Kerala - Kochi   

From despair to contentment

KOCHI: Sheeba’s (name changed) peaceful life in Mumbai where she, her husband and two children lived, turned upside down when her ailing husband was found to be HIV positive. And now, she has been living with an HIV positive status for the past 10 years.

Speaking at a media sensitisation programme here organised by the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan before the arrival of the Red Ribbon Express in Kochi, Sheeba looked cheerful. “My family is back on the roll now with proper treatment for my husband.” Her job in one of the agencies working in HIV/AIDS prevention project provides her the support that she looks for from the community.

Going through extremely troubled times with no family support for the first five years of the discovery of the disease, Sheeba and her family shunned their native place and took shelter here. “My children, who are not HIV positive, are the biggest support in my life. I told them about the disease and why the relatives are behaving in a manner that hurts. They understand and even come to attend classes on the subject.”

The programme was inaugurated by District Collector M. Beena. K. Krishnankutty, Assistant Commissioner, Narcotic Cell, Kochi, presided. Molly A. V., district youth coordinator, Nehru Yuva Kendra, welcomed the gathering.

P. N. Venugopal, secretary, Ernakulam Press Club, Renuka V. G., regional director, public relations and Ganesh Kumar, nodal officer for Red Ribbon Express, spoke on the occasion. Harish K. proposed a vote of thanks.

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