The Chaos Within… Returns.

The last time I contributed to a blog was in 2007. I was working on a care and support programme for a small grassroots NGO in Pune, India and we were also in the midst of a wider campaign in the city – Wake Up Pune. A different time, a very different blog, replete with the frustrations of working on the ground within resource limited settings. I had to stop writing. I was too close. Things were too raw. Too many expletives were the result…

There was chaos then, and there is still an inherent chaos now to what we are trying to achieve as a group with the Candlelight Memorial Event Series. It is not going to be easy.. people are wonderful, vibrant, creative, focused and committed. But we are still people. We belong to organizations with particular agendas. This is our reality. A reality we must accept if we are to move forward, “together”. And in accepting what is real, we will find that regardless of intent and purpose, when people meet people, things happen! Good, bad, ugly, wonderful, sad, painful, frustrating, joyous things. The gamut of what people experience.

The measure of this coalition will be in the manner we collide. Sexual and reproductive health will come off the pages of documents and proposals and collide with people across this island… What will be our message to the young and not so young of our nation? A nation that is healing. A nation full of hope and despair.

We need to be clear. We need to be sensitive. We need to be unwavering.

We need to remember that the power of a coalition is in a unified, collective voice BUT also in the diversity… in the absence of what is different, we will struggle to connect with a country that is different. With values and opinions that differ on either side of the river…

The journey ahead is exciting, and pregnant with promise… it is time to deliver. It is time to move beyond the meetings and planning and drinking of tea…

It’s our time. Let’s not let it pass.

– HB

“Inspiring civil society to challenge the misconceptions, ignorance, fear and stigma surrounding HIV”

Launched in November 2006, Wake Up Pune is a coalition of NGOs and representatives from civil society (just like us) working to spread awareness about HIV and AIDS in the city of Pune, India.

Official figures report that in Jan-Oct 2007, 18,039 people in the city of Pune were tested for HIV at government testing centres and of these, 12.27% tested positive. These figures exclude the thousands of people already living with HIV in Pune, along with those who are as yet unaware of their HIV+ status.

Silence, Ignorance, Fear, Stigma and Discrimination fuel the spread of the virus in this community. So many people are dying of a preventable and treatable condition because they are afraid of accessing the correct information and resources that can save their lives! Stigma and discrimination – from peers, colleagues, friends, family – lock people living with HIV (PLHIV) into a state of denial and silence about their condition. Often, this prevents PLHIV from seeking help until it’s too late.

Not only Pune, but Sri Lanka needs to wake up and change its attitude, of low prevalence and low risk. We need to become more positive and open about HIV, not only to prevent further transmission, but to also better the lives of the many neglected and stigmatized individuals living with and affected by HIV.

HIV does not discriminate. We do. Let’s put an end to this vicious cycle!