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Case Studies of Successful Intervention
1. Sumathi, SHG member from Sozhavandan village in Madurai attended the training. After the 3 days training she clarified a doubt with the trainer. She expressed that her husband had passed away recently. She had a doubt whether he passed away due to HIV. The story in her words.
“7years before I got married. My husband belonged to an agricultural family. In the village people spoke that my husband had premarital relationship, when I asked him he refuted it. He used to take medication from the local doctors, when I enquired him he used to avoid answering me. I have three children, two boys and one girl. Suddenly one day he suffered from high fever and he got treated from the local doctor. Slowly he got affected by many diseases. If he took tablets for one disease another disease would arise. At that period I was expecting my third child. There was no hospital in the village, so I had to take medicines from the VHN who used to come to our village. In this situation I could not take care of either myself or my husband. I gave birth to a girl child. After few months my husband died due to severe diarrhea and vomiting. People nearby spoke ill about me and my husband. After attending this training I have a doubt whether my husband passed away due to this disease and also I want to know whether my children and my self are affected by it. To erase my doubts my trainer took me and my children to the ICTC and tested for HIV. I and my younger daughter were found positive, hearing this I felt very depressed. I decided to kill myself, but I thought who would take care of my children and hence I changed my decision. After continuous counseling I am able to take care of myself and my children. We are taking regular treatment & healthy food.
My relatives were talking ill about us and were ill treating us, so I requested the counselors to speak to my relatives. After the counseling now my relatives are very friendly and treat me and my children in par with others. I am happy now and am able to cope with life. This training is very essential & useful for women. All women should be trained on AIDS Awareness. But for this training I would have remained ignorant about my condition.”
2. In Cuddalore district in the month of June ’07 the details regarding testing for HIV/AIDS
· PLF from Annagramam block organized a camp wherein 400 members got tested.
· In Kammapuram block 18 members
· Nallur block 20 men SHG members
· Nallur block 186 SHG members
· Virudhachalam block 118 members
3. In Dharmapuri district an animator after attending the training printed hand bills on the causes and prevention of HIV/AIDS and distributed to the villagers. She has also taken class for the adolescent girls studying in 10th 11th & 12th std in a tuition centre on menstrual hygiene. She has also changed her practice regarding gifting girl children Sanitary napkins rather than fruits and bangles during the puberty celebration.
4. In Namakkal district one member expressed that before this training she would refuse her husbands sexual intercourse. This training helped her to understand the sexual needs and also the effects of not responding to her husband. An important lesson she learnt was that she was driving her husband to seek sex outside marriage by refusing him. The repercussions of him seeking sexual satisfaction elsewhere would lead to HIV/AIDS. Since the training she is able to satisfy him and he is also happy with their relationship. As a result of this her husband has gifted her silk sari.
5. In Vellore district one SHG member shared that she would not go near the tomato plant and the rice container during menstruation, because the plant would die and beetles would grow in the rice. This superstition was ingrained her when she attained puberty. In the training she learnt of the menstrual cycle and realized that it was a natural cycle for all girls & women from puberty to menopause. She is now free of superstitious practice.
6. One Animator shared that her husband had given her male condom and asked her to put it for him. Since she was ignorant about it she refused. Because of this he slapped her. After attending this training she learnt about male condom & its use. Her husband is happy that she has accepted its usage,
7. One member shared that during menstruation she would not enter the house. But after the training she shared with her husband information of the menstrual cycle and told him that she would not isolate herself from the house & the family. She will remain in the house during her menstrual cycle.
8. In Vellore district a Block Level HIV/AIDS training monitor stated that she was able to intervene and prevent the marriage of her niece to a HIV positive man. She knew the man and also was aware of his association with other women. The man in question treated her as an elder sister. She influenced and motivated him to undergo HIV testing in Vellore as well as in Chennai. To ensure that he undertook the test she accompanied to the testing centre. The test in both places proved positive for HIV. In view of this she counseled her cousin and family to break the engagement as any future associations would endanger the girl. She shared that but for this training she would not have thought of pressurizing the man to undergo testing. She would have treated his association with other women as harmless
8. In Madurai an Animator and her SHG members visited a mill and interacted with the owner and the girls employed to ensure their safety against molestation. They interacted with adolescent girls employed in the mill and took a session for them on good touch and bad touch.
9. In Ramnad, a SHG member from an orthodox Muslim family shared that her sister was ill treated by her mother in law as she had given birth to 2 girl children. Her sister’s mother in law threatened to get her son married to another girl to secure a boy child. Through this training she learnt about the man’s role in sex determination of the child – X & Y chromosomes and her sister giving birth to a male child depended solely on combination of his Y chromosome with her X chromosome. Armed with this knowledge she took the Flip book to her sister’s mother-in-law and explained about sex determination of an unborn child. The mother in law accepted the scientific explanation and understood the birth of 2 female children. Her sister is leading a peaceful life.
10. In Madurai an animator underwent testing for HIV and also took members from the nearby Panchayats. Her husband has left her since 7 years and now he has returned and wants to live with her. She is insisting that he gets tested for HIV before she agrees to restart life with him.
11. One member shared that she and her husband could not lead a happy married life as they lived in a joint family. With the entire business of living being conducted in one room they felt inhibited in their sexual life. The member shared her learning’s with her husband regarding having sex in a joint family. They have spoken and decided to allot time for sharing their concerns and making private time for their marital life.
12. A trainer shared the importance of sexual intercourse in marital life with her mother. The mother of the trainer owing to age felt inhibited to have sex with her husband. This also reflected in her behaviour as she was unhappy with her own decision, besides her husband was also unhappy as she did not respond to his needs. The trainer assured her mother that it was not wrong or shameful for her to have sex with her husband. Age should not be a deterrent to a happy marital life.
13. In Dharmapuri district, a woman was affected by HIV at the age of 23 years and was deserted by her husband. After this training she has been included in the SHG as member.
14. In Namakkal district the training has provided a platform to women to discuss intimate concerns related to their marital life. Hitherto sex was a taboo subject. Through this training they learnt and felt free to discuss such concerns without shame and guilt. In this respect a PLF trainer shared that the Animators asked for hints regarding having healthier sex with their husbands.
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