE: | Shivalik Public School, Chandigarh | |
| AUDIENCE: | 300 boys and girls, 15 teachers | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Shri D.S. Bedi, Principal Shivalik Public School, Ms. Shona Dalal, CII. | |
| GOAL: | To educate them on (i) what is HIV, (ii) how to protect oneself from getting infected, and (iii) why we need the help of the youth to spread the message and ensure a bright future for all Indians | |
| IMPACT: | Very strong endorsement from students, teachers, principal | |
| FUTURE: | The principal wants follow up | |
| FEB. 8: | TIME: | 3.00 pm - 5.00 pm |
| PLACE: | CII Conference room, Chandigarh | |
| AUDIENCE: | 20 teachers from 8 schools | |
| AGENDA: | TEACHER TRAINING: HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT | |
| HOST: | CII Northern India, Mr Piyush Behl, Ms Shona Dalal | |
| TOPIC: | LECTURE 2: Factors leading to risky behavior. Consequences of risky sex. An understanding of HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and C, and other sexually transmitted diseases. Developing skills of sharing and communication that are necessary to form healthy relationships. | |
| IMPACT: | Very good response in terms of questions asked | |
| FUTURE: | Teachers to develop this program in their school. | |
| FEB. 9: | TIME: | MORNING 8.30 - 10.30 am |
| PLACE: | Vivek High School, Chandigarh | |
| AUDIENCE: | 150 boys and girls, 15 teachers | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Ms Dugal, Vice-Principal Vivek High School, Ms. Shona Dalal, CII. | |
| GOAL: | To educate them on (i) what is HIV, (ii) how to protect oneself from getting infected, and (iii) why we need the help of the youth to spread the message and ensure a bright future for all Indians | |
| IMPACT: | Very strong endorsement from students, teachers, vice-principal | |
| FUTURE: | The principal and vice-principal want to follow through | |
| FEB. 9: | TIME: | MORNING 11.30 - 1.30 |
| PLACE: | St. Xavier High School, Chandigarh | |
| AUDIENCE: | 300 boys and girls, 20 teachers | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Mr Andrew J Gosain, Principal, Ms. Shona Dalal, CII. | |
| GOAL: | To educate them on (i) what is HIV, (ii) how to protect oneself from getting infected, and (iii) why we need the help of the youth to spread the message and ensure a bright future for all Indians | |
| IMPACT: | Very strong endorsement from students, teachers, vice-principal | |
| FUTURE: | The principal is not convinced that HIV is a problem | |
| FEB. 9: | TIME: | 3.00 pm - 5.00 pm |
| PLACE: | CII Conference room, Chandigarh | |
| AUDIENCE: | 20 teachers from 8 schools | |
| AGENDA: | TEACHER TRAINING: HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT | |
| HOST: | CII Northern India, Mr Piyush Behl, Ms Shona Dalal | |
| TOPIC: | LECTURE 3: Addictions -- tobacco, alcohol, and drugs. What are their causes and effects. Devising strategies for prevention. | |
| IMPACT: | Very good response in terms of questions asked | |
| FUTURE: | Teachers to develop this program in their school. | |
| FEB. 10: | TIME: | 8.30 am - 9.30 am |
| PLACE: | Vivek High School, Chandigarh | |
| PEOPLE: | Mrs P K Singh, Principal, Mrs. Daman Dugal, Vice-principal, 3 teachers, and Ms. Shona Dalal | |
| AGENDA: | Planning future teacher training program for October | |
| FEB. 10: | TIME: | MORNING 9.45 - 11.30 |
| PLACE: | Guru Nanak Polytechnic, Mohali | |
| AUDIENCE: | 40 men and 30 girls, 10 teachers | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Dr. D. N. Mazumdar, Principal, and Ms. Shona Dalal, CII. | |
| GOAL: | To educate them on (i) what is HIV, (ii) how to protect oneself from getting infected, and (iii) why we need the help of the youth to spread the message and ensure a bright future for all Indians | |
| IMPACT: | Very strong endorsement from students, teachers, principal | |
| FUTURE: | The principal definitely wants follow up | |
| FEB. 10: | TIME: | 12.00 pm - 12.30 pm |
| PLACE: | PGI, Chandigarh | |
| PEOPLE: | Dr. Archna Sood, Shona Dalal | |
| AGENDA: | HIV cases at PGI, and the status of rate of spread. The case load is increasing. About 250 in 1997, 325 in 1998, and more than 400 in 1999 | |
| FEB. 10: | TIME: | 3.00 pm - 5.00 pm |
| PLACE: | CII Conference room, Chandigarh | |
| AUDIENCE: | 20 teachers from 8 schools | |
| AGENDA: | TEACHER TRAINING: HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT | |
| HOST: | CII Northern India, Mr Piyush Behl, Ms Shona Dalal | |
| TOPIC: | LECTURE 4: Dealing with Abuses -- emotional, physical, and sexual -- at home and at school. Developement of self esteem, social responsibility, and communication skills to avoid these. | |
| IMPACT: | Very good response in terms of questions asked | |
| FUTURE: | To develop this program in their school. | |
| FEB. 11: | TIME: | MORNING 8.30 - 10.30 |
| PLACE: | Government Model School, Sector 16, Chandigarh | |
| AUDIENCE: | 150 boys and girls, 15 teachers | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Mr S Raikhey, Principal, and Ms. Shona Dalal, CII. | |
| GOAL: | To educate them on (i) what is HIV, (ii) how to protect oneself from getting infected, and (iii) why we need the help of the youth to spread the message and ensure a bright future for all Indians | |
| IMPACT: | Very strong endorsement from students, teachers, principal | |
| FUTURE: | The principal wants to follow up | |
| FEB. 11: | TIME: | MORNING 11.30 - 1.30 |
| PLACE: | Government Model School, sector 10, Chandigarh | |
| AUDIENCE: | 400 boys and girls, 30 teachers | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Mrs. Surinder Duggal, Principal, and Ms. Shona Dalal, CII. | |
| GOAL: | To educate them on (i) what is HIV, (ii) how to protect oneself from getting infected, and (iii) why we need the help of the youth to spread the message and ensure a bright future for all Indians | |
| IMPACT: | Very strong endorsement from students, teachers, vice-principal | |
| FUTURE: | The principal wants to follow up | |
| FEB. 11: | TIME: | 3.00 pm - 5.00 pm |
| PLACE: | CII Conference room, Chandigarh | |
| AUDIENCE: | 20 teachers from 8 schools | |
| AGENDA: | TEACHER TRAINING: HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT | |
| HOST: | CII Northern India, Mr Piyush Behl, Ms Shona Dalal | |
| TOPIC: | LECTURE 5: Individual's and society's role in the protection of the Environment. Air and water pollution, water scarcity, land use, lead poisoning, deforestation and depletion of biodiversity. | |
| IMPACT: | Very good response in terms of questions asked | |
| FUTURE: | To develop this program in their school. | |
| FEB. 12: | TIME: | MORNING 9.00 - 11.20 |
| PLACE: | Eicher-DEMM School, Parwanoo | |
| AUDIENCE: | 50 boys and girls, 10 teachers | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Ms Lata Vaidyanathan, Principal, and Ms. Shona Dalal, CII. | |
| GOAL: | To educate them on (i) what is HIV, (ii) how to protect oneself from getting infected, and (iii) why we need the help of the youth to spread the message and ensure a bright future for all Indians | |
| IMPACT: | Very strong endorsement from students, teachers, principal | |
| FUTURE: | The principal wants follow up. She is moving to Modern School, New Delhi in July. | |
| FEB. 12: | TIME: | 11.30-1 pm |
| PLACE: | Eicher-DEMM factory, Parwanoo | |
| AUDIENCE: | About 15 managers and 50 workers, Shona Dalal | |
| TALK TITLE: | PROTECTION FROM HIV/AIDS | |
| HOST: | CII Northern India, Chandigarh Office, Shona Dalal, Parwanoo Industrial Association | |
| GOAL: | Give basic knowledge of diseases, and why workers need to protect themselves. Emphasis on how HIV/AIDS destroys the whole family. | |
| IMPACT: | The workers opened up after a while. Many asked questions and are keen to act as a peer group to spread the message | |
| FUTURE: | The Eicher-DEMM is a very progressive group. They are very involved in enhancement of worker's life | |
| FEB. 15: | TIME: | 11.00 Noon - 12.30 PM |
| PLACE: | Kundan Vidya Mandir, Ludhiana | |
| AUDIENCE: | 800 students and 50 teachers, Principal, trustees | |
| TALK TITLE: | WATER POLLUTION AND SCARCITY IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Ms. Indira Kumar, Principal | |
| GOAL: | To explain why water is essential for the human race to survive and how we use it every moment of the day. To review how we pollute water and what we can do to prevent pollution and clean our precious resources. Looming scarcity of groundwater resources throughout India. | |
| IMPACT: | Very strong endorsement from students, teachers, principal | |
| FUTURE: | The principal is keen to follow up. Initiated a competition on developing a multi-media CD for an anti-smoking campaign. | |
| FEB. 15: | TIME: | 2.15 - 3.30 PM |
| PLACE: | Sarasvati Modern School, Ludhiana | |
| AUDIENCE: | 100 students and 15 teachers | |
| TALK TITLE: | WATER POLLUTION AND SCARCITY IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Ms. Kamala Jain, Principal | |
| GOAL: | To explain why water is essential for the human race to survive and how we use it every moment of the day. To review how we pollute water and what we can do to prevent pollution and clean our precious resources. Looming scarcity of groundwater resources throughout India. | |
| IMPACT: | Very strong endorsement from students and teachers | |
| FUTURE: | The principal is keen to follow up. | |
| FEB. 16: | TIME: | 10.30 - 12.30 am |
| PLACE: | BCM School, Ludhiana | |
| AUDIENCE: | 250 boys+girls, teachers, Principal | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Hero-Honda Group, Dr. Dilpreet Brar, and Principal | |
| GOAL: | To educate them on (i) what is HIV, (ii) how to protect oneself from getting infected, and (iii) why we need the help of the youth to spread the message and ensure a bright future for all Indians | |
| IMPACT: | Very strong endorsement from students, teachers, principal | |
| FUTURE: | The principal is keen to follow up | |
| FEB. 16: | TIME: | 1.30 - 3.00 am |
| PLACE: | BCM College of Commerce | |
| AUDIENCE: | 60 students (boys+girls), teachers, Principal | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Hero-Honda Group, Dr. Dilpreet Brar, and Principal | |
| GOAL: | To educate them on (i) what is HIV, (ii) how to protect oneself from getting infected, and (iii) why we need the help of the youth to spread the message and ensure a bright future for all Indians | |
| IMPACT: | Very strong endorsement from students, teachers, principal | |
| FUTURE: | The principal is keen to follow up | |
| FEB. 17: | TIME: | 10.30 - 12.30 am |
| PLACE: | RS Model School, Ludhiana | |
| AUDIENCE: | 70 girls of class XI, teachers, Principal | |
| TALK TITLE: | THE HIV/AIDS CRISIS IN INDIA | |
| HOST: | Hero-Honda Group, Dr. Dilpreet Brar, and Principal | |
| GOAL: | To educate them on (i) what is HIV, (ii) how to protect oneself from getting infected, and (iii) why we need the help of the youth to spread the message and ensure a bright future for all Indians | |
| IMPACT: | Very strong endorsement from students, teachers, principal | |
| FUTURE: | The principal is keen to follow up |
HUMSAFAR TRUST, Ashok Row Kavi, Mumbai
Juhi Sahai and Samir Modi, Rai Bahadur Gugarmal Modi Foundation, New Delhi.
CONFEDERATION OF INDIAN INDUSTRIES (CII) Northern region. The efforts and organization of Ms. Shona Dalal was flawless.
HERO-HONDA GROUP OF INDUSTRIES, Ludhiana. Managing Directors Shri Sunil Munjal and Shri Suman Munjal. Mr Sunil Munjal's personal interest in pushing this message in industries throughout India is very welcome and needed.
Dr. Dilpreet Brar (health officer Hero-Honda Group) organized the Ludhiana schedule.
I would like to thank T. Bhattacharya, Alice Chapman, Lavleen and Rekha Singal, Mary and Chuck Zemach for their support and encouragement.
Rajan Gupta