Report: PRESS COVERAGE FOR WORLD AIDS DAY 2011

NOVEMBER 2011

1. Economic Times Condom Story

MDACS initiated a story on the condom market of India and Maharashtra with Economic Times. We coordinated with Dr. Harish Pathak for the figures of the players in the condom market and the same was shared with a journalist. The story appeared nationally in both the print version and online version of Economic Times. NACO was prominently mentioned in the article as the figures were sourced from them.

MDACS had also initiated a story with Economic Times Brand Equity for ‘Condom Mera Dost Campaign’. Questions for the same had been shared with client and creative agency of client. The story had appeared online.

2. World AIDS Day

A press release was drafted regarding the events surrounding the WORLD AIDS DAY 2011 to be shared with the media

As per the revised plan of action, prevalence figures were shared with Times of India for an exclusive article

The said Press Release was translated in Marathi and was disseminated to mass media for creating awareness.

3. Women Empowerment Campaign

A press release was drafted regarding the events surrounding the Women Empowerment Campaign to be shared with the media

As per the revised plan of action, prevalence figures were shared with Times of India for an exclusive article

The said Press Release was translated in Marathi and was disseminated to mass media for creating awareness.

DECEMBER 2011

1. AIDS Advocacy Workshop – MAVIM

MDACS put together a press release with a lot of information about the AIDS Advocacy Workshop (MAVIM). After identifying the women’s magazines and journals, the press release was shared with them, to be published in the respective magazines and journals.

IMPACT

• Two exclusive stories in Times of India for AIDS initiatives
• Stories for AIDS prevalence and campaign were covered in leading regional and English publications such as Lokmat, Sakal, Punyanagari, Mumbai Mitra, Mumbai Samachar, Maharashtra Times, Janmabhoomi, Navshakti, Navbharat, Pudhari, Saamna, Loksatta, Times of India, Hindustan Times, DNA, Indian Express, Free Press Journal, Asian Age and Mid-Day amongst others
• The articles reached out to as many as 1,40,87,425 people (One crore, forty lakhs, eighty seven thousand, four hundred and twenty five people).

Report: WAD 2011 GRAND FINALE

The Grand Finale to the World AIDS Day 2011 was celebrated in a grandiose manner at the MDACS compound. A number of events were conducted there and prizes distributed for the same. There were games, plays, quiz competition, music and dance and an exhibition too.

GROUND EVENTS

Game 1: Pinning the Red Ribbon

This game had 8 participants and 4 rounds. Each round had two women participants competing against each other; they were given a basketful of red-ribbons which they had to pin on the women in the audience, in the shortest span of time. Out of a total of 8 participants, 2 were declared winners. The message of the game was - by pinning the red ribbon one was taking responsibility and spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS.

Game 2: Balancing the Basket 

Four participants had to balance a basket on their heads and race a short distance. The message here was “the need to balance” their life to “stay protected” from HIV.

Audience

Game 3: Choose the correct partner

16 women were given a chit each with the name of an animal, and by making the sound of it, each participant had to look for her ‘pair’. The message here was the “need to look for and stay faithful” to the “right partner”.

Game 4: Passing the parcel

Instead of passing any parcel, participants had to touch the woman beside them. The person, who was touched last, had to answer an HIV/AIDS related question. The embedded message here was that “HIV doesn’t spread through touch”.

HIV/AIDS Quiz

Game 5: Intergroup Quiz

A participant from one area would challenge another from another area by way of an HIV related question. The game infused both competition and stressed on the need for correct and proper knowledge. This was the most important event where there was an engagement with the audience and where the message was clearly stressed upon.  

Game 6: HIV/AIDS Quiz

Two winners from each of the previous games formed the participants for this quiz. Two rounds of HIV/AIDS related technical and services oriented questions were asked. The participants with leading scores were declared as winners.

FINALE

Highlights of the finale

Music & Dance

1. A KBC Style - HIV/AIDS Quiz event, where 10 women finalists from each of the ground events participated. The Quiz included HIV/AIDS related technical, services questions as well as a number of audio/visual questions. The Quiz was hosted by a celebrity guest.
2. Musical and Dance performances which had HIV related messages embedded in them.









IMPACT

1. MDACS had managed to reach out to more than 2000 people during this event. This will definitely boomerang into larger numbers when these participants go out and speak to their family members, neighbours, friends and community members about their learning.

2. The quality of information and knowledge transmission made this WAD model an effective one. For any successful intervention, the medium and message are both equally important, as exposure to ideas through a variety of media makes grasping, comprehension and retention easier.

3. All the people who took part in the Grand Finale thoroughly enjoyed the event. Almost everyone could understand the HIV/AIDS knowledge that had been imparted to them during the course of the finale.

4. Most of the people had already been aware of 3 modes of transmission viz. unprotected sex, infected blood and infected needles/syringes. Only half of them could correctly recall mother to child transmission of HIV. So, that one extra lesson learned by the other half.

5. The whole event had been a learning experience in some way or the other to all of them.

Celebrity Guests give away Paithani Silk Sarees to the prize winners

6. Most of the participants were all geared up to share the information they had learned with others in their communities.

7. The participants even felt that this education should start in schools, where adolescents are given this information right before they enter the phase of youth and exploration.

8. Celebrity speakers: The speakers, both from MDACS and the celebrity guests, were no doubt an asset to the intervention. One, their popularity acted as crowd-pullers and two, their ability to engage with the audience was effective in terms of personifying the message.

Celebrity Interaction

• The celebrity guest at Ghatkopar, for example, spoke of how he and his wife “got tested before marriage” even though they had “known each other for six years”. Such statements coming from people with star value can do wonders for information dissemination.
• On the finale, the guest speaker, Tushar Dalvi recounted his own experiences in interventions that he was a part of, most of them related to gender discrimination, female foeticide as well as HIV-related stigma and discrimination. He said that there is a “great deal of shame and misconception about the disease” which manifests itself by impeding “normal” social interactions, like a handshake or hugging. This is the most blatant kind of stigma. People reveal their other medical conditions, like heart ailments, diabetes and often do so with a hint of pride. But why is there such a lot of stigma around HIV?

Report: WAD 2011 PLANNING – MAVIM CASE STUDIES

During the planning stages of WORLD AIDS DAY 2011, MDACS tried to understand what drove the success behind the Arogyasakhis’ work in their various zones. This report is the result of the study conducted on these women’s work.

CASE 1:

“Use of optimum planning of street play locations, timing and pre-publicity result in large audience and successful shows”

Area: Sion-Koliwada
Arogyasakhi: Premila Singh

“After being given the task of conducting street plays in our community for spreading HIV/AIDS awareness, women from our Self-Help Group got into action and began organizing pre-publicity activities in the community. They put up a banner in the area and decided to use the street in the local vegetable market area at the peak time of 5:30 pm, anticipating large crowds. The women also invited leaders from two local political parties.

The troupe arrived and we started the play at 5:30pm and as expected large crowds gathered to watch what was going on. Women who had come to the market gathered, as did people who were walking back home from the station. Even people on cycles and rickshaw drivers parked their vehicles and stood to watch the entire play. It was a great feeling to see so many people stand in the crowd and watch the play attentively. An approximate total of 150 people watched the play.

Our women organizers even distributed pamphlets containing HIV/AIDS related information to the audience during the course of the play. We heard people talk among themselves about how they liked the play and some were even asking, ‘Ye log (Play troupe) kahaan se aaye hain?’

Overall it was a successful show and a large crowd took home the important messages of HIV/AIDS.”

CASE 2:

“MDACS training on HIV/AIDS helped me overcome my fear of this disease and more importantly the fear of being around those who are infected with HIV/AIDS”

Area: Anushakti Nagar
Arogyasakhi: Baby Ramesh More

“Earlier, whenever I heard the word ‘HIV’ or ‘AIDS’ I would be petrified. I was scared of this disease and even more afraid to be around people infected with HIV.

Once as I was travelling in the train, I happened to sit next to a woman who was busy chatting with the other women around her. She looked normal and continued her conversation. The moment she said the word ‘HIV’ and continued that she was infected, I sensed disgust sitting next to her. I wanted to get up and change my seat immediately. I feared that I might get infected with the disease.

But today I am no longer afraid of HIV/AIDS. I know that it does not spread by merely sitting next to an infected person. I am fully aware of how HIV virus is transmitted and the ways of prevention. All of this information was given to us at the training workshop organized by MDACS. This workshop not only educated us women about HIV/AIDS but it has also given me and other women like me the courage to educate others about this disease and reduce the fear and stigma attached to it.”.

CASE 3:

“The audience enjoyed the street play so much that they requested for another performance”

Area: Chembur
Arogyasakhi: Sneha Bhalerao

“Women from 4 Self-Help Groups got together to organize the street plays for the community. We put up posters near Buddha Vihar informing the people about the event and the time 2 days prior to the actual event, as a result of which people arrived at the location on time.

The play was conducted in the evening as we anticipated large crowds at this time. Majority of the audience were youth and women. Local political leaders, who were invited, attended the play in full strength to show their support.

The audience was highly impressed and enjoyed the performance. They even requested for a repeat performance. We then tied up with a Ganesh Mandal, and organized another 3 shows for the community. The street play troupe was welcomed with flower bouquets by members of the Mandal. As expected they performed well and the audience paid rapt attention.

The support that we received only goes on to show the acceptance that the community gives to the cause of HIV/AIDS.”

CASE 4:

“Street Plays are an effective medium of spreading HIV/AIDS awareness among people from diverse backgrounds.”

Area: Santacruz
Arogyasakhi: Surekha Satish Jadhav

“We made announcements in the selected locations prior to the events. We conducted our first set of street plays near a rickshaw stand in Vakola during afternoon hours. Hence our audience consisted entirely of auto-rickshaw drivers who gathered around the troupe and listened attentively.

On the next day, we chose the rickshaw stand, Buddha Vihar and bus stop as our 3 locations, to get a variety of audience to watch the street plays. This time around, all shows were conducted in the evening. The script of the play was based on a character from North India who comes to Mumbai to earn a living and gets infected with HIV. The troupe used the typical northern accent and made the play authentic and enjoyable. In fact, large parts of the audience were migrants from North India, who could relate to the character. They enjoyed the play and this was evident from their clapping and cheering for the troupe.

They even offered the troupe some tea and snacks after the performance. We feel street play is a very interesting and effective medium of getting people from diverse backgrounds, educating and uniting them for the cause of HIV/AIDS.”

CASE 5:

“Street plays continued despite heavy rains, only to show the community’s support for the cause of HIV/AIDS”

Area: Anushakti Nagar & Cheetah Camp
Arogyasakhi: Sudha Vaidhande

“One day prior to the street plays, women from our Self-Help Group distributed pamphlets and went around the community creating awareness about the event and mobilizing an audience.

The mobilizing itself taught our women a lot and gave them confidence. Anushakti Nagar is such an area where there is tight security and no one is allowed to enter the area without security check. Despite this, our women entered the area and went around doing publicity for the HIV/AIDS street plays.

We were happy that the plays attracted huge crowds and the audience understood the key messages. However, during the course of the play, it suddenly started raining very heavily. Rains were unexpected and this caused panic within us. We were worried that we would lose our audience because of the rain. But thankfully, most of the people stayed till the end, despite the heavy rains and even our troupe performed without a pause, till the finish.

The crowd was so impressed with the troupe’s performance that some audience members even offered monetary rewards to troupe members, which they politely refused.”

Report: WORLD AIDS DAY 2011 OBSERVED OVER A FORTNIGHT

Catch the huge turnout at MDACS during the First Event

Mission:

The Arogyasakhis had successfully trained a number of women to spread the word on HIV/AIDS and this brilliance led to the plan for the WORLD AIDS DAY celebration this year.

The Arogyasakhis were to mobilize women from their zones to a celebrity studded HIV/AIDS game show organized especially for these women at five zones. 123 Arogyasakhis were given a target of training and mobilizing 2000 women from all over Mumbai.

Sangita Bongade is the District Co-ordinating Officer who heads the Sahayoginis.

The Sahayoginis who made it all possible were:

Smt. Madhura Velankar speaking to the women

• Joyoti Barve
• Karuna Pednekar
• Vaishali Mane
• Pramila Singh
• Chaya Suryavanshi
• Pormina Bhosale
• Sudha Vaydande
• Ali Munisa
• Zarina Ansari
• Shabana Sayyed


MAVIM Community Managed resource Centre (CMRC) team that included President Sneha Bhalerao and Vice President Ranjana Gaikwad were also there to offer their help to the Arogyasakhis.

Ms. Sangeeta Bhongade, DCO, MAVIM; The Sahyoginis (10 in number), The President and Vice President of the Community Mobilization Resource Center (CMRC) along with the 123 Arogyasakhis were successful in mobilizing people from the following locations:

The HIV AIDS Game Show 

The HIV AIDS Game show was in the format of a very well known television game show ‘Home Minister’ which is very popular among the lower middle class women of Mumbai. Five celebrities conducted the game show in five zones and two winners were given prizes in each zone. Each winner was presented with a ‘Paithani Saree’ – a very valued asset among women in the Maharashtrian community. 

PRELIMINARY EVENTS

It was ensured that women from all areas had equal representation in all the games. 

Game 1: Pinning the Red Ribbon

This game had 8 participants and 4 rounds. Each round had two women participants competing against each other; they were given a basketful of red-ribbons which they had to pin on the women in the audience, in the shortest span of time. Out of a total of 8 participants, 2 were declared winners. The message of the game being – by pinning the red ribbon, one was taking responsibility and spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS.

Game 2: Balancing the Basket 

Four participants had to balance a basket on their heads and race a short distance. The message here was “the need to balance” their life to “stay protected” from HIV.

Sri. Pushkar Shrotri dancing with the participants

Game 3: Choose the correct partner

16 women were given a chit with the name of an animal, and by making the sound of it; each participant had to look for their ‘pair’. The message here was the “need to look for and stay faithful” to the “right partner”. 

Game 4: Passing the parcel

Instead of passing any parcel, participants had to touch the woman beside them. The person, who was touched last, had to answer an HIV/AIDS related question. The embedded message here was that “HIV doesn’t spread through touch (physical contact)”.

Game 5: Intergroup Quiz

Sri. Umesh Kamat gifting a Saree to a participant

A participant from one area would challenge another from another area by way of an HIV related question. The game infused both competition and stressed on the need for correct and proper knowledge. This was also the only event where there was an engagement with the audience and where the message was emphasised more than the medium.  

Game 6: HIV/AIDS Quiz

2 winners from each of the previous games formed the participants for this quiz. 2 rounds of HIV/AIDS related technical and services oriented questions were asked, with 2 participants with leading scored being declared as winners.

FINALE:

The Finale featured 

• A KBC Style - HIV/AIDS Quiz event, where 10 women finalists from each of the ground events participated. Quiz included HIV/AIDS related technical, services questions as well as a number of audio/visual questions. The Quiz was hosted by celebrity guest Tushar Dalvi. 

• Musical and Dance performances which had HIV related messages embedded in them.
• A skit on HIV/AIDS was put up by celebrities Siddharth Zadbuke and Shraddha Ketkar.

                                         FIRST EVENT

1. Registration; 2. MDACS Project Director Dr. Kudalkar giving away a prize;
3. A lady from the audience answering a question on HIV; 4. Audience at MDACS, Wadala. 

This was held on December 1, 2011 at MDACS premises and the Arogyasakhis belonging to Harbour Zone mobilized women from Sewree, Sion, Chunabhatti, Kurla, Govandi, Mazgaon and Worli. 445 women attended the programme with Smt. Smita Jaykar as the celebrity speaker. 

SMITA JAYKAR: “If woman set their minds, the target of “Getting to Zero” can be achieved easily. They can act as agents of change. Woman can play a vital role in developing the nation.”

SECOND EVENT

1. Registration; 2. A woman answering a question on HIV;
3. Celebrity guest Madhura Velankar dancing with the women;
4. Smt. Velankar giving away the prize

On December 2, 2011, Smt. Madhura Velankar was the celebrity guest at the programme organized at Balvikas Sangh, Chembur. The Arogyasakhis from Harbour Zone mobilized women from Chembur, Anushakti Nagar (Mankhurd) and Trombay (Mankhurd). 490 women attended the show. 

MADHURA VELANKAR: “It is good to see that more and more women are joining the Campaign, “HitgujAarogyache” to spread information related to HIV/AIDS.”

THIRD EVENT

1. Registration; 2. The participants taking part in the game on stage;
3. A woman answering a question on HIV; 4. The audience

The Arogyasakhis from the Central Zone mobilized women from Kamgar Kalyan Bhavan, Kannamwar Nagar to the same venue on December 5, 2011. 500 women attended the event while Sri. Pushkar Shrotri was invited as the celebrity guest. 

PUSHKAR SHROTRI: “I am always supportive of such issues and I have always been a part of HIV/AIDS related activities. I have also traveled with the RED RIBBON EXPRESS.

FOURTH EVENT

1. Registration; 2. A woman answering a question on HIV;
3. Celebrity guest dancing with the women; 4. The audience

Women from the areas of Bhandup, Mulund, Kanjurmarg and Ghatkopar were mobilized by Arogyasakhis from Harbour Zone. Everyone assembled at Kapol Wadi Hall, Ghatkopar (West) on December 8, 2011 for the event. The celebrity guest was Sri. Umesh Kamat. 575 women attended this event. 

UMESH KAMAT: “I have just got married and I can proudly share that we both got ourselves tested for HIV. I am really impressed to see such a huge response from women because a few years back I used to be scared even to speak about it but you people are talking comfortably.”

FIFTH EVENT 

Enthusiastic women registering for the event at Lokmanya Sewa Sangh

This event was held on December 9, 2011 at Lokmanya Sewa Sangh, Vile Parle. The Arogyasakhis from the Western Zone mobilized women from Malad, Andheri, Goregaon, Jogeshwari, Santacruz, Khar, Bandra and Vile Parle. 300 women showed up for this event that had Sri. Vijay Kadam as the celebrity guest.

VIJAY KADAM: “I am proud to be a witness of Women Empowerment Drive led by MDACS in coordination with MAVIM. Women only can take a lead to achieve the target of “Getting to Zero”. Work done so far by you is a big achievement. I salute MDACS for the keen efforts taken to mainstream the issue into the society.”

THE SUCCESS OF THE WHOLE SERIES WAS THAT 2310 WOMEN ATTENDED THE CELEBRATIONS AS AGAINST THE 2000 PLANNED. 

Report: WAD 2011 – SOWING THE SEED

MDACS (Mumbai District AIDS Control Society) and MAVIM (Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal) came together to conduct HITGUJ AROGYACHE, an advocacy workshop targeting women from the lower strata of society.

The objective of the 2-day workshop 

• To empower women with knowledge on HIV/AIDS – prevention, treatment, care, support, STI management, safer sex practice and MDACS services that are available for all these.
• The women were also made aware of the stigma and discrimination that could possibly occur in society.

The Target Group

• This consisted of 9 Sahayoginis; 2 staff members; representatives from 26 pockets; representatives of Basti Level Committee; LoksanchalitSadhan Kendra and NGOs.
• 35 women participated in the workshop conducted on April 26 & 27, 2011.

The plan for 2011-12 

• To reach out to 7000 women beneficiaries of 500 SHGs (Self-Help Groups) that are found all around Mumbai. They will give correct and consistent knowledge to their family members. This means that MDACS will actually reach out to 21,000 people (SC, Minority and others from slum areas & BPL category) of Mumbai.

The Mission

• Special IEC material was printed and distributed to AROGYA SAKHIs and the people they had planned to reach out to. These were in Marathi and Hindi.
• 123 peer educators (Arogyasakhis) were trained through 4 more workshops that were organised to ensure that they reach out to the target.
• These 123 Arogyasakhis were to reach out to 7000 women beneficiaries of 500 SHGs (Self-Help Groups) that are found all around Mumbai. They will give correct and consistent knowledge to their family members.

Achievements

• Publicity was made in advance at all the locations where the World AIDS Day programme was to be conducted.
• The political leaders who were in charge locally were all invited to be involved in the activities, taking the awareness to a different level altogether.
• Through the 75 street-plays that were performed, a crowd of 13,359 people were reached as against the target of 7000.
• In all, MDACS reached out to 40,077 people belonging to SC, Minority and others from slum areas and BPL category of Mumbai City.
• The major breakthrough was that the 123 Arogyasakhis could reach out to the kind of women who used to hesitate even to talk about sex to their own husbands.

Result:

• The workshops helped the slum women come into their own. They were so well trained that they could spread the word on HIV / AIDS prevention to the other women in their own areas, with confidence.
• This resulted in their acquiring their own identity in society and respect among their peers.
• More than all that, these women gained a lot of respect at home, where generally they were treated like doormats before.

IMPACT

The success story of the Arogyasakhis gave birth to the concept of WORLD AIDS DAY 2011.

THE PLAN

A meeting was set up to plan the concept to be adopted during the World AIDS Day campaign this year. It was planned over five days at five different venues across Mumbai City.

The objective was to mobilize women from across Mumbai city in these 5 zones and use Entertainment Education as a format to bring about awareness on HIV.

Games were played with these women where the following messages were given out through entertainment:

• HIV, modes of transmission
• Myths and Misconceptions
• Prevention
• Services of MDACS
               1. Testing
               2. STI
               3. ART
               4. Helpline

A celebrity was to be invited on each day who would give these messages. Advocacy through these celebrities definitely would result in an impact.