WITHERING HOPE

Image by freebird (bobinson|??????????)

Inevitable. This image portraits everything we had witnessed at a AIDS rehabilitation center we had visited……

And if ur still worried about something and yourself then you are a FOOL !

There is a discussion here

Sadly, this time I am not talking about rain, misty mountains or anything of that sort. Its about silence that we can hear & about love, care and support shown by a few to a group of less fortunate people.

initial discussion and planning is here

Today a group of us went to to snehadaan a PWHA ( people with hiv & aids) rehabilitation / treatment center. its a very clean, peaceful, well kept place with cheerful co-ordinators. We were welcomed by a cheerful garden & then refreshing scent of the cleaning agent they have used. We waited for a while and then spoke to co-ordinators and tried to explain why we the bangalored software engineers are here. We were not having much idea about what we are about to see or exactly whey we are there. One of the co-ordinators gave us a briefing of the work they do and opened the doors to the dormitories where the people who were spending probably their last days / hours lived – or may be there is no time its just the pain, agony, stigma and the silence which is loud enough to make a healthy man deaf.

While we walked the corridors with our guide I never looked at the people who were with me. Our companion was telling the names of diseases the inmates are infected with. I peered through a veiled window and saw a woman curled on a bed. A man was carried in a wheel chair and he is the only person who gave me sane smile. There was a dull green coloured creeper trying to make its way through a white iron grill. Unfortunately, the creeper will never find light and its desperate efforts will be stopped by the roof.

Now we are inside the refectory which is again exceptionally clean. Later we found people having lunch here and man whom I found on the wheel chair agian smiled at me. We moved on and the only object in the long hall way was a wheel chair. Light was arguing about its particle-wave dual nature with it and making magical shadows in the process. We are in the gym now. The only other place after the refectory where I could get in without the fear of getting infected with any of those diseases our companion was explaining. At some point I thought he will provide us hand gloves and masks. But after spending sometime in the premises my fear disappeard. Probably it wasn’t fear. It was a strange confusion.

Someone made a comment about the cleanliness of the place. And our companion explained how badly it was smelling last week. One of the patients had a small wound upon cleaing it became widened and started giving a foul smell. Now its healing and he is almost fine. We moved to next set of wards. Again I saw figures and our companion kept on explaining. Some of them looked very healthy and some were not. Some were infected while entertaining. Some were infected because their dear ones were entertained. For some it was bad luck. Some don’t know what happened to them. We were shown offices, doctors rooms, councelling center etc. We made a circle around the place and now we are at the end. The mortuary. Near the mortuary building there is a big cage for the love birds and they were making noises which may be songs about the security they enjoy in the cage or the freedom which their great grand fathers enjoyed and which they never will.Or may be they are just coughing.

We asked the co-ordinator about what is that we can do. At the end of visits to every similar place usually we decide to work and turn the world upside down. We were asked to meet the another co-ordinator as well. We decided to wait and we walked to the garden, walked a bit around the mortuary and then two more friends joined us. We took the late comers ourseleves and showed them the place and shared the little piece of information we have learned. After finishing with them I think I walked around the place once or twice.

We were discussing what we can do. As a friend said, what the inmates needs is love and care. The silence around the place is probably getting into everyones nerves by this time. Probably more than anything the inmates what the inmates needs is attention. We learned that children from a nearby school are visiting these people on sundays and spending time with them. The best thing may be to join the children and spend time the inmates.

Well we discussed with the co-ordinators and found out that the following items are the most needed items there:

1. A sliding food trolly / or platfrom attached to the bed which will help
patients who are not able to leave their beds to have food from their
bed itself. Now they are keeping the food plate on the bed itself.

2. few wheel chairs which are softer

3. A music system.

We took the address of a surgical appliance dealer in Bangalore, recieved the brochure of snehadaan and the co-ordinator expressed his gratitude for the visited and we shook hands and left the place after discussing for some more time

At home my lovely friend who had adoped me as her brother had prepared delicous lunch and waiting for me. I was worried whether they will ask me take bath before having lunch with them. They never said a thing and she was surprised to hear that I haven’t taken any photos from the snehadaan.

Enevitable. The encroching darkness will eliminate the light in no time. Unfortunately we can’t prevent the inevitable darkness. But we can definately slow it down. We can control. We can give them hope. We can make people aware.

I think our best take away from the visit are the following:

HIV / AIDS is no more as deadly as it was.
Lack of awareness is the biggest problem we are facing today

Can we reach out and help ? There is still hope. Can we help before that last leaf falls ?

This plant needs is a little support and it will fight its way out. But probably the inmates of that silent out of the world place will never hear anything from us, the mosambi’s we took will be over by now and all that is left is the above 3 phots and the words I have conjured up

Or can we really reachout this time ?

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