HIV awareness takes centre stage in village

Students of management institute with help of research centre put up street play on HIV in Bhugaon to spread awareness among villagersu00a0After reading media reports about a separate school being set up for HIV positive children in a village called Bhugaon, two organisations from the city decided to do their bit for them in their own way. The Centre for Advocacy and Research (CFAR) and the International School of Management Studies (ISMS) put up a street play to create awareness and educate the people of Bhugaon on HIV, a few weeks ago. A bunch of 25 students from the ISMS as part of their college project educated the villagers on how HIV spreads and the dos and don'ts involved. Sayongita Dhante, state programme coordinator, CFAR, said: The students presented the play in a colourful manner, so there was no question of being bored. They had stories about pregnant women, workplace and other day-to-day activities. The best part was that the storytelling was simple and the villagers liked and understood it. A signature campaign was conducted to get the support of the villagers and later an oath-taking ceremony was held where the students, dignitaries and, most importantly, villagers vowed not to discriminate against, but instead support, those living with HIV. Sarpanch Rhul Shedge along with 200 people attended the event. It was a great learning experience for the villagers and the response was quite amazing. My students too took a leaf out of the experience, Salim Nalakanth, director of ISMS, said. A project is in the pipeline where the students will conduct a door-to-door survey on the awareness imbibed by the villagers. Dhante said the outcome of the session was pretty impressive. The event had guests from all walks of life, ranging from teachers to doctors. We are happy that we achieved what we wanted,u00a0 Dhante said.