Thursday, June 26, 2014
Bliss, a word I have never felt before
'Bliss', a word I have read, looked it up in the dictionary, but never felt it.
Is it what you feel when you have a good slice of cake, or is it when you are not shouted at, or punched at or pummelled, ' asked my friend.
'I do not know" said I as I have never felt bliss run down my veins. This annoying anger of mine, or the dissatisfaction at what life has offered, maybe that is preventing me from being in a blissful state.
Dammit ! Being a woman....
Dammit, being a woman, makes me strong, bold and beautiful. But then I constantly have to be on guard and watch where I am going.
Dammit, being a woman makes me smart and intelligent. But then I constantly have to show that others know more than me.
Dammit, being a woman I need to take care of myself and rest, but I have to show the world that I am the best...... I struggle and strive to achieve it.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Welcome !!!
This is a blog that had been opened two years back, then unfortunately it was lost, not sure how we managed to do that, but anyway for a long time we tried to retrieve it but were unable to do, so had sadly said goodbye to the blog. Then as a surprise my daughter retrieved each of the write ups and put it together in this blog page. Yesterday for the first time I looked into my blog, reconstructed by my daughter; most of what we had written were there except for the dates. The feeling was great
Why had i opened this blog ??
For me it was important that issues not being addressed currently in Orissa or issue that are not considered very important to be addressed in Orissa are reflected here.
It was equally important that friends from the CBOs that I work with who are as well as work with vulnerable, marginalized population can put across the isolation that they face and the stigma and discrimination that they address as well as face in this blog.
Our CBO friends hopefully one day will be confident enough to write their stories on their own, but currently I think it is our responsibility to see that they are reflected for all to see, feel and do something about.
Welcome to our blog, 'Living with Dignity'
Sarita
Odisha-1
Why had i opened this blog ??
For me it was important that issues not being addressed currently in Orissa or issue that are not considered very important to be addressed in Orissa are reflected here.
It was equally important that friends from the CBOs that I work with who are as well as work with vulnerable, marginalized population can put across the isolation that they face and the stigma and discrimination that they address as well as face in this blog.
Our CBO friends hopefully one day will be confident enough to write their stories on their own, but currently I think it is our responsibility to see that they are reflected for all to see, feel and do something about.
Welcome to our blog, 'Living with Dignity'
Sarita
Odisha-1
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Media insensitivity
on 29 December in a vernacular daily in Orissa in the front page a photograph of a family, with the following caption was published:
"Father Mother & their two children suffering from AIDS".
What bothered all of us was that each and every detail of where he lived, what he did, and how he got himself infected with the virus is detailed out in that column.
In Orissa past experience with HIV/AIDS has been horrible.
I remember there was an incidence in Ganjam (a high prevalent district), where a young mother, whose husband died of AIDS related disease was tied to her cot and burnt by the villagers, a young man who had died of AIDS was not given a decent cremation because of his HIV status. These are some of the common incidence that have been regularly occurring in Orissa. One needs to question media as to whether these kinds of sensational news will aggravate the situation or not, whether they have maintained all the norms (e.g taking permission from the family (written permission) before publishing this human interest story, Whether consequences of such kind of publication has been discussed with the family, has confidentiality been taken into account while writing about how, what action of his resulted in him being a HIV+.
I am presuming that no such initiative has been taken before exposing the family to discrimination. I do hope individuals and community members come together to address media insensitivity which harms the common man and exposes them to discrimination.
"Father Mother & their two children suffering from AIDS".
What bothered all of us was that each and every detail of where he lived, what he did, and how he got himself infected with the virus is detailed out in that column.
In Orissa past experience with HIV/AIDS has been horrible.
I remember there was an incidence in Ganjam (a high prevalent district), where a young mother, whose husband died of AIDS related disease was tied to her cot and burnt by the villagers, a young man who had died of AIDS was not given a decent cremation because of his HIV status. These are some of the common incidence that have been regularly occurring in Orissa. One needs to question media as to whether these kinds of sensational news will aggravate the situation or not, whether they have maintained all the norms (e.g taking permission from the family (written permission) before publishing this human interest story, Whether consequences of such kind of publication has been discussed with the family, has confidentiality been taken into account while writing about how, what action of his resulted in him being a HIV+.
I am presuming that no such initiative has been taken before exposing the family to discrimination. I do hope individuals and community members come together to address media insensitivity which harms the common man and exposes them to discrimination.
STIGMA & DISCRIMINATION
In a recent meeting, held in Capital Hospital, Bhubaneswar on 27 December, on stigma and discrimination, a PLHIV member brought up the issue that in most of the prescriptions provided in the column of diseases the Medical Officer of that hospital write AIDS, this has resulted in discrimination as the nurses and the pharmacists mistreat them, the Medical Officer gave an explanation that he had certain moral responsibility towards other Doctors as the patient would never reveal his HIV status. The Participants straight away protested and argued with the Doctor, what about the rights of the patient, does the patient not have any rights.
Though the Doctor did not have any reply to that he persisted with his answer about how important it was to protect the doctors from syringe pricks. Rather the Medical Officer justified and stated that discrimination happens in every field and every issues and tried to trivialize this particular serious issue of concern of people being discriminated on the basis of their HIV status.
What can be done to change the attitude of Doctors; are we doing enough to change their attitude; are our training programmes adequate ; are we taught enough by our parents, teachers and elders about respecting life and human beings in general; I think these are questions that one should be constantly asking own self as well friends, families, loved ones enough.
Though the Doctor did not have any reply to that he persisted with his answer about how important it was to protect the doctors from syringe pricks. Rather the Medical Officer justified and stated that discrimination happens in every field and every issues and tried to trivialize this particular serious issue of concern of people being discriminated on the basis of their HIV status.
What can be done to change the attitude of Doctors; are we doing enough to change their attitude; are our training programmes adequate ; are we taught enough by our parents, teachers and elders about respecting life and human beings in general; I think these are questions that one should be constantly asking own self as well friends, families, loved ones enough.
Must Read Books on HIV/AIDS
Two books that have really touched my soul and I am constantly promoting for all to read are:
1. Sex Lies and AIDS by Siddharth Dube
2. AIDS Sutra edited by Negar Akhavi in collaboration with Avahan India AIDS Initiative, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Sex Lies & AIDS: by Siddharth Dube was a turning point for me, it was published in 2000 and breaks many stereotypes. This book for the first time focuses on vulnerability and why it is important for all of us to come together to fight the disease. it speaks of the Government programmes, the apathy of the respective states in handling a epidemic of this proportion
AIDS Sutra: Untold Stories of India, published in 2008 has a foreword by Amartya Sen and 16 award winning authors write about the epidemic it not only focuses on how the Devdasis, hijras, truck drivers and sex workers are grappling with the disease, but it also focuses on HIV among the affluent and the privileged. These books will give us an insight on the need for empathy and compassion.
1. Sex Lies and AIDS by Siddharth Dube
2. AIDS Sutra edited by Negar Akhavi in collaboration with Avahan India AIDS Initiative, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Sex Lies & AIDS: by Siddharth Dube was a turning point for me, it was published in 2000 and breaks many stereotypes. This book for the first time focuses on vulnerability and why it is important for all of us to come together to fight the disease. it speaks of the Government programmes, the apathy of the respective states in handling a epidemic of this proportion
AIDS Sutra: Untold Stories of India, published in 2008 has a foreword by Amartya Sen and 16 award winning authors write about the epidemic it not only focuses on how the Devdasis, hijras, truck drivers and sex workers are grappling with the disease, but it also focuses on HIV among the affluent and the privileged. These books will give us an insight on the need for empathy and compassion.
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