HIV families in farm class
Posted by barunroy on May 28, 2008
Siliguri, May 27: In a bid to help HIV positive persons and their families get a steady supply of nutritious food, a four-day workshop on how to raise and maintain a kitchen garden began at Bagdogra today.
In all, 20 HIV positive families are taking part in the workshop, 10 of whom have come from the three hill subdivisions of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong. The training has been organised by the Siliguri branch of the West Bengal Voluntary Health Association with the support of Mennonite Central Committee, an NGO.
“The kitchen garden project will not only provide a steady supply of wholesome and fresh vegetables to the families throughout the year but will also help them generate a surplus that can be sold in the markets. It is a very good scheme,” said Gopal Lama, deputy director of tourism, north Bengal, while inaugurating the workshop.
“This training will give the participants valuable knowledge on how to fully utilise their plots, with special focus on organic cultivation. It will be useful for those who cannot continue in their jobs anymore because of health problems. HIV positive persons must come to terms with reality and live in the present,” he told the participants.
But not all 140 HIV positive families enrolled with the WBVHA took part in the workshop. “Most of them do not have plots where they can grow vegetables,” said Tarun Maity, project coordinator of the branch. “For them, we will make available some of the surplus produce at subsidised rates.”
Five of the 20 families, mainly from the plains, have already benefited from the scheme and are taking part in the workshop to share their experiences. They have been given financial aid to buy saplings and manure by the WBVHA, and have been maintaining such gardens for the past one year.
“I have grown several types of vegetables like spinach, brinjal, gourd, beans and even potatoes on my four-cottah plot and have been able to meet the needs of my four-member family,” said Malati (named changed) of Matigara. Besides herself and her husband, even her four-year-old child is infected with the virus. [The Telegraph]
