RRC INNOVATIVE YOUTH HEALTH COUNSELLING CELL-By DAPCU Dakshina Kannada-

         In Dakshina Kannada district Red Ribbon Clubs (RRC) Established under NSS units of 64 colleges. Out of which 32 are Pre university colleges and 32 are Degree colleges.  In our district there is active involvement of  RRC members in HIV awareness programmes at different levels. There are many innovative activities by these clubs not only  within the college campus but  also in the field like pamphlet distribution for  the vulnerable groups like auto  and Taxi drivers, and construction workers etc.

       One such innovative programme is Youth Health Counselling Cell (YHCC) In college campus.  During awareness talks for student community , most of the students  never ask some very personal questions in front of others because of shyness. But when  they made to write such questions, many of them ask many serious doubts which need to be answered. So YHCC  gives platform to such doubts by one to one counselling methods.

      It was so planned that a male counsellor will attend only boys and a female counsellor attend girls for this one to one counselling. A day selected by the college officials and DAPCO will be intimated about this,   inturn DAPCO deputes counsellor  to this college .  Also a  Psychiatrist  and a Psycho social worker from the department of Psychiatry  from a medical college  made to join their hands for this purpose. Information   about   this counselling  will be given to  students by RRC members prior  to the programme.  Initially it was planned to have such counselling day twice or thrice in a year in coordination with the RRC of that college.

Besant Women’s college of Mangalore was the first college to hold such programme in their institution . Mr. U. T. Khader  hon. Health & Family welfare minister of Karnataka launched this programme in this college on 3rd February 2014. He appreciated the activity and wanted to  similar programmes in all the colleges during the next academic years. He told  many youth are careless about  their health due to lack of knowledge hence indulge in many high risk activities and substance abuse.  He told YHCC is one such platform to address these issues and thus prevent not only HIV/AIDS but many other illness. 

On this occasion exhibition on hiv/aids also organized. 

In our district  such one to counselling sessions conducted already at 4 colleges. The response from the students was very good.   Medical related issues also linked up with the concerned doctors.  

Inspirational Post shared by DAPCU, Vizianagaram, AP

A brief note on participation in 

Mainstreaming Workshop at Jaipur on 5th February 2014

Date: 05-02-2014

Venue: Lebue Resort, Jaipur

           As per the communication received from Mainstreaming division, Department of AIDS Control, Delhi, P. Balajee, DPM, Vizianagaram was invited for a consultation workshop towards finalizing the Social Protection Guidelines in NACP-IV on 5th February at Jaipur.  After appropriate approvals and as per the instructions, DPM Vizianagaram reached the venue on 4th February evening. I met Mrs. Elizabeth Michael, Team Leader, Mainstreaming, Dr. Govind Bansal, DAPCU coordinator and Mr. Srikar, Consultant, Mainstreaming, APSACS during the dinner there and we discussed the DAPCUs presentations on which will be presented during workshop on 5th. 

                 The consultation workshop started at 10 am on following day, after registration of all participants, self introduction and some ground rules.  10 DAPCUs as per the recommendation of DAPCU National Resource Team (DNRT) and NTSU and Mainstreaming consultants from all SACS participated in the workshop.

   

The presentations & discussed are as follows:

1. Ms. Elizabeth Michael, Team Leader, Mainstreaming, said about the importance of Social Protection for People Living with HIV/AIDS and their families and its role in NACP IV.  She informed to all about the NACP IV launch on 12th by Union Health Minister. 

2. Dr. Govind Bansal, National DAPCU Coordinator made a presentation on Social Protection Schemes & Social entitlements activities done by the DAPCUs in the country and he also explained the structures in DAPCU and NTSU for the benefit of mainstreaming consultants.    His presentation gave an idea to all participants that DAPCUs are doing and trying to provide benefits of social protection schemes and Social entitlements to PLHIVs in their respective district. 

3. Sri. Chandrashekar Gowda, Director, Swasti made a presentation on the study finding which was done in Madhya Pradesh with a sample size of 800 on social protection schemes & Social entitlements among PLHIVs & HRGs.  His presentations focused more on Help Desk at all level in our programme for counseling, collecting information/documents and approaching concern departments.    The participants also learnt that Help Desk model is more useful and economic for our programme and some of the DAPCU expressed that they are doing it now but not at all levels, but at DAPCU.

4. Experience sharing by DAPCUs:

a. I spoke about various social protection schemes available for PLHIV in Andhra Pradesh as mentioned below:

     i. Rs. 200/- pension for all on ART PLHIVs is being implemented in Andhra Pradesh and APSACS has taken into considerations- all concern of PLHIVs like stigma, transport, transparency and many more into consideration for providing benefit to PLHIVs in AP.  It is implemented by APSACS in collaboration with SERP, DRDA. 

    ii. Bus Passes for all on ART PLHIVs for getting 50% of discount in bus fare for one time in a month to getting ART medicine every month.  It is implemented by APSACS in collabaration with APSRTC. 

   iii. Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) card are being issued to PLHIVs in AP after issuing a GO by AP Government and DO letters by PD, APSACS to all DCs. But here we take consent of PLHIV for sharing his/her complete information with Civil Supply Department as the Ration Depot dealer will know the status of the beneficiaries.  For implementing this scheme,DAPCU sensitized all Ration Depot Dealers along with Heads of Civil Supply Dept to maintain confidentiality and given instructions through DC.

    iv. 13 GOs & DO letters have been issued in AP for providing Social Welfare Schemes to the PLHIVs for leading dignified life with HIV without any Stigma & Discrimination. 

   v. All District Collectors in Andhra Pradesh are giving priority for providing Welfare Schemes to the PLHIVs. 

   vi. Because of time constraint, I mentioned in brief about many other such initiatives like Foster Care Scheme for orphans through ICDS, Double Nutrition for CLHA/CAA, Double Ration for HIV positive ANCs and SC/ST/BC corporation loans and etc...

   vii. We also tried to show the DAPCUs responses in the country on Social Protection schemes in DAPCUBLOG as I am also one of the volunteers for moderation of the blog but due to technical reasons I couldn't show it online. However, I mentioned that 13 DAPCUs in the country have responded to the theme of Social Protection for PLHIV and the responses are available on web: www.dapcuspeak.blogspot.com for reference. 

b. Participants were impressed very well about the schemes in AP especially Rs. 200/- pension and precautionary measures taken by APSACS.  Participants also felt unhappy about bus pass as the pass is clearly written logo of AIDS and name of APSACS.  For this we mentioned that APSACS is planning to change bus pass design as it was also informed to all DAPCUs in AP. 

5. Later remaining DAPCUs from various states made presentation according to their state specific social protection scheme to the PLHIVs.  The presentations were made by Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Maharashtra. 

6. Later all participants were divided into 5 groups and given a topic that for brainstorming, discussing, proposal and presentation by the team.  The topics are mentioned below.

a. Planning Phase

b. Awareness Creation

c. Enabling Environment

d. Setting up Help Desk at Service Center

e. Monitoring Mechanism

f. Mr. P. Balajee, DPM, Vizianagaram participated in the group  of Awareness Creation, Mrs. Lalitha, DPM, CTTR  in Setting up Help Desk at Service Center and Mr. Srikar, Consultant, Mainstreaming, APSACS in Monitoring Mechanism.  We actively participated and gave inputs to the group activity. 

g. Teams were given formats by facilitators and facilitator sat with teams and teams discussed and wrote inputs in to the format for developing guidelines for Social Protection to PLHIVs in the country.  The inputs of all groups will help the DAC to design the process the how DAPCU implement the Social Protection activity in the district, how to document, how to approach, how to measure and how to monitor the activity.  

h. Later all groups made presentations from AP team Mr. Srikar got the opportunity to represent Monitoring Mechanism team for presentation and he did very well and all participants also recognized that he made presentation well and comprehensive  to all presentations done before.

      This workshop helped DAPCU, SACS and DAC lot to learn lessons from existing strategies and approaches and it will give fruitful results in developing guidelines on Social Protection to PLHIVs and their families.

   

       My heartfelt thanks to DNRT, NTSU, DAC, UNDP, APSACS and DACO, Vizianagaram for their help, support and encouragement for helping me in participating in a national level workshop for a Nobel cause. 

Inspirational post from DAPCU, Mehsana, Gujarat

An Experience DIS DAPCU, Mehsana in Consultation Workshop on finalizing Social Protection Guidelines at Jaipur on 5th February-2014

           On behalf of DAPCU Mehsana I had attended the Consultation Workshop on Social Protection Guideline at Lebua Resort, Jaipur on  5th February-2014. It was an honour to be a part of the team witnessing the first ever national meet. Experience in the Workshop added lots of values and boosted my enthusiasm and courage to work closely for the cause. Lot of things I came to know from the events where I had participated and shared. This will be reflected in the steps taken ahead for my district. Followings are some of my experiences and learning from the Workshop.

               The requirement of National AIDS Control Programme is not confined to care support and treatment but has extended to linkages of the PLHA for social protection scheme. Now the time has came to advocate for various schemes to give humanitarian touch for the people living with HIV AIDS. 

               Although DAPCU in Mehsana have already been involved in facilitating PLHA and HRG to avail schemes still there is long way forward. I came to know about the thematic components, efforts in policy and strategies adopted by different states and nations as well for linkages of PLHA to social protection schemes. 

                This is my first ever participation and exposure in National level Consultation Workshop on Social Protection Guideline which helped me to understand various schemes, policies and strategies to link PLHA in to social protection schemes. It also enriched my knowledge and boosted my confidence to work for the PLHA in my district.I had shared my views and challenges faced in my District during group discussions held during the Workshop for Prepare SP Guideline.During the one days of the Workshop, I met Cosultant Mainstreaming, DACO & DPM  of  Verious  State &  District  and  we discussed about  How to Provide  Benefit  of  social protections schemes to PLHAs and HRGs.I came to know about the  importance given to linkages of  PLHA in to social protection schemes in NACP phase-IV and that all  DAPCUs need to play a pivotal role i,e facilitator for linkages to the schemes.I realized that  DAPCU need to ensure effective mechanism for delivery of social protection schemes.

             

                    My utmost gratitude to Elizabeth Michael,Team Leader, Mainstreaming & Partnerships Dept. of AIDS Control, Delhi for giving me chance to attend the Workshop on Social Protection Guideline and sincere gratefulness to Dr.Govind Bansal DAPCU Coordinator, National Resource Team(DNRT) for  support and confidence imposed on me and nominating my candidature.I must be thankful to our Additional Project Director, GSACS for his Approval to me for Attend the Workshop.

                  The efforts of UNDP and Dept. of AIDS Control, Delhi are really appreciable. This was an important and very good initiative to bring different Sate & District on to one platform to discuss and plan Social Protection Guideline for the People Living with HIV and AIDS & HRGs.

             

The Story of a Hospital

On 13 April 1971 Shri Sadhan Chandra Mistry, aged 35 years a vegetable vendor (a total non-entity) in the obscure village of Hanspukur, District South 24-Parganas, West Bengal, died of a very common and minor ailment, only because he could not get access to any medical attention whatsoever.
He left behind his illiterate wife Subhasini (23 years then) with two sons and two daughters four to eight years in age. Naturally the family plunged into utter poverty and Subhasini was forced out of her home within one month of her husband’s death, to sell vegetables in that hamlet market. That
day, while she sat under the scorching sun selling vegetables and worrying about her children, she took a vow that one day she will build a hospital in that very village so that no poor villager would die for want of medical attention.

Her fellow vendors and every person who heard of her vow just laughed and made fun of her. How can she build a hospital, they jeered, when she cannot even mend her own thatched hut? Plus she has to feed a family of five and marry two daughters all humbug and pure day dreaming must have
lost her mind; was the considered conclusion by the village elders.

However, day in and out, Subhasini went on selling vegetables silently and looking after her children never allowing the fire in her frail body to douse even for a moment. After persevering for twenty full years, ultimately she could start a clinic at her home for poor people. She managed to coax a doctor into coming to her village every week. And week after week, while tens of poor patients got medical attention from this lone clinic in the region, Subhasini became the most popular household name in her village. Now her fellow vendors and all others started respecting her. That was enough of a support for her.
In the meantime, her children grew up. The two daughters were married off. The eldest son chose to be a labourer, working in agricultural fields. Her other son, the youngest of the lot, Ajoy Mistry was identified by Subhasini to carry on her mission. He successfully completed his secondary education and passed the All India Medical Entrance Test. Aided by the German Scholarship, he joined Calcutta Medical College where he completed his medical course. He worked hard as he studied, ran around from friends to well wishers to any person/organization he had access and managed to raise Rs.50,000 for his Mother’s mission.

In 1993, Ajoy Mistry authored the trust deed of Humanity Trust with his mother Subhasini Mistry as the co-founder trustee. On 5th February 1995, the foundation stone for the Hospital was laid and on 9th March 1996, the hospital was inaugurated and opened to public. Within one year, the trust could raise ten times the initial money to complete the first structure of the hospital. Soon, more donations followed and today, Subhasini Mistry can say with pride that she has fulfilled her pledge made to her husband two and half decades earlier.
The will and spirit of a woman who defied social norms and obstacles all along to establish the first hospital in that region The Humanity Hospital underscores a saga of dedication, commitment, vision, ambition and unflinching determination of a resource less illiterate village woman in acute penury and distress.

Humanity Hospital is certified and registered as a Hospital under the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Act. of 1950, managed by Humanity Trust formed on 4th March 1993. In the year 2000, in appreciation of their service to humanity and poor people in particular, both Subhasini Mistry and Ajoy Mistry were honoured and named as the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary International. Today, despite the financial crunch to meet recurring expenses, the Hospital provides best services to poor and underprivileged sections of the society.

Subhasini Mistry still sells vegetables in Kolkata market to sustain her
family.

Azim Premji's Speech at IIM, Ahemdabad

"While change and uncertainty have always been a part of life, what has been shocking over the last year has been both the quantum and suddenness of change. For many people who were cruising along on placid waters, the wind was knocked out of their sails. The entire logic of doing business was turned on its head. Not only business, but also every aspect of human life has been impacted by the change. What lies ahead is even more dynamic and uncertain. I would like to use this opportunity to share with you some of our own guiding principles of staying afloat in a changing world. This is based on our experience in Wipro. I hope you find them useful. 

FIRST, be alert for the first signs of change. Change descends on everyone equally; it is just that some realize it faster. Some changes are Sudden but many others are gradual. While sudden changes get attention because they are dramatic, it is the gradual changes that are ignored till it is too late. You must have all heard of story of the frog in boiling water. If the temperature of the water is suddenly increased, the frog realizes it and jumps out of the water. But if the temperature is very slowly increased, one degree at a time, the frog does not realize it till it boils to death. You must develop your own early warning system, which warns you of changes and calls your attention to it. In the case of change, being forewarned is being forearmed. 

SECOND, anticipate change even when things are going right. Most people wait for something to go wrong before they think of change. It is like going to the doctor for a check up only when you are seriously sick or thinking of maintaining your vehicle only when it breaks down. The biggest enemy of future success is past success. When you succeed, you feel that you must be doing something right for it to happen!. But when the parameters for success change, doing the same things may or may not continue to lead to success. Guard against complacency all the time. Complacency makes you blind to the early signals from the environment that something is going wrong. 

THIRD, always look at the opportunities that change represents. Managing change has a lot to go with our own attitude towards it. It is proverbial half-full or half empty glass approach. For every problem that change represents, there is an opportunity lurking in disguise somewhere. It is up to you to spot it before someone else does. 

FOURTH, do no allow routines to become chains. For many of us the routine we have got accustomed to obstructs change. Routines represent our own zones of comfort. There is a sense of predictability about them. They have structured our time and even our thought in a certain way. While routines are useful, do not let them enslave you. Deliberately break out of them from time to time. FIFTH, realize that fear of the unknown is natural. With change comes a feeling of insecurity. Many people believe that brave people are not afflicted by this malady. The truth is different. Every one feels the fear of unknown. Courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to manage fear without getting paralyzed. Feel the fear, but move on regardless.

SIXTH, keep renewing yourself. This prepares you to anticipate change and be ready for it when it comes. Constantly ask yourself what new skills and competencies will be needed. Begin working on them before it becomes necessary and you will have a natural advantage. The greatest benefit of your education lies not only in what you have learnt, but in working how to learn. Formal education is the beginning of the journey of learning. Yet I do meet youngsters who feel that they have already learnt all there is to learn. You have to constantly learn about people and how to interact effectively with them. In the world of tomorrow, only those individuals and organizations will succeed who have mastered the art of rapid and on-going learning. 

SEVENTH, surround yourself with people who are open to change. If you are always in the company of cynics, you will soon find our self becoming like them. A cynic knows all the reasons why something cannot be done. Instead, spend time with people who have a "can- do" approach. Choose your advisors and mentors correctly. Pessimism is contagious, but then so is enthusiasm. In fact, reasonable optimism can be an amazing force multiplier. 

EIGHTH, play to win. I have said this many times in the past. Playing to win is not the same as cutting corners. When you play to win, you Stretch yourself to your maximum and use all your potential. It also helps you to concentrate your energy on what you can influence instead of getting bogged down with the worry of what you cannot change. Do your best and leave the rest. 

NINTH, respect your self. The world will reward you on your successes. Success requires no explanation and failure permits none. But you need to respect yourself enough so that your self-confidence remains intact whether you succeed or fail. If you succeed 90 per cent of the time, you are doing fine. If you are succeeding all the time, you should ask yourself if you are taking enough risks. If you do not take enough risks, you may also be losing out on many opportunities. Think through but take the plunge. If some things do go wrong, learn from them. I came across this interesting story some time ago: One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and begin to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovels later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at! What he saw. With every shovel of dirt that fell on his back, the donkey was doing some thing amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and totted off! Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick is too not to get bogged down by it. We can get out of the deepest wells by not stopping. And by never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

TENTH, in spite of all the change around you, decide upon what you will never change: your core values. Take your time to decide what they are but once you do, do not compromise on them for any reason. Integrity is one such value. These have contributed to our success, including our parents and others from our society. All of us have a responsibility to utilize our potential for making our nation a better place for others, who may not be as well endowed as us, or as fortunate in having the opportunities that we have got. Let us do our bit, because doing one good deed can have multiple benefits not only for us but also for many others. Let me end my talk with a small story I came across some time back, which illustrates this very well. This is a story of a poor Scottish farmer whose name was Fleming. One day, while trying to make a living for his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the boy from what could have been a slow and terrifying death. The next day, a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotsman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved. "I want to repay you," said the nobleman. "Yes" the farmer replied proudly. "I'll make you a deal. Let me take your son and give him a good education. If he's anything like his father, he'll grow to be a man you can be proud of." And that he did. In time, Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin. Years afterward, the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin. This is not the end. The nobleman's son also made a great contribution to society. For the nobleman was none other than Lord Randolph Churchill, and his son's name was Winston Churchill. Let us use all our talent, competence and energy for creating peace and happiness for the nation."

Dr Rajan Khobragade , Team Leader , National Technical Support Unit, - Shares an inspirational experience

We thank, Mr Arvind Kumar the author of the note  and also Mr  Dharmendra Parmar for sharing this piece with us.  This piece was originally posted at http://tpanand.blogspot.in/2012/01/meeting-project-objectives-differently.html. 

Meeting Project Objectives Differently

"Blind people work together and make parts of Boilers at Trichy for IOCL’s Paradip Refinery project …..… An experience sharing.

21st December 2011 has etched an unforgettable memory in my mind. I was at Tiruchirapalli on a mission to expedite supplies of Boilers at BHEL’s works for Power plant of IOCL’s ongoing Paradip Refinery Project. BHEL has outsourced non-pressure parts of these boilers to certain vendors nearby Trichy. ‘ORBIT’ is among such outsourced vendors, who is making Pins & Clamps of these boilers for our project. We decided to visit ORBIT also for review and expediting balance supplies. When we reached ORBIT works, we were greeted by their President Mr. P.R. Pandi, who himself is a blind person. To my utter surprise, the whole ORBIT workshop is run by blind persons. Though I was aware of certain special schools and institutions for blind persons but never heard about any manufacturing industry run completely by such persons. What I saw next inside the workshop is quite difficult to believe. I had never witnessed such well coordinated and coherent working by blind persons. People were segregating the raw material, feeding the raw material on cutting, shearing and punching machines with the help of their fellow blind friends, collecting the final products and bagging them after quality checks. The whole manufacturing process was efficiently done and finished product was meeting the quality standards. I was lost in deep admiration seeing their untiring efforts for making vital parts for my project and emotionally touched. Their interpersonal understanding and collective effort was exemplary and far better as compared to normal workers engaged in other industrial units. Below photos depict it completely but silently…

People were working with no ego and communication was being made not with vital sensory organs like eyes, but with their hearts. I was thrilled and compelled to think that dedicated and sincere working by these special people is a great example towards values of humanity which defies all laws of Project management. Calm and peace prevail here in their coordinated rhythm of working against any feeling of industrial acrimony. What came next was even more surprising. A physically handicapped welder was doing welding on the job and was assisted by a blind helper. We saw his blind helper almost running and going to store room next door to fetch the electrodes quickly. When enquired how he could do such job with much ease, my fellow companion from BHEL, Mr. Jai Ram told me that every worker working here is fully conversant with the layout of workshop and does the job with calculated steps – concepts of time and motion study, well grasped by them by heart. I was overwhelmed by their indomitable spirit, everlasting zeal and working in perfect harmony.

At the end, ORBIT president Mr. Pandi requested me ‘Sir, if you come across any blind person, please direct him to me, we will make him our team member here’. I controlled my emotions, advised them to maintain timelines and quickly moved out with mixed feelings, thinking and admiring effort and passion of ORBIT in this endeavour and with firm conviction that Paradip Refinery Project will soon be a realised dream.

Arvind Kumar

Chief Project Manager-PDRP

Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

Refineries Head Quarters, New Delhi

Mobile: 9582262166

Email: kumarar@iocl.co.in

PS:I would like to thank IOCL Management & BHEL team for giving me an opportunity to

have such wonderful experience with a noble cause during project expediting at BHEL,Trichy."