Our Visit to Snehadaan Saturday 23rd Feb. 2007 10.00 am Sadly, this time I am not talking about rain, misty mountains or anything of that sort. It’s about silence that we canhear & about love, care and support shown by a few to a group of lessfortunate people.
Today a group of us went to Snehadaan a PWHA (people with HIV & AIDS) rehabilitation / treatment center. It’s a very clean, peaceful, well kept placewith cheerful co-ordinators. We were welcomed by a cheerful garden & thenrefreshing scent of the cleaning agent they have used. We waited for a whileand then spoke to co-ordinators and tried to explain why we the Bangaloredsoftware engineers are here. We were not having much idea about what we areabout to see or exactly why we are there. One of the co-ordinators gave us abriefing of the work they do and opened the doors to the dormitories where thepeople who were spending probably their last days / hours lived - or may bethere is no time, its just the pain, agony, stigma and the silence which is loudenough to make a healthy man deaf.
While we walked the corridors with our guide I never looked at the people whowere with me. Our companion was telling the names of diseases the inmates areinfected with. I peered through a veiled window and saw a woman curled on abed. A man was carried in a wheel chair and he is the only person who gave me asane smile. There was a dull green coloured creeper trying to make its waythrough a white iron grill. Unfortunately, the creeper will never find lightand its desperate efforts will be stopped by the roof.
Now we are inside the refectory which is again exceptionally clean. Later wefound people having lunch here and man whom I found on the wheel chair againsmiled at me. We moved on and the only object in the long hall way was a wheelchair. Light was arguing about its particle-wave dual nature with it and makingmagical shadows in the process. We are in the gym now. The only other placeafter the refectory where I could get in without the fear of getting infectedwith any of those diseases our companion was explaining. At some point Ithought he will provide us hand gloves and masks. But after spending sometimein the premises, my fear disappeared. Probably it wasn't fear. It was a strangeconfusion.
Someone made a comment about the cleanliness of the place. And our companionexplained how badly it was smelling last week. One of the patients had a smallwound upon cleaning it became widened and started giving a foul smell. Now it’shealing and he is almost fine. We moved to next set of wards. Again I sawfigures and our companion kept on explaining. Some of them looked very healthyand some were not. Some were infected while entertaining. Some were infectedbecause their dear ones were entertained. For some it was bad luck. Some don'tknow what happened to them. We were shown offices, doctors’ rooms, counsellingcenter etc. We made a circle around the place and now we are at the end - Themortuary. Near the mortuary building there is a big cage for the love birds andthey were making noises which may be songs about the security they enjoy in thecage or the freedom which their great grand fathers enjoyed and whichthey 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 toevery similar place usually we decide to work and turn the world upside down.We were asked to meet the other co-ordinator as well. We decided to wait and wewalked to the garden, walked a bit around the mortuary and then two morefriends joined us. We took the late comers ourselves and showed them the placeand shared the little piece of information we have learned. After finishingwith 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 islove and care. The silence around the place is probably getting into everyone’snerves by this time. Probably more than anything else, what the inmates need isattention. We learned that children from a nearby school are visiting thesepeople on Sundays and spending time with them. The best thing may be to jointhe children and spend time the inmates.
Well, we discussed with the co-ordinators and found out that the followingare the most needed items there:
- A sliding food trolley / or platform 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. - Few wheel chairs which are softer
- A music system.
We took the address of a surgical appliance dealer in Bangalore, received thebrochure of Snehadaan and the co-ordinator expressed his gratitude for thevisited and we shook hands and left the place after discussing for some moretime
At home my lovely friend who had adopted me as her brother had prepared deliciouslunch and waiting for me. I was worried whether they will ask me take bathbefore having lunch with them. They never said a thing and she was surprised tohear that I haven't taken any photos from the Snehadaan.
Inevitable. The encroching darkness will eliminate the lightin no time. Unfortunately we can't prevent the inevitable darkness. But we candefinately slow it down. We can control. We can give them hope. We can makepeople aware.
I think our best take away from the visit are the following: HIV / AIDS is no more as deadly as itwas. Lack of awareness is the biggest problem we are facing today
Can we reach out and help? There is still hope. Can we helpbefore that last leaf falls? Or can we really reach out this time? ….Testimony by a group of IT techies |
