LEAH NASH PHOTOGRAPHY

INDIA: AIDS

In India, where sex is taboo and AIDS/HIV carries a heavy stigma, infection rates have grown to epidemic proportions. Major forms of transmission include blood transfusions, men who have sex with men, and intravenous drug users. However, by far, the highest infection rates are due to heterosexual sex. With little social intermingling between men and women, arranged marriage the norm and sex outside of marriage forbidden, visits to sex-workers are not uncommon for men of all backgrounds and income levels. Many men then pass the disease on to unsuspecting wives. From husband to wife and then from mother to fetus, a new generation of carriers is created. Second only to Africa, the numbers are predicted to reach 10 million by 2010. Yet, it is still an issue that most of India is not talking about and that most of the world does not know. This story was made possible by a Fulbright Grant.

Prasad, age 30, was a taxi driver who loved reciting poetry. His younger brother got married in March and so his family sent him to an AIDS hospice so no one would know he was sick. This is where he died. Stigma in India is still rampant and positive people are often shunned by their families and the community.
   
Helping Hands, a social service organization in India, takes in people who have been rejected by society. This includes the mentally and physically ill, the elderly, orphans, and HIV/AIDS patients. Gowri is both mentally ill and HIV positive, believed to be due to rape.
   
Lucy's father died two years ago of AIDS. Her mother, Sushila, is also positive but Lucy has not been tested. Her older sister, Wey, is healthy, but Lucy and Movi are often sick and must stay in bed. "How long must I suffer? Will I ever lead a normal life?" asks Sushila.
     
  
Shobha and her father wait at Asha Kirana, a HIV clinic. Shobha is 19 and has been married for little over a year. She is seven months pregnant and positive. Her husband, a truck-driver, does not want the child. One month later, Shobha will abort her child, leave her husband and return to her family.
   
Many NGO's perform condom demonstrations for truck drivers, a high-risk group for HIV. When the disease first became an issue in India, areas of higher incident rates could be traced along truck routes.
   
Rina, 28, became a prostitute after her manager at a cosmetics company pressured her for sex in exchange for a promotion. "I have no past, my only identity is a sex-worker." Her mother is also a sex-worker. Many people cite lack of empowerment for women as a major cause of HIV/AIDS in India.
     
  
Rubber gloves are laid out to dry, in preparation for another use. Though Africa has by far the worse percentages of AIDS/HIV infection rates, many researchers think that in terms of sheer numbers, India ranks first.
   
Raju contracted HIV through needle-sharing and for the last four months has been unable to speak or move. His wife, Assalata, does all his care-giving and says she is, "Not brave enough to test herself." They have been married for two years.
   
At Gilead's Balm, a Christian based heroin detox center in Manipur, India new patients are chained to prevent escape. The longer their stay, the more links are added to the chain. The program, which lasts two years, is immensely popular with the community and is entirely locally funded. Their motto is "Chaining is changing."
     
  
Leinhmar, 30, has been injecting drugs for 16 years and is now HIV positive. He originally started because of peer pressure and says even though he wants to he can't stop. He used to work as a rickshaw driver but can no longer walk because of abscesses on his legs. AIDS rates are quite high in Northeast India due to drug use and needle-sharing.
   
At CHES orphanage, 60% of the children are HIV positive as well as the workers. In the baby room, cries or laughter are rarely heard. AIDS orphans are a rising concern, and account for approximately 3% of infection rates.
   
Kumar is blind as a result of AIDS complications. He has two children and a wife who abandoned him. He is cared for at Snehadaan, a Christian AIDS Hospice run by Sisters, Fathers and Brothers. Many of the care centers in India are Christian-based facilities that became exclusively AIDS focused when the demand became overwhelming.