The Chaos Within - A togetherness
Its Sunday afternoon.
The DISHA Cricket Challenge Trophy 2006 just ended. The emotionally charged final resulted in the fielding side walking off the pitch when the umpire refused to give the batsman out because he determined that the catcher did not have control over the ball.
Bringing the game into disrepute? You should have seen the outfield. The dives belied the hardness and debris of the Railway grounds. It is also a popular venue for Tadiwala Road's Injecting Drug users (we cleaned up as best we could)... not ideal for a match that promotes HIV knowledge, attitude and skills.
We work in an environment that is can be harsh... but cricket still gets played. HIV prevention can still be effective, and it is vital. Most of the kids that played the tournament from the different youth mandals (groups) in the community often visit sex workers. This is both frowned upon but also accepted: boys will be boys.
Boys will be boys who contract HIV... Avinash's sessions between the innings of every game are short but do not hold back on the realities of HIV in Pune, and also on how 'boys' can and must protect themselves.
The pseudo-conservative culture of Tadiwala Road and communities like it is an obstacle not just to HIV prevention skills but also to attitudes towards HIV+ people. Attitudes towards people who become HIV+ after visiting sex workers without taking the necessary precautions. Boys who will be boys ostracised from the youth mandal because their rights of passage or initiation went horribly well. They had sex. They contracted HIV.
We have to create a culture of young people that are less accepting of risky behaviour in their peers and also themselves. For this education, and sustained education, in different settings, is required. This is what the DISHA Cricket Challenge Trophy tries to do. And I can't help be proud of my team for doing this so well.
I am also fucking proud of Jyoti. She has battled hard. She is eating again, and has refused to give in... she has the will remember... and it people like her that give us the will to continue what we do... motivate us to work into the night, to somehow make a difference to the lives of those who live with HIV, and also to try and arrest the spread of HIV in this city.
The Wake Up Pune campaign is bringing professionals together; NGOs, doctors, social workers, counsellors, HIV+ speakers... yet, Jyoti's act of defiance, and it is fucking defiance - I will not go quietly into the night! - brings us together too. Often more effectively than any campaign.
It is a togetherness that cannot be explained. A togetherness that takes hold of us deep inside and does not allow for despair to set in. A togetherness that is vital.
The DISHA Cricket Challenge Trophy 2006 just ended. The emotionally charged final resulted in the fielding side walking off the pitch when the umpire refused to give the batsman out because he determined that the catcher did not have control over the ball.
Bringing the game into disrepute? You should have seen the outfield. The dives belied the hardness and debris of the Railway grounds. It is also a popular venue for Tadiwala Road's Injecting Drug users (we cleaned up as best we could)... not ideal for a match that promotes HIV knowledge, attitude and skills.
We work in an environment that is can be harsh... but cricket still gets played. HIV prevention can still be effective, and it is vital. Most of the kids that played the tournament from the different youth mandals (groups) in the community often visit sex workers. This is both frowned upon but also accepted: boys will be boys.
Boys will be boys who contract HIV... Avinash's sessions between the innings of every game are short but do not hold back on the realities of HIV in Pune, and also on how 'boys' can and must protect themselves.
The pseudo-conservative culture of Tadiwala Road and communities like it is an obstacle not just to HIV prevention skills but also to attitudes towards HIV+ people. Attitudes towards people who become HIV+ after visiting sex workers without taking the necessary precautions. Boys who will be boys ostracised from the youth mandal because their rights of passage or initiation went horribly well. They had sex. They contracted HIV.
We have to create a culture of young people that are less accepting of risky behaviour in their peers and also themselves. For this education, and sustained education, in different settings, is required. This is what the DISHA Cricket Challenge Trophy tries to do. And I can't help be proud of my team for doing this so well.
I am also fucking proud of Jyoti. She has battled hard. She is eating again, and has refused to give in... she has the will remember... and it people like her that give us the will to continue what we do... motivate us to work into the night, to somehow make a difference to the lives of those who live with HIV, and also to try and arrest the spread of HIV in this city.
The Wake Up Pune campaign is bringing professionals together; NGOs, doctors, social workers, counsellors, HIV+ speakers... yet, Jyoti's act of defiance, and it is fucking defiance - I will not go quietly into the night! - brings us together too. Often more effectively than any campaign.
It is a togetherness that cannot be explained. A togetherness that takes hold of us deep inside and does not allow for despair to set in. A togetherness that is vital.
posted by Deep Griha at 12:36 am
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