An Appeal

[Guest guest]

AN APPEAL TO THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Dear Friends,

We are facing a crisis. After the 'sit-in' protest by the sex workers

against the negligence of the Govt. and the human rights violations of the

police, the Minister of Health, P Sankaran has asked the concerned

authorities to stop the funding given to the projects our organization has

undertaken in the AIDS prevention field.

We are doing the projects in

collaboration with AIDS Control Society of Kerala for the past four years.

One is a counseling project, Thrani, for the HIV+ people, which we used for

suicide prevention also. In fact we used the fund for many other activities.

If you care to see, you can go to this web site www.thrani.org

The other project is an intervention project, KISS in the tourist spot of

Kovalam. It

is a unique project, where activities of different sorts are necessary. You

can get information on that also in www.firmkerala.org . What I am asking is

that if the Govt. is adamant in stopping the funding for these projects, we

will need help.

I am giving the letter I wrote to the minister below. Please help us in our

struggle to upheld the human rights issues of sexworkers and also to sustain

our efforts to prevent the spread of AIDS in Kerala. You can help us two

ways:

By writing letters to the Chief Minister of Kerala Mr A.K. Antony. His

e-mail is chiefminister@... and also to Mr P Sankaran, the

Health Minister minister-health@...

By finding alternate funds for these projects to sustain them in the long

run. Individuals as well as funding agencies can help.

Please visit those above sites and help us.

Love

Maitreya maitreya@...

=====================

11-07-02

From

Maitreya

TC-06/1474, Paper mill Road

Srikariam PO, Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala, India-695017

Tel: 0471 598186

E-mail maitreya@...

Sub: Prevention of AIDS, NGO Participation, Sexworkers, Democracy etc.

To

P. Sankaran

Minister for Health, Secretariat

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

E-mail minister-health@...

Sir,

This is the second letter in a row to you. I am forced to write because of

your irresponsible attitude. Two months back you made an unwarranted

statement at a meeting of health officials that the NGOs involved in the

AIDS prevention projects were bogus and they had to do away with NGOs. I

wrote to you confronting that such a statement was baseless and, as a

minister, one should be responsible to the words spoken. I came and

personally delivered that letter to you, but you never cared to reply. Now,

after the sit-in?protest in front of the Secretariat by the sexworkers

raising the issue of Govt. negligence and human rights violations by the

police against them, you once again went on a rampage at another meeting of

the officials of Health Department. As per the reports I got from the people

who attended the meeting, you said that the two AIDS prevention projects

given to my organization should be stopped immediately. I verified with

three different officials about the veracity of your statement. They

affirmed it. So, I want to answer your allegations before you close down the

projects. The reported allegations are:

1. I am a fraud?

2. I am selling the sexworkers for a living

3. I came and sat in front of the secretariat with some prostitutes

4. I came to your house and talked like a prime Minister?

The first two allegations are so deplorable and don't deserve any response

from me. I have to be irresponsible, like you, to answer them. What you have

done is hitting below the belt; the act of a coward. It is a shame that you

are a minister of this state. If one among the whole lot who listened to

your ravings would dare to stand witness for me, I would take you to the

court for slander. (I am sending a copy of this letter to all the officials

with expectation that at least one would stand witness for me.)

The AIDS prevention projects were started in Kerala five years ago. I wrote

many times to you and the Chief Minister about the incongruity of sending

the sexworkers with condoms to the street on one side and then arresting and

jailing them on the other. It does not make sense. Treating sexwork as a

criminal activity and asking the sexworkers to act as peer educators won't

work together. Because of this dual stand the AIDS prevention projects are

failing miserably. Just because funds come from foreign sources you spend

them. There is neither will nor interest on the part of the Government about

the critical role of these projects. You are not even serious about your job

I am positive that you have no knowledge about the gravity of the situation

That is why I wrote those letters, which failed to attract your attention.

Then, only to make you realize the gravity of the situation and the

uselessness of the current projects we did the sit-in? By seeing that, if

anger is the only emotion that simmers in your heart, I feel pity for you.

Our state will pay a heavy price for the stagnant work among the sexworkers.

Ministers, like you, with no statesmanship will be held responsible for this

disaster. But even that will be useless when people die in hordes. I am

asking you to find some time to study these things which are in the

portfolio allotted to you rather than spending time on group wars and

getting grafts from the officials transferred. You went to Australia to

attend the international conference on AIDS last year without knowing the

head or tail of AIDS prevention projects and then whiled away time sleeping

soundly in hotel rooms. As you are ignorant about the seriousness of the

occasion and the responsibility bestowed on you, you could easily act

irresponsible. But your counterpart from West Bengal made an impression on

the stage of the conference by depicting the need and situation of his state

and India as a whole. By doing the ‘sit-in? the sexworkers were bringing to

your notice about this sorry state of affairs and the waste you and your

govt. are adamant in making. So don’t scorn it just like that.

You mentioned that I came to your house and talked like a prime Minister?

The reason for such an experience resides in your concept of hierarchical

power structure. It is to transform subjects?into citizens?that we threw

away kingship and adopted democracy. I am a citizen with rights and

responsibilities. But you kowtowed before your leader K. Karunakaran to

become a minister, revealing your subject culture? So, I am afraid

whether you will understand a citizen culture? That is why my

responsible speech of a citizen seemed like a prime ministers speech to

you. Don't hold me responsible for that. Either above?or below?is not of

democratic culture; it exists in mutual respect between citizens. There is

no rulers?and ruled? but only collective responsibility and cooperation.

I used its language. But your subject culture?of either above or below

got offended by my responsible talk. Yet, I feel sorry for offending a

fellow citizen though unintentionally.

I don't need your help blessing or favor but I need the service?of

a minister. And you are responsible to fulfill that need. I also don't need

a minister to rule me; only subjects need ruling Citizens need

service Ministers like you forget this primary responsibility and mistake

yourselves as rulers Hierarchical power structure is the prerogative of

kings. We have abolished that. But some ministers, like you, behave as if

you are rulers; hence we see many kings in democracy. Ministers-turned-kings

escalate public expenditure. You are a waste and you create waste.

As a responsible citizen, I and my organization are doing two projects along

with the State AIDS Control Society. We executed more than what is expected

from those projects; all those who monitored will definitely vouchsafe for

it. The clients and consumers are fully satisfied. If both of them are

stopped because of the lack of favoritism from your side, then it is an

offence you are committing against society. I am neither pleading nor

begging but requesting you to desist from such a dastardly action. You

should know that to fight against the scourge of AIDS and to work with

high-risk groups not many NGOs are ready. So, again I request not to

molest and scare those few, who are selflessly working, and kill their

enthusiasm.

With responsibility

Maitreya

Copies to: Ministers, M.L.A.s, Officials of Health Department, NGOs, NACO, DFID,

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Media.

_______________________________

[Guest guest]

Aloha, Tamara!

I am shocked and saddened to read of your account. I thought the

residents had it bad, but to read of a military family having the

same, if not worse, experience, just makes my blood boil.

I hope this has not adversely colored your impression of Hawaii as a

whole (especially since the former administration just loved to

portray our state as the " Healthy State " ) and I am disappointed that

you and your family had to request reassignment for humanitarian

reasons just to get care for your children.

While I'm taking the " low road " by waiting it out, Thema is taking

the higher road and I give her all the credit in the world. If her

efforts net her and our group of CI Candidates in Waiting a faster

response time, she will have made a huge difference in our lives.

I hope all works out for you and your family.

Mark

> Aloha,

>

> Since November 2002 when coming across websites about Cochlear

> implants, I knew it would take a while to receive my own device.

> Didn't know it would take this long, but I'll be even more grateful

> when it is accomplished at last. A letter of appeal is on its way

to

> my insurance company concerning the significant delay in surgeries

> dates for their cochlear implants candidates here in Hawaii. Now

I'm

> relaxed as I wait for the answer. My friends and I are praying

that

> it will change the way Hawaii CI patients are treated.

>

> Keep those great CI stories coming--even the surgery stories help

us

> newbies face the unknown as we walk into the hospital for our turn.

>

> Blessings,

>

> Thema

>

>

>