Prabhu at India Gate interacting with underpriviledged children

From Pune to Mumbai

Hey All!

Sorry been riding constantly and been unable to update the blog much….

But here’s a brief run down of the journey… since being flagged off from Bangalore… I was slowed down by the rain and bad roads, and I took a few wrong turns but I finally managed to reach Pune just in time to meet volunteers and people who have attended Stepping Stones workshops run by Center for Youth Development and Activities and ActionAid in Pune.

The ride from Pune to Mumbai was relatively easier… but life for those living in the Dharavi slums of Mumbai is quite difficult. This I realized from my interaction with the community members that ActionAid works with. The Dharavi people are struggling to be heard by those in power. The slum holds almost a 100,000 people, of which, nearly 50% will lose their homes if the government goes ahead with its plans of ‘redevelopment’.

It’s shocking to hear their side of the story, since we tend to read of these only in the newspapers as stories of ‘development’.

This journey has helped me understand the hardships that many Indians face and their simple requirements.

The response from young people to what I am doing is overwhelming. I am being able to see some really inspiring messages over blog and twitter.

A bike and a message to end poverty

Over 200 million Indians live on less than one dollar a day, yet many of the country’s youth are oblivious to the impact of this reality.

Determined to change this, a young software engineer, Prabhu S, today, embarked on a three week journey across India to sensitise ‘generation next’ to the critical issue of poverty and lack of access for poor families to education, jobs, health and housing.

“It is unfortunate that while rest of the world knows so much about India’s poverty levels. My generation seems to be oblivious to those living below the poverty line,” says Prabhu

For this trip that covers 17 states, Prabhu has joined hands with ActionAid to highlight the issue of poverty and struggle of communities living with it. “I learnt about ActionAid from the internet, while searching for NGO’s working with the poor. I found their national reach and rights-based approach very appealing,” added Prabhu.

During the 9,500 kilometre bike ride, Prabhu will meet HIV positive single mothers, HIV positive children, urban poor, railway kids, orphans, women who are fighting for land and livelihood.

“I am excited about interacting with the communities. This trip will allow me to be a part of the change but also inform others on how much work still needs to be done,” says Prabhu.

To see Prabhu off there were women from MILANA, a network for women living with HIV. Its project director, Joythi Kiran, spoke on the link between HIV and Poverty.

“Poverty worsens the impact of HIV. A lack of education, hygiene and ignorance lead to high-risk behaviour making poor people, especially women, vulnerable,” says Kiran.

"It is great that Prabhu is doing this. It is important that the youth take note of these issues. They will shape the country’s future," she adds.

“Poverty can only be fought by getting people their basic rights. The stories of India’s economic growth, somehow pushes the issues of hunger and poverty under the carpet” says, ActionAid’s Christy Abraham.

The countdown begins!

A Ride against Poverty will kick-start in just over 48-hours. The biker, Parbhu, is busy getting a sense of the communities and groups that ActionAid partner’s with to fight poverty and denial of rights.

On the morning of 29^th September, he will be flagged of by an outstanding group of women who have become champions of rights of HIV positive people, particularly the women. The group, known as MILANA, is a network of positive women, mostly single and in their 20’s and early 30’s. They come from low income group families and most were married in teens and had little say in it. Some of them are single mothers.

The core idea behind this group is to allow positive women to step out and join hands with other positive women in fighting stigma of society and find livelihood and access services like health, medical support.

It has grown from five members in 2002 to over 600 now.

Know more about MILANA:

http://www.actionaid.org/india/index.aspx?PageID=4583

http://www.actionaid.org/india/index.aspx?PageID=3411

http://www.actionaid.org/india/index.aspx?PageID=4585

http://www.actionaid.org/india/index.aspx?PageID=3924