HIV Isn't The End

THERE is no greater stigma today than being HIV-positive. Ostracised by a sadly misinformed society (even doctors refuse to treat you), the afflicted are forced to take refuge with voluntary agencies that help them cope with their painful condition. Some eventually learn to live with the virus, but many cannot survive the blackhole of depression and loneliness.

Like Joel, 22, and Mang, 33, two HIV-positive Manipuri boys who are being rehabilitated at the Delhi-based NGO Sahara. Their lives had lost all meaning. Till the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) offered them jobs, and a reason for living. They were asked to collect wastepaper from their offices and sell it in the market.

Says Joel, who got infected through intravenous drug use: "I would often get depressed because I felt I had no purpose in life. My world had shrunk to the confines and inmates of Sahara. Now I can go out and work and justify my existence."

 Every morning Joel and Mang go to CII's offices, collect wastepaper and then sell it in the Nizamuddin wastepaper market. On an average, they earn about Rs 50 a day. Joel and Mang also help Sahara in making stationery like notepads from recycled paper which is finally bought by CII.

Joel and Mang are special cases. They are not only fighting against the dreaded virus but also against their addiction to drugs, through which they got the virus. Both came to Delhi last year and have been trying to shake off their craving for drugs. Joel's family doesn't know he is here and "doesn't want to know". He doesn't want to go back as he fears he might fall into the drug-trap again.

Mang, who keeps in touch with his family back home, feels that the new job has helped him and Joel curb their still strong drug-urge. Besides, the fact that they don't have to spend the entire day at one place helps them cope with their precarious health. "Earlier I used to work in a restaurant. Of course nobody knew I had the virus, but I would often fall sick and had to ask for leave. The employers couldn't accept this and sacked me," says Joel.

For the CII, this experiment is a matter of great pride. Some might criticise their effort as a PR exercise, since the boys do not work amongst the CII employees. Nonetheless, they deserve kudos for it is probably the first time that a big organisation has given employment to individuals openly recognised as HIV-positive.

For the last several years CII has been trying to spread awareness about AIDS in different industries. Says S. Sen, CII's deputy director general: "We have already sold AIDS awareness literature to about 375 industries. Our objective is to make people aware about the nature of the disease, dispel all misconceptions so that HIV patients are not discriminated against." As part of its HIV/AIDS programme, CII advocates informed sexual behaviour through posters and condom-vending machines.

But do the CII employees know that two HIV-positive boys come to the office to collect wastepaper? Not all, admits Sen. "But the top management knows about it and I don't think anybody is going to object to their presence in the office." "This is just the beginning," he adds. "We are already discussing with other organisations that generate lots of wastepaper to give jobs to more HIV-positive patients. The Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency and publishers of the tabloid Sun have already agreed to join hands."

CII's gesture is exemplary. If others follow suit, the unfortunate Joels of the world can hope to see light at the end of the dark tunnel they currently find themselves in.