Activities
Health Camp February 2016 at Jamgram Gram Panchayat, Hooghly
The Health Camp took place in collaboration with Kayani Centre for Sustainable Development and the Gram Panchayat, Jamgram, Block: Pandua,Dist: Hooghly. The Health camp took place focussing mainly on health check up of the children from 0-6 years doing routine blood test like Blood Group, RH factor, Total Count, Differential Count and the stool and urine test as well as eye check up of children.

Also Thalassemia Detection test was done for adolescent girls in collaboration with a diagnostic centre in Singur,Hooghly.

The Health Camp was a huge success and the school head master Jmagram,BDO Pandua as well as Panchyat Upa Pradhan (Vice Panchayat Pradhan) wants like this camp to take place again in near future
Nutrition Camp May 2015 at Gounoi Village, Hooghly
The nutrition camp took place in May 2015 at Gournoi village,Balagarh Block,Dist-Hooghly.150 women,children and men participated in the camp and after the camp they had lunch.

The camp took place in collaboration with Institute of Indian Mother & Child,24 pgs South.Many eminent personalities like MLA,Gram Pradhan,BDO Balagarh block participated in the program.
Earlier Programs
Celebration of World AIDS Day 2010 This year Dr Nikhil Vihari Memorial Foundation(Dr NVMF) celebrated World AIDS Day 2010 by organizing 4 stalls (2 stalls in Uttar Dinajpur namely Itahar & Kaliaganj ),1 stall in Tamluk, Purba Medinipur and 1 stall in Manbazar 1,Purulia .The stalls were made in all the respective bus stands. All the stalls were open from 8 A.M to 8 P.M on 1st December (World AIDS Day) and 2nd December 2010 respectively.

Stalls in Uttar Dinajpur ( Itahar & Kaliaganj): Two stalls were organized one in Itahar and one in Kaliaganj. In Itahar the total population came in the stall were 235 and in Kaliaganj the total population came were 142. As the stalls were made in bus stands thus anumber of people from nearby villages from the same block as well as from the adjoining blocks came and visited the stalls.

The volunteers of Dr NVMF distributed the IEC materials including the leaflets and distributed condoms to the people who came and visited the stalls. Many people wanted to know about the signs and symptom of HIV/AIDS, some people even asked about where to go for testing and if a person is tested HIV + then where to go for medicines as the general population is some what aware about ARV drugs and ART centre. The volunteers of Dr NVMF told details about the nearest ICTCs so that the people can go for free HIV testing and even told about the nearest ARTcentres which is Maldah DH ART Center near to Itahar and Islapmur ART centre near to Kaliaganj. Also the volunteers told about the other services provided by WBSAPCS in the district of Uttar Dinajpur and even told the general public to know more about HIV/AIDS by dialing a toll free no that is 1097 helpline and if possible to visit the website of WBSAPCS.

Stall in Manbazar I in Purulia: One stall was made in the district in the Manbazar 1 bus stand.The total population covered were 175.The general population asked a lot related to routes of transmission of HIV, signs and symptoms of HIV etc. The volunteers of Dr NVMF gave answers to there questions and told about the various servicesof WBSAPCS like ICTC,ART etc. As this district is tribal infested district thus majority of the population gathered in the stalls were tribals and mostly are migrant labourers.

Stall in Tamluk,Purba Medinipur: One stall was made in the district in Tamluk bus stand. The total population covered were 208. The volunteers of Dr NVMF gave information related to the various services provided by WBSAPCS like ICTC, ARTC, Blood Bank TIs etc and told to contact 1097 for further details.

In all the four stalls the there were a good gatherings by the general village populations.A number of questions were asked and the volunteers of Dr NVMF gave answers to the questions even.The village people in all the 4 places in all the 3 districts requested DR NVMF to conduct such awareness programmes in near future as they gathered a lot of knowledge from these programmes.
Survey Report on HIV vulnerability among Tribal populated villages of Purulia District Introduction :
More than 80% of the 1 billion population live in rural tribal area. In West Bengal the tribal population is found maximum in the district of Purulia. Most of the tribals reside in rural areas (93 %), illiterate (72 %) and are below poverty line. Seasonal migration to cities for livelihood is common among male and female. In Purulia the maximum tribal population are in the block of Bundwan and then in the blocks of ManbazarII, Sanuri, Balarampur, Hura, Bagmundi, Kashipur, Puncha, Manbazar and Arsha.

In Purulia the maximum tribal backward villages are 994.The maximum tribal backward population is in
The following blocks are:

Bagmundi, Barabazar, JhaldaII, Manbazar, Arsha, Bundwan, Balarampur, Joypur and Jhalda I

Aims of the survey :
The aim of the survey is to find the HIV/AIDS vulnerability among the tribal populated villages in Purulia.

Methods :
A questionnaire on HIV /AIDS was used to know the knowledge of the general population about HIV/AIDS.
Total population covered in the survey were 600.Total 20 blocks were covered in the survey and 30 people were interviewed in each block from different villages.

The blocks are namely :

Arsha
Hura
Neturia
Baghmundi
Balarampur
Bundwan
Barabazar
Jhalda-I
Jhalda-II
Jaipur
Kashipur
Manbazar-I
Manbazar-II
Para
Puncha
Purulia-I
Purulia-II
R.N.Pur-I
R.N.Pur-II
Santuri

The questionnaire was used to collect data among Panchayati Raj Pradhans, Local Club members, School Teachers, Youths, Shop keepers of medicine shop where there is condom outlet, Pan and Biri shop which is also shop for condom outlet & general village population.

The questionnaire was used in Bengali, Hindi and Santhali languages as majority . It was found through the survey that many of the youths, owner of paan and biri shop as well the general population found in the village market place were very less educated and illiterate.

The questions were answered in either yes/no/don’t know. It is a qualitative study.
The questionnaire used is as follows :

1. What is your name ?
2. How old are you ?
3. What is you occupation?
4. Do you know what is HIV & AIDS ?
5. What are the routes of transmission of HIV?
6. How HIV cannot be transmitted ?
7. What are the signs and symptoms of HIV ?
8. If a person is suspected to have HIV which is the place the person has to be taken ?
9. If a person is tested HIV positive where would that client be taken first ?
10. Have you ever heard about District Level PLHA network ?
11. Do you know any group having high risk behavior like Injecting Drug Users(IDUs), Female Sex Workers(FSWs) and Men Having Sex with Men (MSM)?
12. If you know the high risk group where they are concentrated maximum in which block and in which village ?
13. What can be the population strength of these high risk group(FSWs,MSM & IDUs)?
14.Do you know that in the district of Purulia the people go out of the district for work i.e. whether they migrate or not ?
15. If they migrate then in what intervals they return home ?
16. Do you know about the utility to use condom ?
17. Is there any truckers halt points in the district of Purulia ?
18. Have you ever heard about or seen Buladi ?
19. Have you ever heard about 1097 ?
20. If you have heard about 1097 did you ever call in that number ?

Duration of the study :
4 months approx
It took 4 months approximatey to do the whole survey because it was very difficult to get the general population from all the blocks .Though the men were available and were ready to give the interview but the women were very difficult to access. Men dominates the women till now and the women stay mainly in the home and very rarely come out of their homes.

Findings :
It was found through the survey that 30% have ever heard about AIDS and only 10 % have ever heard about HIV among the general population who are tribals who had been interviewed at market place in different blocks. After further probing with the tribals who have ever heard about AIDS reflected widespread ignorance. Many of them believed that AIDS is spread by hand shaking (70 %) and eating together (80%). Almost all (98 %) believed that AIDS can be treated by the quacks and traditional healers and a tiny minority knew that it could be prevented by safe sex. Besides ignorance majority of the tribal population (the general population) has a number of myths and misconceptions about HIV/AIDS.

Many of the rural tribals are exposed to unsafe sex. The drinking habit is very common and there were many youths who were interviewed among the general population. Most of the tribals (75 %) drink home made alcohol, 72 % smoke tobacco and the seasonal migration is more than 40 %. AIDS awareness education is urgently needed for the tribals so that that they can be saved from HIV/AIDS vulnerability. Most of the sex workers in the tribal areas don't run brothels, but work in households. While talking to some sex workers in some blocks like Arsha, Hura, Bagmundi & Para, it was found that their clients don't want them to take precautions i.e. do not use condoms which increases the chances of contracting any Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) like HIV/AIDS as well as Hepatitis B and C.As told by the general population as well by some shopkeepers of paan & biri shop as well as the shopkeepers of he medicine shops where condoms are available the FSWs are maximum in Arsha, Hura, Bagmundi and Para blocks than other blocks of Purulia. Also these FSWs are mainly flying sex workers who work mainly from their home. The characteristics of the tribal women is that they mainly have multi sexual partners apart from their husbands also the male have multi sexual partners and migrate to other district in West Bengal and also to other states to earn their living. Thus the person becomes more vulnerable to be HIV+.

Also it was found through survey that in the blocks of Arsha, Bundwan and in Bagmundi the tribal men do both heterosexual as well as homosexual intercourse without using a condom. Thus the homosexuals do anal sex which may lead to HIV/AIDS.

Through interview with the general population it was found that mainly the tribal men migrates seasonally from the blocks of Arsha, Hura, Jaipur, Para, Jhalda II and Jaipur. The IDUs are very less in Purulia district as told by the general population, though there are some Brown sugar addicts found in Purulia II block.

The school teachers as well as the Panchati Raj Pradhans had quite a good knowledge about HIV/AIDS, the routes of transmission etc but inspite of knowing everything they believe that HIV transmits through air. They have lots of stigma and discrimination among them. Inspite of knowing everything about HIV/AIDS they do not want to either aware the general public about HIV/AIDS and does not even tell the general population to go to ICTC voluntarily for doing HIV test. The Panchati Raj Pradhans while interviewing did not want to give the interview when told that they would be asked some questions about HIV/AIDS due to stigma and discrimination but finally they were convinced by the field workers of NVMF.

As revealed by general public some of them have heard about Bula di but most of them are still in the dark specially the women. Very few women had been interviewed (among 600 just 150) as the tribal rural women does not want to come out from their homes. The women had very less knowledge not only about STD/HIV/AIDS but also about their general health.

Some general people at market place are very eager to know more about STD/HIV/AIDS and wants more awareness to be held in the district of Purulia. They doesnot know what are the services provided by WBSAPCS like ICTC,PPTCT,ART ,TIs etc. Few of the general population told that in television and in the radio they have heard and seen Bula di and two persons (tribals belonging to Mahato family) even told that they tried to call in 1097 but was unable to get the no from Purulia district.

Conclusion :

Through the findings it could be concluded that awareness on HIV/AIDS has been very less in the district of Purulia. The general population has very little knowledge about STD/HIV/AIDS. The Panchayat Raj Pradhans and the well educated school teachers inspite of having knowledge about HIV/AIDS have lots of stigma and discrimination in their mind. It has been revealed by some general public that they suspect many persons having HIV like body weight getting reduced in a month’s time, having fever and diarrhea for a long time (mainly seasonal migrants) but they have very less knowledge about the services rendered by WBSAPCS.

The general tribal population till date have full faith on quacks and traditional healers rather accessing the services in Government hospitals. They think that if some individual is affected with HIV the quacks can cure him/her. They have very less idea about HIV testing at ICTC and treatment of HIV+ in ART centers.

The women were very difficult to access. Men dominates the women till now and the women stay mainly in the home and very rarely come out of their homes. The women also have very less knowledge about safe sexual practices, they hardly use condoms as they are forced to do sex by their partner without a condom and also have very poor knowledge about STD/HIV/AIDS.

Through the survey it could be stated that a lot of general awareness programme on HIV/AIDS has to be conducted in the district of Purulia. Also a lot of IEC materials in Santali language (Tribal language) where services are written has to be prepared.

References :

1. Panchayat Pradhans from Panchayati Raj Institutions from the blocks of Arsha, Hura, Bundwan, Bagmundi, Joypur, Bundwan, Jhalda I, Jhalda II, Balarampur, Purulia I, Raghunathpur, Purulia II ,Manbazar I, Manbazar I Barabazar, Santuri, Para, Puncha, Kashipur, Neturia.
Total number were 100 from whom the interview were taken.

2. School teachers in Arsha, Hura ,Bundwan , Bagmundi, Joypur, Bundwan,Jhalda I ,Jhalda II, Balarampur, Purulia I, Raghunathpur, Purulia II, Manbazar I, Manbazar I Barabazar, Santuri, Para, Puncha, Kashipur, Neturia blocks.
Total number were 100 from whom the interview were taken.

3. General population both men and women(men 250+ women 150)who came to village market places as well as the shopkeepers of the medicine shop and paan and biri shops where there are condom outlets.

4. District Magistrate of Purulia.
Report on HIV / AIDS Awareness in 11 Schools at Nadia The awareness programmes in all the 11 schools started on 28.06.2008 and ended on 15/07/2008.

The schools where the awareness took place are as follows :
The awareness programme became a grand success in all the 11 schools at Nadia. All the schools were the awareness programme were conducted in the rural areas mainly near Bangladesh border.The schools which were choosen and where the awareness programmes were conducted, before there were no awareness programme neither on HIV/AIDS and other basic health nor the students get any sex education in those schools. It was found that in all the 11 schools none of the students, teachers and guardians had the correct information about HIV/AIDS. They were preoccupied with lots of myths and misconceptions. The awareness programme helped them to gain the basic knowledge about HIV/AIDS.

A Frequently Asked Questionnaire (FAQ) was formed. In that questionnaire basic questions on HIV/AIDS were written. The questionnaire was written in Bengali language because majority of the participants were well verse in Bengali language than any other language and the schools were all Bengali Medium Schools.The FAQ is placed under Annexure I.

The total population covered in all the 11 schools were :

a. Students : 950 approx per school mainly from class VIII- XII (Adolescent boys and girls)
b. Teachers : 200 approx per school
c. Gurdians : 202 approx per school

At first when the schools were choosen where the awareness will take place and the secretary &some of the board members of NVMF personally went to have a talk with the headmasters of the schools, some of the headmasters became very angry after hearing that HIV/AIDS awareness will be conducted in the schools. They told that the environment of the schools will be hampered with such programme being conducted in their school. So convincing all concerned about social importance of the programme took nearly 2 months to start the programme after getting the order from Project Director, WBSAPCS. Even in the village of Rasullahpur,Chakdah a HIV+ person, who happens to be migrant labour ,reportedly died of AIDS after suffering from lots of social agony. This somehow mobilized the local school headmasters to realise importance of such forums.

The detailed report of all the 11 schools are as follows :

School 1 :

The school’s name is Rasulullahpur Senior Madrasah at Rasulullahpur,P.O.- Dewli,Dist : - Nadia .The inaugural programme took place in this school.Dr.Pravash Sanyashi was the resource person.The school was near the Bangladesh border.The awareness programme was in Bengali.The teachers were mainly the muslim maulavies.The students as well as guardians were muslims.At first it was very difficult to convince them for HIV/AIDS awareness because the population in that area were fully superstitious and stigmatized about the topic.They are preoccupied with various myths and misconceptions and dosenot want to come out from it. However the headmaster of the school became convinced and the awareness could be conducted. Dr.Sanyashi gave a brief lecture on basics of HIV/AIDS, about myths and misconceptions, route of transmission and about STDs. FAQs were given to all the participants.The answers given by them before conducting the awareness makes it clear that there is limited knowledge about HIV/AIDS like many of them told that through mosquito bite and sharing the same utensils spreads HIV/AIDS.Also most of them told that they have heard about Buladi idol but when they want to speak with her in 1097 they can’t. So they have lots of queries. After the awareness was over many of the points specially the myths and misconceptions about HIV/AIDS became clear and the FAQs given to the participants were answered correct. The school found such awareness programme very fruitful and wanted such programmes to be conducted at least once in 3 months.

School 2 :

The school’s name is Rasullapur High School at P.O.- Dewli , Nadia. Ex-District Maternity Child Health Officer was the resource person.The awareness programme was conducted in Bengali language as this is also in the Bangladesh Border.In this school also majority were muslims and the teachers were mainly Maulavies. In that school also FAQs were distributed to the participants before conducting the awareness and it was found that the participants are preoccupied with lots of myths and misconceptions like using same toilet, using same utensils etc spreads HIV. Also it was told by one of the students that doing sex with a virgin girl who is 10 years of age can cure HIV. But after the awareness programme these myths and misconceptions were over.They could get a clear picture about HIV/AIDS. Then again FAQs were given to the participants and the participants could answer the questions clearly. In this school the participants wants this type of awareness to be conducted frequently.

School 3 :

The school’s name is Patpukur High School at Vill-Digha,P.O.-Dogachhi,Nakashipara,Nadia .The resource person was the B.S.I.(Bloack Sanitory Inspector) Dr.Swapan Kumar Sinha .The awareness programme was also conducted in one of schools near Bangladesh border. In this school also majority were muslims.FAQs were given to all the participants before and after the awareness programme. It was found that majority of the participants the students, teachers as well the guardians had no idea about STDs.It was believed by the teachers as well as the students that mainly girls get more affected by HIV/AIDS than boys.One of the participants that is one of the student told that man who are HIV+ can be cured if they do sexual intercourse with virgin girls below 10 years age.Many of the students who are all teen agers had lots of curiosity about sex.They separately asked the resource persons after the programme. But after the programme was over the answers given to the FAQs were more or less correct.This school also wants more HIV/AIDS as well as basic health awareness in schools to take place in near future.

School 4 :

The school’s name is Birpur High School at Birpur , Nadia. The resource person was the B.S.I.(Bloack Sanitory Inspector) Dr.Swapan Kumar Sinha. The awareness programme was also conducted in one of schools near Bangladesh border. In this school also majority were muslims.FAQs were given to all the participants before and after the awareness programme.In this school also majority of the participants had lots of myths and misconceptions which were corrected to some extent after the awareness programme.It could be found from the FAQs given after the awareness programme was over. This school also wants more HIV/AIDS as well as basic health awareness in schools to take place in near future.

School 5 :

The school’s name is Baro Chandghar Uccho Bidhalaya at Baro Chandghar , Nadia.The resource person of the program was the Deputy C.M.O.H. III Dr.Manas Bhattacharya .The awareness programme was also conducted in one of schools near Bangladesh border. In this school also majority were muslims.FAQs were given to all the participants before and after the awareness programme.In this school also majority of the participants had lots of myths and misconceptions which were corrected to some extent after the awareness programme.It could be found from the FAQs given after the awareness programme was over. This school also wants more HIV/AIDS as well as basic health awareness in schools to take place in near future.

School 6 :

The school’s name is Matiati R.P.Sen Memorial High School ( H.S.) at P.O.- Matiari ,Nadia .The resource person was Dr.Ashok Kumar Podder.The programme started with lots of difficulty in this school. The school was located nesr Bangladesh Border.The teachers as well as the guardians are so much stigmatized that they were not allowing the volunteers of NVMF to arrange the entire programme. They were thinking that programme related to HIV/AIDS will have a negative impact in the student’s mind. As the subject is related to sex the students might be engaged in all these activities which may hamper their studies and future. But fortunately the secretary could convince the headmaster and some how the HIV/AIDS awareness programme were conducted. But after the awareness was over the FAQs were given to the participants and answered all the answers more or less correct. The total perception about the topic related to HIV/AIDS were changed after the awareness programme were over. The myths and misconception were over and the participants of that school who didnot want the awareness to take place they only wanted such kinds of programme to take place in future as they gained lots of knowledge.

School 7 :

The school’s name is Janakinagar High Madrasah at P.O.- Plassey Sugar Mill,Nadia. The resource person was Dr.Manas Bhattacharya.The awareness programme was also conducted in one of schools near Bangladesh border. In this school also majority were muslims.FAQs were given to all the participants before and after the awareness programme.In this school also majority of the participants had lots of myths and misconceptions which were corrected to some extent after the awareness programme.It could be found from the FAQs given after the awareness programme was over. This school also wants more HIV/AIDS as well as basic health awareness in schools to take place in near future.

School 8 :

The school’s name is Juranpur Durgadas Saealabala High School at Juranpur,Kaliganj,Nadia .The resource person was Dr.Ashok Kumar Podder.The awareness programme was also conducted in one of schools near Bangladesh border. In this school also majority were muslims.FAQs were given to all the participants before and after the awareness programme.In this school also majority of the participants had lots of myths and misconceptions which were corrected to some extent after the awareness programme.It could be found from the FAQs given after the awareness programme was over. This school also wants more HIV/AIDS as well as basic health awareness in schools to take place in near future.

School 9 :

The school’s name is Dadupur High School at P.O.- Dadupur,Nadia.The resource person was Dr.Swapan Kumar Sinha .The awareness programme was also conducted in one of schools near Bangladesh border. In this school also majority were muslims.FAQs were given to all the participants before and after the awareness programme.In this school also majority of the participants had lots of myths and misconceptions which were corrected to some extent after the awareness programme.It could be found from the FAQs given after the awareness programme was over. This school also wants more HIV/AIDS as well as basic health awareness in schools to take place in near future.

School 10 :

The school’s name is Plassey Mira Balika Vidyaniketan at Plassey , Nadia.The resource person was Dr.Nabanita Bhadra . FAQs were given to all the participants before and after the awareness programme. In this school also majority of the participants had lots of myths and misconceptions which were corrected to some extent after the awareness programme.Some of the participants especially the students and guardians had some myths like deep kissing and using the same utensils and toilet can spread HIV. The majority of the participants were muslims.The school was at Bangladesh Border.One of the participants told that its not mandatory to use condom,if one sticks to only one partner HIV can’t be transmitted.Also majority of the teachers and guardians told confidentially that they don’t how to use a condom.Also 99% of the students asked confidentially to the resource persons as well as the volunteers of NVMF about proper condom use, STD & HIV/AIDS. The headmaster of the school told that once he admitted a child whose father was HIV+ and he died may be because of AIDS.Inspite of knowing that status of the child whether he was also HIV+ or not he admiited him to the school.When the guardians came to know about the status of the child’s father, they threatened the headmaster that they would withdraw their children from the school because their children might get affected with HIV as they knew that HIV is an airborne virus. the headmaster also was not clear about the routes of transmission.But after the awareness programme the headmaster’s all the queries were solved and he got a clear picture about HIV/AIDS and felt that he did not do any wrong and felt very proud by admitting the student.

School 11 :

The school’s name is Patikabari Girls High School at Patikabari,Nakashipara,Nadia. The awareness programme was also conducted in one of schools near Bangladesh border. In this school also majority were muslims. FAQs were given to all the participants before and after the awareness programme. In this school also majority of the participants had lots of myths and misconceptions which were corrected to some extent after the awareness programme.It could be found from the FAQs given after the awareness programme was over. This school also wants more HIV/AIDS as well as basic health awareness in schools to take place in near future.

There were some problems faced during the awareness programme :

1. At first it was very difficult to convince the headmasters because they were preoccupied with a view which was against the HIV/AIDS awareness programme. But after repeated convincing by the secretary and other volunteers of the organization they were initially convinced and allowed to conduct the programme.

2. As there were one awareness programme conducted in all the 11 schools among the teachers, students and guardians the students could not ask their problems in front of their guardians and teachers also the teachers and guardians were not feeling free to clear their queries before the students and children. So, it would be better if two awareness programmes be conducted one for only students and another for both guardians and teachers.

Conclusion :

The awareness programme has been conducted for all the 11 schools inspite of many obstacles. After the awareness programme the students as well as their guardians and teachers could solve many of their queries. They were preoccupied with various myths and misconceptions about HIV/AIDS and very stigmatized about it. After the awareness programme was over there was a question & answer session which was conducted in all the 11 schools.The resource persons asked various questions in order to know what they have learned from the programme. The participants answered the questions very enthusiastically and correctly. This makes clear that the stigma and discrimination which prevailed there were reduced to some extent. Also the adolescent population mainly the teenagers which is one of the most important vulnerable group for HIV/AIDS were covered in the awareness programme. The religious leader was covered mainly the muslim maulavis who were the headmasters of the schools. They were also preoccupied with various myths and misconceptions which were made clear in the programme.These people suggested that more awareness programme has to be conducted in 60 schools(approx) in the Nadia district. They even told that previously there were no such programme conducted ever in schools in the rural areas and it is very essential to conduct such awareness programmes in schools at regular intervals. Also the tribal populations were even covered in these awareness programmes. Many of the students as well as their guardians belonged to many tribes.

Finally, majority of the participants told that they have heard about Buladi but when they see the advertisement in television and try to call they are unable to get the line (1097) as 1097 is only at Kolkata and the ajoining districts and not in the rural West Bengal.This seems to be major problem among the people in the rural areas because they can’t solve their immediate problems whenever required.Also all the schools where the awareness had been conducted were near the Bangladesh border which is again a very vulnerable place for trafficking of girls and drugs which may spread STD/HIV/AIDS.
HIV / AIDS Awareness Programme in Burwan District The district of Burdwan is also infested with Tribals. Mostly these Tribal population lives in the villages. The tribals are manly Santals (name of the Tribe) in this district. The knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS, sexual health as well as basic health is very limited.

This awareness programmes helped the general population to get a lot of idea about HIV/AIDS & sexual health. All the awareness programmes were completed successfully. In each awreness programme the total participants were more that 100 in all of the programmes :

Date Block Village Population Covered
4/1/2009 KALNA II GOPINATHPUR 119
5/1/2009 KALNA I PAT DUPSA 113
5/1/2009 KALNA I HATSHIMLA 103
6/1/2009 MEMARI II KARSIKUNDA 122
6/1/2009 MEMARI II GHATAKPUKUR 127
7/1/2009 KALNA II DHOBA 111
8/1/2009 MEMARI I MUNSHIDANGA 116
8/1/2009 MEMARI I KATALIA 127
9/1/2009 MEMARI II AHIRA 113
9/1/2009 MEMARI II BENEGRAM 142
10/1/2009 MONTESHWAR GHUNGUR 129
10/1/2009 PURBASTHALI I NOTUNPARA 125
11/1/2009 PURBASTHALI I GOALPARA 106
11/1/2009 MEMARI I PUSHGUNA 117
17/1/2009 MEMARI II BARABAGAN 106
17/1/2009 MEMARI II NANNA 118
18/1/2009 MONTESHWAR SIHIGRAM 123
18/1/2009 MONTESHWAR MADHYAM GRAM 109
18/1/2009 MONTESHWAR PANDARBATI 131
24/1/2009 KALNA I DUPSA 110
POPULATION COVERED IN THE MONTH OF JANUARY,09 2367

The awareness programmes were held in the village melas and near the market place where the general population was maximum. The tribal community including women, youths, mainly adolescent boys and girls & men were there in all the awareness programmes.

Many of the male population were migrants as revealed by them who either migrate inside the state or in other state. They work in brick kiln, as a construction labour and even work with gold smiths even some of them do zari works in sarees.Most of these Tribal men and women were illiterate, so mode of awareness programme was fully pictorial in Burdwan district aso like Puruliya district. Hand fans were used as a mode of IEC material where the modes of transmission of HIV and how HIV cannot be transmitted were depicted. The tribal population felt that these hand fans were an effective mode of communication. Also awareness programme was conducted by using pictures of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, how HIV can be transmitted and how it can’t be transmitted,etc. Also folkdance and drama were used as a medium of communication for revealing what is HIV/AIDS, routes of transmission, how it can be prevented and the care and support for HIV positive clients as well as about ICTC for doing HIV test.These folk drama and songs were done in the local Tribal language Also by delivering lectures some session were conducted especially about the ICTC services,ART centre ,what are the signs and symptoms of HIV and other services. Mainly sessions were taken in Bengal but a translater was there who translated the whole session into the tribal language which was Santali language specially for Tribals in Burdwan district. Huge number of tribal people who were gathered in the awareness programme asked a lot o questions to the resource persons about STD/HIV/AIDS.Some cases will be decribed below:

Case 1 :
A tribal man of 35 years of age who went to earn his living in Mumbai as a goldsmith was returned back to his native village at Monteswar block in Burdwan district when he discovered his HIV positive status at Mumbai in one Integrated Counselling and Testing Centre (ICTC) a few months back.Later his wife and daughter too tested positive for HIV. The whole family came and attended the awareness programme in Burdwan District.They revealed their status after the awareness programme was over to the volunteer of NVMF. They have been suggested to do the CD4 test and if possible go to the nearest ART centre at Burdwan Medical College & Hospital to start the ARV if needed.

Case 2:
A man of age 26 years came revealed after the awareness programme that he have multiple sexual intercourse with many women, many of them are CSWs who stay in brothels. He has been suggested to do HIV test immediately in the nearest ICTC.

Case 3:
A tribal women aged 24 years has 2 children and is now pregnant. She has come in the village mela where the HIV/AIDS awareness programme was taking place. She listened to the whole awareness programme. After the programme was over she revealed very confidentially that her husband is a migrant.He works in a brick klin in Ganjam district of Orissa (considered to be district A in Orissa) and comes home after every 3-4 months. She suspected that her husband might have some association with the local sex workers. Now she is having some smelly discharge.This revelation to volunteer of NVMF had promptly initiated to suggest her to go for VDRL test and to the local hospital where there is PPTCT to do HIV test.

Case 4:
A 34 yrs old tribal man of athletic built hesitantly came to the back stage for sharing his experience which is causing ample extent of discomfort for him after he went through the awareness programme. By profession he is a mason working in the different cities in South Bengal. Three years back he had a fatal injury falling from a underconstruction roof top.That had caused blood transfusion. Nowadays, he revealed, sudden weight loss is being observed along with occasional fever reoccurances. He was suggested to visit nearest ICTC for HIV testing and that might get him a relief from the tension he is bearing inside.The man stayed in PURBASTHALI I block,vllage GOALPARA of Burdawn district.

Case 5 :
A tribal girl of age14 years of Kalna 1 block, village Dupsa came with some of her friends and attended the whole awareness programme. After the programme was over she along with her friends asked to the female volunteers of NVMF very confidentially many questions related to sex and sexuality along with many questions associated to STD/HIV/AIDS.They felt very satisfied after getting all the answers.
HIV / AIDS Awareness Programme in Hooghly District The blocks of the Hooghly district is filled up with tribal villages. The number of tribal population is maximum in this district throughout West Bengal. The knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS, sexual health as well as basic health is very limited. This awareness programmes helped the general population to get a lot of idea about HIV/AIDS & sexual health.

All the awareness programmes were completed successfully. In each awareness programme the total participants were more that 100 in all of the programmes.The bocks mainly covered in the awareness programme are as follows: 1. Balagarh 2.Pandua 3. Dhanekhali 4.Polba 5.Baichi 6.Arambagh 7.Jangipara

All the awareness programmes took place in the interior tribal villages mainly in the market place.

Conclusion :

There were total 40 programmes.held in both the A category districts. It was found that the tribal population of Purulia district was much ignorant about STD/HIV/AIDS than Burdwan district. Mainly the awareness programme took place in the village melas as well as in the market place because of a huge crowd . The IEC materials received from WBSAPCS were much limited so IEC materials were borrowed from UNICEF.The Village Panchayat helped in conducting all the awareness programmes. The local people(tribals)as wellas the BDO, DM of both the districts told that these kind of awareness programmes is very fruitful and has to be conducted at least 2-3 times in a year. The general population asked lots of question and the exuberance manisfested by different socioeconomic cross section of tribal community was a definite achievement for this awareness programme.
HIV / AIDS Awareness Programme in Purba Medinipur District There are some blocks in Purba Medinipur district in which villages are filled up with tribal population who are majority in number and form the majority part of the general population. HIV/AIDS awareness programme took place in those villages. The knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS, sexual health as well as basic health is very limited among the villagers in these villages.

This awareness programmes helped the general population to get a lot of idea about HIV/AIDS & sexual health.

All the 15 awareness programmes were completed successfully. In each awareness programme the total participants were more that 100 in all of the programmes.

The 15 awareness programme took place at :

Date Block Village / Venue Population
24/09/2009 Conati 1 Chhatri Harijan Pry School Grnd 102
29/09/2009 Contai 2 Hamirpur Primari School Ground 108
24/10/2009 Digha Digha Bus Stand 105
24/10/2009 Tamluk Tamluk Sadar 101
25/10/2009 Paniparul 2 Mira Balika Bidyalaya Ground 109
25/10/2009 Ramnagar 1 Ramnagar Bazar 107
26/10/2009 Haldia Haldia 110
27/10/2009 Ramnagar 1 Ramnagar Foot ball Ground 103
28/10/2009 Ramnagar 2 Jubakbrinda Club Ground 106
29/10/2009 Potashpur Ramchandrapur Pry.Ground 111
30/10/2009 Egra Mirgoda (Badhia GP) 104
30/10/2009 Egra Mirgoda (Badhia GP) 104
31/10/2009 Egra Egra Super Market Place 109
31/10/2009 Khejuri Khejuri Hat tala 110
30/10/2009 Egra Mirgoda (Badhia GP) 104
1/11/2009 Paniparul I Chorpalia Market place 102
2/11/2009 Manglamarro Dhusarda Pry. school ground 107
TOTAL POPULATION COVERED 1594
GENERAL POPULATION 164

The awareness programmes were held in the village melas and near the market place where the general population was maximum. The tribal community including women, youths mainly adolescent boys and girls & men were there in all the awareness programmes. Many of the male population who attended the awareness programme were from the fisher men community who reside specially near the sea side of the district. They are mainly short stay migrants who are mainly involved in anal sex having homo sexual practice. Many of the population are either migrate inside the state or in other state mainly in Gujarat , Maharashtra, Delhi etc. They work in brick kiln, as a construction labour and even work with gold smiths even some of them do zari works in sarees. Many of the long distance truck drivers passes through the high way in Purba Medinipur where the awareness programme was held. The truck drivers mainly come from Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai and Karnataka where HIV positivity rate is quite high and also from other South Indian states like Tamil Nadu,Kerela. Both the truck drivers and migrants are among the bridge population who transmits HIV from High Risk Group and transmits it to their spouse who form the major bulk of the general population.

Most of these Tribal men and women were illiterate, so mode of awareness programme was fully pictoral. Handfans were used as a mode of IEC material where the modes of transmission of HIV and how HIV cannot be transmitted were depicted. The tribal population felt that these hand fans were an effective mode of communication. Also awareness programme was conducted by using pictures of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, how HIV can be transmitted and how it can’t be transmitted, etc. Also by delivering lectures some session were conducted especially about the ICTC services, ART centre, what are the signs and symptoms of HIV and other services. Huge number of tribal people who were gathered in the awareness programme asked a lot o questions to the resource persons about STD/HIV/AIDS.

Some cases will be described below:

Case 1 :
A man aged 29-30 yrs in Tamluk block came and attended the awareness programme. He belongs to one of the tribes. He is a fisher man by profession. He studied till class VIII. After hearing the entire awareness programme he revealed to one of the field workers of NVMF that he once had anal sex both with one male partner when he went to catch fish in the sea and also he has vaginal sex with his wife. He is in a dielemma whether he is bisexual or not and he fears whether he is HIV positive or not. He has been suggested to go for HIV test immediately in the nearest ICTC centre.He has been given the list of ICTC in the district and it was even told that if needed the filed workers of NVMF can accompany him for doing the HIV test in ICTC and confidentially will be maintained for that.

Case 2 :
A tribal man aged 24 years revealed that he is a migrant labour, works in the brick kiln in a small district in Tamil Nadu. He comes home every after 6 months or more. After the awareness programme was over he told to one of the volunteer of NVMF that in Tamil nadu he went to a brothel once and has done sexual intercourse with a Commercial Sex Worker without using a condom.He is very much frightened. He has been suggested to do VDRL test immediately to find whether he has got STD or not. He has also been suggested to use a condom while doing sex and also he has been suggested that both his wife and he should do HIV test immediately to find out their status in the nearest ICTC.

Case 3 :
Some college boys in Paniparul I block also listened to the awareness programme and asked the field workers of NVMF many questions related to STD/HIV/AIDS. They did not reveal high risk behaviour but took the detailed list with the addresses of the ICTCs in the whole district and even asked about the ARV drugs available and their utility.

Case 4 :
A person came aged 35 years approx, in Egra block,who is a tribal came and revealed in the awareness programme that he is a HIV positive person and he is taking ARV from Medinipur ART Centre.He disclosed his status and told that in the awareness programme about his own status. He even told about the routes of transmission and utility of condom use.

Case 5 :
A tribal women who listened to the entire awareness programme just after the programme was over came and told very confidentially to one of the field worker of NVMF that he was suffering from vaginal dischargewhich smells too bad.She did not reveal that she is engaged in any sex work or not.She has been suggested to do HIV test immediately at the nearest ICTC centre and she was also told that her husband should also come to ICTC for doing the HIV test. In all the awareness programmes condom were distributed freely. Even after the awareness programme many people asked for free condoms to the field workers of NVMF.

The Tribal population in all the 15 awareness programmes in different blocks of Purba Medinipur district revealed that this awareness programmes helped them a lot to understand and learn more about STD/HIV/AIDS and even about safe sex practices. Many of the tribal population after the programme took free condoms from the volunteers of NVMF. Some of the tribal women after the awareness programme was over came and asked the female volunteers of NVMF about how to use a condom. Condom demonstration was shown to them and they took many condoms with them even so that they will convince their partner to use a condom while doing sexual intercourse.

The knowledge regarding STIs was also low. Through awareness the tribal men gatheredalot of knowledge about STD/STI and how it is related with HIV/AIDS. STI can be prevented by using condom. The males were relatively more open to talk about STI than the females. The discussions as well as consultations revealed that the commonly prevalent STIs among the tribal community were - trichomoniasis, gonorrhoea syphilis, herpes, vaginitis, and UTI with the symptoms, genital discharge, genital ulcer/sore, burning pain during urination, discharge of pus from uterus, vagina or penis ulcer etc.

Though they know about Buladi they have seen in the advertisement in television but the detailed concept about HIV/AIDS were not clear. Through these programme their concept became very clear and they have even suggested conducting such awareness programme in near future. The tribal population told that they were more happy because the whole programme was conducted in their own tribal language. Also they were more happy because in the programme their was folk songs and drama .The drama group conducted the drama in their own tribal language in which they described that what is HIV,what are the routes of transmission, what are the consequences of HIV ,how to prevent it and what are the services provided like HIV test in nearest ICTC. The folk dance and drama were conducted in all the 15 awareness programmes.

In Purba Medinipur speciallynear the seaside thetribalfisherman community were in huge number. Those fishermengroup took part in the awareness programme .They gave a very good fed back about the programme and requested NVMF to conduct such awareness programmes in future.
HIV / AIDS Awareness Programme in Uttar Dinajpur District The district of Uttar Dinajpur is also infested with Tribals. Mostly these Tribal population lives in the villages. The knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS, sexual health as well as basic health is very limited. In the district the tribals live not only in the villages but also in the towns. The awareness programmes helped the general population to get a lot of idea about HIV/AIDS & sexual health.

There were 22 awareness programmes held in various villages throughout the entire district and all programmes were completed successfully. In each awareness programme the total participants were more that 100.Two Awareness programmes were done through Organizational fund. Total 22 Awareness programmes took place which are as follows:

Date Block Village / Venue Population
29/08/2009 RAIGANJ RAMPUR NO-6 G.P. 105
29/08/2009 RAIGANJ LAKSHMANIA 107
30/08/2009 RAIGANJ DHUSMAL 102
30/08/2009 KARANDIGHI KARANDIGHI 1 110
1/9/2009 KARANDIGHI ALTAPUR , ALTAPUR 1 101
2/9/2009 ITAHAR PARAMESHWARBATI 105
3/9/2009 KARANDIGHI LAHUTARA , LAHUTARA 2 115
4/9/2009 KARANDIGHI TUNGI DIGHI 102
5/9/2009 ITAHAR JAYAHAT G.P. 103
5/9/2009 ITAHAR BEDOIRA JAYAHAT G.P. 107
6/9/2009 ITAHAR DAKHINAL SONAPUR 106
6/9/2009 ITAHAR GOPALNAGAR 116
7/9/2009 ITAHAR KASBA 110
8/9/2009 ITAHAR JAYAHAT 103
9/9/2009 RAIGANJ MALIBARI 102
10/9/2009 ITAHAR KHESRA 111
12/9/2009 ITAHAR BHADRESHILA 108
12/9/2009 ITAHAR BANGAR PRIMARY SCHOOL 107
13/09/2009 KARANDIGHI KOCHABARI 114
13/09/2009 ITAHAR CHAKLA ,JAYAHAT 104
14/09/2009 ISLAMPUR ISLAMPUR BUSSTAND 105
15/09/2009 ISLAMPUR RAMKRISHNAPALLY 110
TOTAL POPULATION COVERED 2353
GENERAL POPULATION 234

The awareness programmes were held in the village melas and near the market place where the general population was maximum. The tribal community including women, youths, mainly adolescent boys and girls & men were there in all the awareness programmes.

In Uttar Dinajpur mostly the male population were migrants as revealed by them who migrate mostly to Gujrat ,Maharashtra and Gurgaon in Haryana. They work in brick kiln, as a construction labour and even work with gold smiths even some of them do zari works in sarees.Most of these Tribal men and women were illiterate, so mode of awareness programme was mainly pictorial .Those who can read and write were given some IECs of WBSAPCS where service delivery throughout the state is written.Hand fans were used as a mode of IEC material where the modes of transmission of HIV and how HIV cannot be transmitted were depicted. The tribal population felt that these hand fans were an effective mode of communication.The hand fans became a very important IEC among the general tribal population in the district. Also awareness programme was conducted by using pictures of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, how HIV can be transmitted and how it can’t be transmitted,etc. Also folkdance and drama were used as a medium of communication for revealing what is HIV/AIDS, routes of transmission, how it can be prevented and the care and support for HIV positive clients as well as about ICTC for doing HIV test. These folk drama and songs were done in the local Tribal language Also by delivering lectures some session were conducted especially about the ICTC services, what is ART and where to get the ARV drugs ,what are the signs and symptoms of HIV and other services. Mainly sessions were taken in Bengal but a translater was there who translated the whole session into the tribal language which was Santali language specially for Tribals in Burdwan district. Huge number of tribal people who were gathered in the awareness programme asked a lot o questions to the resource persons about STD/HIV/AIDS. Some cases will be described below:

Case 1 :
There were group of adolescent boys who are tribals and who belonged to block named Karandighi of the village named Karandighi - I .They listened to the entire awareness programme. After the programme was over they revealed that some of them had unprotected sex with some girls of their own age group and even revealed that the girls were not sex workers.They even asked a number of questions regarding the routes of transmission of STD/HIV/AIDS.The volunteers of NVMF clarified and even told about the nearest ICTC centre for testing. The boys asked for condoms and the volunteers counselled the boys about utility of condom use and demonstrated how to use a condom and finally gave condoms to them.

Case 2 :
A tribal women came to the volunteers of NVMF after the programme was over and asked for a number of condoms mainly female condom.She told that she knows about female condom and its utility.The volunteers of NVMF told that they can get female condom from the nearest CSW TI project working in the district. The women appreciated a lot regarding the awareness programme and requested that this kind of awareness should take place in future in the district of Uttar Dinajpur.

Case 3 :
A tribal man aged 34 years came and listened to the entire awareness programme and finally when the programme was over told one of the volunteers of NVMF that he is a migrant and works in brick kiln in Panipat which is in Haryana. He comes to home after 4-6 months duration.His family stays in Uttar Dinajpur. He may have sexual encounters in Haryana and now he is fearing whether is HIV positive or not.He has been suggested to to ICTC for HIV testing immediately.

Case 4 :
Some of the tribal men in block- Islampur in the bustand attended to the entire awareness programme and finally came and revealed to the volunteers of NVMF that they are Injecting Drug Users. They have shared their needles even. They share inject drugs. They have been counselled by the volunteers and told to immediately go to the nearest ICTC centre for HIV testing and even told that they should repeat HIV test after 3 months.

Case 5 :
A tribal pregnant lady acme and attended the programme.She has been told to go under PPTCT programme before delivery.
HIV / AIDS Awareness Programme in Jalpaiguri District The district of Jalpaiguri is also infested with Tribals. Mostly these Tribal population lives in the villages. The knowledge regarding HIV/AIDS, sexual health as well as basic health is very limited. In the district the tribals live not only in the villages but also in the towns.

The awareness programmes helped the general population to get a lot of idea about HIV/AIDS & sexual health. There were 6 awareness programmes (one awareness programme at Joigaon took place with own organizational fund) held in various villages throughout the entire district and all programmes were completed successfully.

In each awareness programme the total participants were more that 100. The 6 awareness programme took place which are as follows :

Date Block Village / Venue Population
30/08/2009 RAJGANJ PANIGURI 105
5/9/2009 KUMARGRAM NARAKATI 102
6/9/2009 FALAKATA JOTOSWAR - 2 108
12/9/2009 ALIPURDUAR PROMOD NAGAR 106
13/9/2009 MALBAZAR SARIPAKURI 109
19/9/2008 JOYGAON TASHI 110
TOTAL POPULATION COVERED 640
GENERAL POPULATION 120

One awareness programme took place near the international boarder (Bangladesh) in the block named- Joygaon .It has international border with Bhutan.The international border is the gateway of trafficking of women and children and even trafficking of illicit drugs. As only 6 awareness programmes took place in the district which is not at all sufficient and the general tribal population demanded to conduct more awareness programme in the district in future. During the awareness programme somes cases were observed which are as follows :

Case 1 :
Some women in the block- Rajganj ,village- Paniguri attended the awareness programme and told that in that that block has an international border with Bangladesh and from there many women are trafficked. They know them and after hearing the awareness programme they told that they gathered much knowledge about STD/HIV/AIDS. They even could understand that sexual route is an important mode of transmitting not only STDs/STIs but also HIV/AIDS.

Case 2 :
Some tribal men and women came and told that in their village named : Narakati ,block named:Kumargaon, one small boy of 7 years who was thalessemia major through blood transfusion got affected with HIV/AIDS. Now the condition has been detoriated .The villagers has been suggested by the field workers of NVMF to immediately take them to the nearest ARTCentre that is North Bengal Medical College and Hospital for CD4 count test and if the CD4 count has gone drastically down then ARV may be started immediately.

Conclusions :
There were total 43 awareness programmes (3 awareness programmes that is 2 in Uttar Dinajpur and 1 programme in Jalpaiguri were done through own organizational budget)held in both 3 districts that is Purba Medinipur,Uttar Dinajpur and Jalpaiguri districts. It was found that the tribal population of all the three districts were much ignorant about STD/HIV/AIDS. Mainly the awareness programme took place in the village melas as well as in the market place because of a huge crowd . The IEC materials received from WBSAPCS The Village Panchayat helped in conducting all the awareness programmes. The local people(tribals)as well as the BDO, DM,CMOH,ACMOH,BMOH of all the three districts told that these kind of awareness programmes is very fruitful and has to be conducted at least 2-3 times in a year. The general population asked lots of question and the exuberance manisfested by different socioeconomic cross section of tribal community was a definite achievement for this awareness programme.
HIV / AIDS Awareness Generation and Formation of a stall in the Mela ground in Pandua Block in the District of Hooghly HIV/AIDS is one of the greatest development challenges of our time. The problem of HIV/AIDS affects us at many levels- individual, community, institutional and societal. HIV has spread rapidly from urban to rural areas and from high-risk groups to the general population.

Over 12.2 million women worldwide have been infected with HIV since the start of the epidemic and women account for 42% of the 30.6 million adults now living with HIV. India being the second highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in the world and more than 80% of the 1 billion population live in rural and tribal area.

Dr Nikhil Vihari Memorial Foundation conducted HIV/AIDS awareness programme and formation of stall in the Pandua mela at mela ground in Pandua block in the district of Hooghly .It has been surveyed by the volunteers of Dr NVMF that in the block of Pandua the lower middle class people are mainly out migrants. They go to other states like for e.g. Surat in Gujrat,Mumbai in Maharashtra and Gurgaon in Haryana for work and come back once or twice in a year.If these migrants carry the HIV infection within them they come back home and deliver the virus to their spouses unknowingly.And when these wives get pregnant unknowingly they infect their child also and in this way the whole family becomes HIV positive.

Every year in mid January to February there is mela in the mela ground of Pandua which is the border area of Hooghly district and Burdwan district which is a Category A district.In this mela people from not only Hooghly district but a huge population from the adjoining district mainly Burdwan come and enjoy themselves.This year the mela will start from January 20th and will end in February20th 2011.

Dr NVMF had already conducted awareness programme among the tribal population in Burdwan district in the year 2009 as well as in Hooghly district mainly Pandua block in the month of October 2010. If 4days stall and HIV/AIDS awareness had been conducted in the mela ground at Pandua then not only the tribal population will be covered but also the general population mainly men,women and child will be covered under the awareness programme.Previously it was found that majority of the population mainly the illiterate village women donot have any idea on STD/HIV/AIDS.Thus the awareness and stall will be fruitful for the general population.

Financial Year 20011-12

1. Conducted a survey among 200 villagers in Village Gournoi,P.O- Khamargachi,Block-Balagarh,Dist-Hooghly by three health workers of Dr NVMF.The survey was basically on nutritional ,health, hygiene and education.

2. Conducted a nutritional camp in village Gournoi, Block: Khamargachi, Block: Balagarh, District -Hooghly catering nearly 300 population mainly mother and children.
A Brief Survey Report related to Health and Education in Block : Balagarh, District - Hooghly, 2011 A survey was conducted among 700 population and among 200 families in Balagarh Block. Three health workers of Dr NVMF conducted the survey and found that 89% are illiterate. It was found that 57% women are literate and 52% men are literate. An open ended questionnaire was used for the survey where questions were asked by the health workers and the interviewees (the rural people) gave their answers either in yes or in no.

Through survey the main observations found in health is that the health condition is in extremely poor condition in Balgarh Block. The Public Health Centre(PHC) as well as the government hospital is far off from the block. It was found that mainly in a tribal village named Pora Dhakchara the home delivery rate is very high.As in that village nearly 95% population is tribal thus they have very less knowledge regarding institutional delivery. Also through the survey the health workers found two children with major Thalessamia. And maximum in those 200 families the people are suffering from Tuberculosis. This is due to illiteracy, mal nutrition and poor hygiene. The children in mosly all the families suffer from extreme malnutrition and have different health problems and are under weight.

Conclusion :

It was found through survey that the village people urgently needs a Health centre in the Balagarh block.
Annual Report 2007 - 2008 The organization was formed and registered in January 2008.Thus in this Financial Year only one health camp could be done in the district of Hooghly.
Annual Report 2008 - 2009 A Brief Write up on the programmes the organisation currently runs :

• Our organization have tried to reducing the burden of HIV / AIDS and its stigma – panic, discrimination among the general population. Till now in our society people are preoccupied by lots of myths and misconceptions about HIV/AIDS.HIV/AIDS Awareness programme had been conducted in 11 rural schools in Nadia district supported by West Bengal State AIDS Prevention & Control Society, Govt of West Bengal.

• 40 HIV/AIDS awareness programme had been conducted in tribal rural areas of Burdwan,Hooghly & Purulia districts. These programmes were also supported by West Bengal State AIDS Prevention & Control Society, Govt of West Bengal.

• Working with Micro-insurance among he BPL people in rural areas of Bengal specially in Purulia and Birbhum. Doing health insurance policy for the BPLs.

• Conduct awareness programme for an eco friendly environment (aforestation) specially in urban areas of Bengal in the city of Kolkata.

• Conduct awareness among the street children regarding child labour and violence. The organization provides services together with awareness about HIV / AIDS among some highly vulnerable groups, they are –

• (i) Jewellery Workers;
• (ii) Construction Labours;
• (iii) Brick Field Workers;
• (iv) Poor drop out students and Street Children (youngster and women)

• Jewellery Workers :
People of this particular occupation come from the outside of the state and also within the state of West Bengal. These groups of people are mainly the younger generation. They works in the city of Kolkata in different shops and workshops. These people live here without their families and are very much lonely. Due to which sometimes they visit the red light areas of the city to fulfill their sexual urges. Which is very much alarming for the increasement of HIV / AIDS affected. Our society is very much active in the interventions for reducing the burden of HIV / AIDS in this particular sectors.

• Has two Self Help Group among the women in Purulia District. These women are mainly Tribal women who are below poverty line.They do some income generation programmes like rearing cattles, animal husbandry etc. They work in the poultry farms which they have made themselves and sell the eggs of ducks ands hen in the market.Also does mangalsutra and mattresses and sell in the market. These women are very empowered.

• Construction Labours :
People of this particular occupation come from the outside of the state and also within the state of West Bengal. These groups of people are mainly the younger generation. They works in the city of greater Kolkata in different construction companies under the contractors – developers – promoters. These people live here without their families and are very much lonely. Due to which sometimes they visit the red light areas of the city to fulfill their sexual urges. Which is very much alarming for the increasement of HIV / AIDS affected. Our society is very much active in the interventions for reducing the burden of HIV / AIDS in this particular sectors.

• Brick Field Workers : People of this particular occupation works in the areas from Budge Budge to Kulpi (Hooghly River Side of South 24 pgs.). These groups of people are both male and female. Working together and get involved in unsafe sexual relationships, the males also visit the red light areas of the city to fulfill their sexual urges. They also get addicted to different drugs and liquors and also go to the red light areas of the adjacent place. These groups of people are most sensitive target for reducing the burden of HIV / AIDS.

• Poor drop out students and Street Children (youngster and women) : We are also working on poor drop out school students and street children, youngster and women. Educating them to prevent from mainly Unsafe Sexual Relations, Drugs. Women are taken special care, to avoid transmission of HIV / AIDS to their children during pregnancy. Our team is in constant observation on this very vulnerable groups of people. We are working on this with much emphasis and of great importance.

• Awareness and Sensitization programme among the school drop out children and in some juvenile delinquent homes had been conducted in this financial year as well as in this financial year in some areas of Kolkata and ajoining districts a survey supported by World Vision India had been done among 100 out of school youths.

• Through this survey it could be found that the adolescent boys and girls (age group 12 yrs to 19 yrs) became drop outs due to many factors. A questionnaire was applied on the students. The main causes for the drop outs are family as well as environmental. Thus it has been found that in families where the parents are single or divorced, mainly in broken homes drop outs from school among adolescents is quite high. Also due to bad peer pressure the adolescent school youths leave the school and get involved in various antisocial activities like drug abuse,rape,murder, robbery etc.Drug abuse and doing sex with multiple sexual partners without using condoms may lead to HIV.

• To organize legal awareness camps, specially for the women, legal education and counseling centre, legal aid center to include the power of legal rights among the people.

• To work for the cause of unorganized labourers and elimination of child labour in both rural and urban areas by undertaking different socio-economic-cultural activities.

• To work for the comprehensive and sustainable development of the people of scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, minority communities and socio- economically backward communities.
Annual Report 2009 - 2010 A Brief Write up on the programmes the organisation currently runs :

• Our organization have tried to reducing the burden of HIV / AIDS and its stigma – panic, discrimination among the general population. Till now in our society people are preoccupied by lots of myths and misconceptions about HIV/AIDS.HIV/AIDS Awareness programme had been conducted in 11 rural schools in Nadia district supported by West Bengal State AIDS Prevention & Control Society, Govt of West Bengal.

• 20 each (total 60 ) HIV/AIDS awareness programme had been conducted in tribal rural areas of Uttar Dinajpur,Jalpaiguri & Purba Medinipur districts. These programmes were also supported by West Bengal State AIDS Prevention & Control Society, Govt of West Bengal.

• Working with Micro-insurance among he BPL people in rural areas of Bengal specially in Purulia and Birbhum. Doing health insurance policy for the BPLs.

• Conduct awareness programme for an eco friendly environment (aforestation) specially in urban areas of Bengal in the city of Kolkata.

• Conduct awareness among the street children regarding child labour and violence. The organization provides services together with awareness about HIV / AIDS among some highly vulnerable groups, they are –

• (i) Jewellery Workers;
• (ii) Construction Labours;
• (iii) Brick Field Workers ;
• (iv) Poor drop out students and Street Children (youngster and women)

• Jewellery Workers :
People of this particular occupation come from the outside of the state and also within the state of West Bengal. These groups of people are mainly the younger generation. They works in the city of Kolkata in different shops and workshops. These people live here without their families and are very much lonely. Due to which sometimes they visit the red light areas of the city to fulfill their sexual urges. Which is very much alarming for the increasement of HIV / AIDS affected. Our society is very much active in the interventions for reducing the burden of HIV / AIDS in this particular sectors.

• Has two Self Help Group among the women in Purulia District. These women are mainly Tribal women who are below poverty line.They do some income generation programmes like rearing cattles, animal husbandry etc. They work in the poultry farms which they have made themselves and sell the eggs of ducks ands hen in the market.Also does mangalsutra and mattresses and sell in the market. These women are very empowered.

• Construction Labours :
People of this particular occupation come from the outside of the state and also within the state of West Bengal. These groups of people are mainly the younger generation. They works in the city of greater Kolkata in different construction companies under the contractors – developers – promoters. These people live here without their families and are very much lonely. Due to which sometimes they visit the red light areas of the city to fulfill their sexual urges. Which is very much alarming for the increasement of HIV / AIDS affected. Our society is very much active in the interventions for reducing the burden of HIV / AIDS in this particular sectors.

• Brick Field Workers :
People of this particular occupation works in the areas from Budge Budge to Kulpi (Hooghly River Side of South 24 pgs.). These groups of people are both male and female. Working together and get involved in unsafe sexual relationships, the males also visit the red light areas of the city to fulfill their sexual urges. They also get addicted to different drugs and liquors and also go to the red light areas of the adjacent place. These groups of people are most sensitive target for reducing the burden of HIV / AIDS.

• Poor drop out students and Street Children (youngster and women) :
We are also working on poor drop out school students and street children, youngster and women. Educating them to prevent from mainly Unsafe Sexual Relations, Drugs. Women are taken special care, to avoid transmission of HIV / AIDS to their children during pregnancy. Our team is in constant observation on this very vulnerable groups of people. We are working on this with much emphasis and of great importance.

• Awareness and Sensitization programme among the school drop out children and in some juvenile delinquent homes had been conducted in this financial year as well as in this financial year in some areas of Kolkata and ajoining districts a survey supported by World Vision India had been done among 100 out of school youths.

• Through this survey it could be found that the adolescent boys and girls (age group 12 yrs to 19 yrs) became drop outs due to many factors. A questionnaire was applied on the students. The main causes for the drop outs are family as well as environmental. Thus it has been found that in families where the parents are single or divorced, mainly in broken homes drop outs from school among adolescents is quite high. Also due to bad peer pressure the adolescent school youths leave the school and get involved in various antisocial activities like drug abuse,rape,murder, robbery etc.Drug abuse and doing sex with multiple sexual partners without using condoms may lead to HIV.

• To organize legal awareness camps, specially for the women, legal education and counseling centre, legal aid center to include the power of legal rights among the people.

• To work for the cause of unorganized labourers and elimination of child labour in both rural and urban areas by undertaking different socio-economic-cultural activities.

• To work for the comprehensive and sustainable development of the people of scheduled caste, scheduled tribe, minority communities and socio- economically backward communities.
Annual Report 2010 - 2011 • Celebrated World AIDS Day 2010 on 1st Dec 2010. The Organization celebrated World AIDS Day with support from West Bengal State AIDS Prevention & Control Society in the district of Purulia,Utatr Dianjpur and Purba Medinipur districts from 1st Dec 2010-3rd Dec 2010.The Organization made stalls and did awareness programme to celebrate the World AIDS Day in the rural belts among tribal population in the above mentioned districts.

• The organization also did a General Awareness Programme on Basic Health,Save the Girl Child and HIV/AIDS and against Drug abuse in Vill:Ilsoba,Block:Pandua,District Hooghly in October 2010.The awareness programme took place in the village market place where nearly 200 people women ,men,children,adolescent boys and girls(youths) came and heard the awareness programme.A question and answer session was done after the awareness programme was over.
Annual Report 2011 - 2012 • Conducted a survey among 200 villagers in Village Gournoi,P.O- Khamargachi,Block-Balagarh,Dist-Hooghly by three health workers of Dr NVMF.The survey was basically on nutritional ,health, hygiene and education.

• Conducted a nutritional camp in village Gournoi, Block : Khamargachi, Block : Balagarh, District - Hooghly catering nearly 300 population mainly mother and children.

• Conducting a nutritional camp covering 100 population mainly mother and child in Gournoi Village, P.O : Kahamargachi, District - Hooghly in Nov 2011. The chief guests weew Honourable Members of the Parliament, Dr. Ratna Dey Nag . Honourable MLA Shri Ashin Majhi and Honourable Anchal Pradhan.

• Currently running a Pre Primary school with 20 students (age group 3- 5 years) and 3 teachers who also act as health workers in Village,P.O.: Khamargachi,Dist: Hooghly with minimum support from Indian Institute of Mother & Child,Sonarpur,24 Pgs(S).