अग्नि-अँधेरी ईस्ट जग्ग -मुम्बई एड ठोस विथ एड्स

अग्नि On Sunday 16 Dec 2007 AGNI K EAST JAAG members comprising of students from ML Dhanakur College of Commerce , Vileparle & Nirmala Niketan , Churchgate had visited Terminally ill AIDS patients at Jyothi Care Centre , Kalamboli & Taloja. Jyothis Charitable Trust is run by the sisters of the Destitute. What had started off 5 years back as a casual visit by Mr. James John & Rev. Sr. Chitra has today resulted in two bus load full of members willing to spend their off day to be with the less fortunate ones. The group was growing with every passing year & AGNI K EAST JAAG members surely makes it a point to visit the home at least once in a year. The group was given great insight regarding how the home is being run & regarding the sickness by Rev. Sr. Infanta & Dr. Divya. Rev. Sr. Infanta had informed that the home was the first for terminally ill AIDS patients in Maharashtra started way back in 1999. The sisters who run the home spend day and night with the AIDS patients, listening to their grief, counseling them and awakening them to a positive frame of mind. Sometimes fights in the middle of the night have to be taken care of, sometimes suicidal tendencies have to be averted. No easy job, rather, one which demands a lot of sacrifice, courage and discipline. Those who improve are sent to the Rejuvenation home at Taloja. Some of the afflicted children are totally unaware of their dire strait of life. There was an question & answer session were members had put in varied questions relating to the sickness , about the home , about how a dead person is buried , about how a person with AIDS is operated , the society’s outlook to such patients . There was a question / suggestion from one of the students regarding having HIV medical certificate before a marriage is arranged. Rev. Sr. Infanta informed the gathering that so much money comes to India for HIV / AIDS out of which not a single penny comes to the home. Dr. Divya rightly puts it, “ It is the duty of those in the Medical Profession to counsel an HIV patient of the treatment required, the cost that has to be incurred for ART ( Anti Retroviral Therapy) and the need to take one’s family into confidence. Moreover, casual attitude must never be exercised in the matter of use of gloves by Doctors and nurses, proper sterilization of needles, necessary hygiene and care” She was also very strong in asserting the need to do something for HIV patients requiring operations to be performed, a task which nearly all Hospitals refused to do, in spite of the judicial verdict that necessary operations must be performed for AIDS patients”. Dr. Divya was overjoyed to see such a big group consisting of youngsters & she informed that this would go in a great way to educate the society. The Jyothi Home gives free medicines to the patients. It is the love, the care and the prayers that are fed to these patients, whose sunrises are numbered. Some of them come from very good families and pay the price of a single mistake. Some are helpless victims who curse the man. Some are turned out from home after the man has passed away within one day of marriage. The capacity of the Home at Kalamboli is currently 30 women and ten men & 40 women only at Taloja. Dr. Divya hopes the Medical Profession will increasingly realize the importance of essential counseling and assistance. Quack Doctors proclaiming complete cure through pasting ads in local trains, etc. has added to the nuisance and she very strictly doles out the no-nonsense attitude to the innumerable patients who ask if they can go to these practitioners. Mr. James John informed the gathering that we at AGNI K EAST JAAG have a three fold approach towards such visits which are as follows , a. educating the masses especially through Late Shri Rajiv Gandhi formula of ‘ each one teach one ’ so that the patients are treated as one among us & eradicating the stigma of un touchablity associated with the disease. b. such homes / centers need money to run the center , money to build such structures , money to pay electricity , water , food , clothing , medicines , toiletries etc. c. providing contacts for such patients who are turned away from hospitals so that they can be placed at such homes. All the members had lunch at the home which was followed by the ghazal singing by Shri Prakash and his entourage who had touched the hearts of the inmates with their soul filling ghazals which saw request from the inmates for their choiced numbers & he touched the hearts of each & every one present requesting Shri Prakashji & his group to go on and on. All those present joined in with clapping of hands. The next program was a skit by the Dahanukar students, titled, “ Where is Love ? Here is Love ”. This was followed by a song -dance sequel with everyone joining in. Simple carefree moments sung from the heart conveyed the depth of care that humanity can portray; the pangs of anguish that can be stilled with love. As Ms. Anita David of M.L.Dahanukar strummed on her guitar, Nisha, Fatema, Shweta, Jayesh, Pooja, accompanying Dahanukar faculty Prof. Sudha and the rest could feel themselves vibrating with feeling; could realize the joys that we can share. In simple moments filled with eternity the impact of an inescapable malady that constitutes part of harsh reality left a deep mark on the students. Shweta, FYBMS student, spoke up for everybody, by committing themselves to collect contributions from every student and send it to the center , which is totally dependent on such assistance. In fact, the friendship bands tied by the students to the inmates at the home seemed to hold a lot of promise for them. This was reflected in innocent eyes that lit up with joy by simple lovable deeds. Principal Dr. Madhavi Pethe of M.L.Dahanukar College and the NSS unit-in-charge Mr.Pagaar Narayan, were all praise for the students. As Dr. Pethe succinctly summed it up, “Great work”. Indeed, the oath the students took along with all the members at the start of the journey spoke volumes. In unison the chorus rose, “ We pledge to commit our lives in whatever way we can, to work for the cause of the needy and the underprivileged ”. Shri Davinder Pal Narang has put in very rightly when he spoke of Mrs. Sudha Subramanium that ML Dhanakur College students are very much privileged to have such an lecturer with them who is always on her toes to motivate the students for civil society participation. He further went on to say that he did not have such privilege thus he informed the students that they should be thankful to GOD for the gift they have received. Finally after having tea with the inmates we left the home to reach the Taloja home & spent time there to reach our homes late at night by 10 PM. For the three approaches that अग्नि K EAST JAAG had evolved these was the success , for the first one succeeded in spreading the message through the personal contacts & having such a big group for the visit especially through the students & by having lunch and tea along with the inmates at the home. For the second by donating bags of clothes , rice , wheat , biscuits , etc. an amount of Rs. 40,000/- was also collected & donated to the home. James John had an final message to all the members that each one of us can replicate the points , Please pass the message that persons with this disease in not at all untouchable , we should take care & love them & look after them. We a small group could make such collections for donations if each and every one of us stretch ourselves we can really help such homes were our donations really reaches the beneficiaries. If we come to know persons who are afflicted by the disease & if the hospitals & the family members do not look after them the home is always ready to look after such persons. Donations to the home can be made in favor of ‘ Jyothis Charitable Trust ’ by cheque , cash & kind. The home is in need of assistance from your side , which can be made in cheque , cash & even kind. You can call the center to know their needs. Jyothis Charitable Trust , Plot No. 4 , Sector 11 , Kalamboli , Navi Mumbai – 410 218 , Ph. : 2742 3399 -- YOU CAN CONTACT US ON RAVI - 9821295960 . JAMES JOHN - 9324086140