Critical Analysis of a Development Project - Article Example

An Analysis and Critique of a Development Project An Analysis and Critique of a Development Project Introduction This worldis a beautiful place to live in. The breath taking locations, weather, cultures, climatic conditions, languages, food and people they all combine to make this world a place where one would love to live in, eternally. If all these wonderful aspects of the world were to be combined and put together in one place or country then undoubted that would be India, the land of spices. Throughout history India has been a territory that has been invaded by world powers for the sake of advancement of their operations and generation of income and wealth. The Mughals, the Portuguese and the British all wanted to capture and rule over the golden sparrow. But none could hold it for long as it was a sparrow and it was destined to be freed, as it was finally in 1947. Today India is indeed revealing the colors and charms of prosperity and progress. It is undoubtedly an emerging world power. It is the world’s second fastest growing economy with a GDP that is in excess of $ 1 trillion. India is home to one of the finest and most beautiful tourist destinations like the Himalayas and the great Taj Mahal. India has a rich heritage and a proud and diverse culture and is the second largest country in terms of population that swells to around 1.2 billion people expanding over an area of 3.3 million square kilometers (Avert, 2009). India and HIV AIDS Indeed India is a jewel in the crown of this world but nothing is perfect, something being beautiful yet could be miserable as well. Similarly India with its rich culture and nature is stricken with the curse of a fatal disease that is known as Human Immunodeficiency Virus Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV AIDS). HIV AIDS is a lethal disease that is caused by various modes of transmission of the virus of this disease from one human to another, usually through unsafe methods of sexual intercourse. Unsafe methods of sexual intercourse mean sexual activity between humans that take place without any precaution. Domestically sex between a husband and wife is done without precaution, as indicated by the superfluous population of India. However sex without precaution between strangers such as a prostitute and its customer is another common practice in the region. When sex is executed without precaution, such as no condom usage and naked and direct penetration of the human penis into the vagina of a female resulting in the ejection of orgasm into the female genital area increases the risk of possible transmission of HIV between the individuals involved in the activity. A person that is affected by this disease, characterized by the presence of HIV in his/her bloodstream, is known as carrier. During sexual interaction the HIV is transmitted from the carrier to the non carrier, thus affecting the healthy person and transforming him into a carrier. Carriers are also known to be HIV Positive. The transmission of HIV is very common through sex because the HIV survives and nourishes in organs of the human body that have a higher blood temperature than the other organs and consequently the genital organs are the most ideal places in the human body for this virus to nurture and develop (Avert, 2009). The need for Avahan The largest democracy on the face of the Earth, India, was alien to the disease till 1986 as no cases were diagnosed to have this virus. However the good days were not long lasting and the expert predictions and anticipation came true very soon the same year when some sex workers were diagnosed HIV Positive in the state of Tamil Nadu. This was a real discovery for the medical specialists in the country and it caught a lot of attention of the media and it was soon brought to limelight that the disease was transmitted into the sex workers while their interaction with foreign clients; this lead to an uproar in the country and an outcry of social and cultural issues all over India. Uncertainty loomed over the sex worker operations in the country. The sex workers, which were already degraded in the society, were further looked down upon. New cultural concerns came on top when the HIV carriers were sidelined from the workforce and were outcaste from the society (Avert, 2009). The situation in India has gone from bad to worse in terms of the spread of HIV AIDS. As of UNAIDS 2006 India had the largest AIDS affected population in the world. The enigma with India is very complex as sometimes percentages do not represent the affect of a phenomenon on the life of humans suffering from it. Indian population is way beyond a billion people and even a minor percentage increase in the people affected would mean millions of humans, something that cannot be understood in statistical terms. Below is a table that reveals some important numbers for the local and global authorities to look into (Avert, 2009). Year HIV Positive Population Percentage Change 2006 5.6 million - 2007 2-3 million -46% 2008 2.31 million -23% 2009 2.4 million 4% Avahan, the ray of hope With the increase in number of AIDS patients in the country, the least aware people and communities belonging to uneducated and lower casts of the population reacted in a bizarre way. A large number of population considered AIDS patients to be untouchables and thus treated them as social outcasts. Even among the higher classes of the society absurd practices such as firing of HIV positive employees and withdrawal of relationships with people, friends and family members suffering from the disease, was reported. This posed an alarming situation as a country already stricken by the remorse and stigma of racial, cast, religious and gender discrimination had one more cluster to discriminate at a majority level. In the midst of such darkness Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF) lit the torch in 2003 by spreading its hand out to India and taking the initiative of combating HIV AIDS in the region. Under the banner of Avahan, B&MGF came up with creative strategies to control the spread of HIV in India. These techniques include distribution of condoms, training social workers and providing funds to NGOs and health organizations to use their existing infrastructure and create awareness. Avahan currently works in six Indian states that pose the greatest prevalence of the disease in the country. B&MGF has committed to donate around $340 million to serve the cause in the region. The project is aimed at creating awareness through systematic strategies among the locals and to help NGOs and health organizations to help people combating this virus day in and day out (B&MGF, 2011). Analysis So far the initiative has been of great help in creating awareness amongst the locals in different states in India. Several National and International Partners have joined hands with Avahan to further bolster this initiative and to ensure its success without any monitory or strategic lapses. A few partners worth mentioning include Australian International health Institute, Duke University, Population Service International etc. This also goes on to reveal that Avahan is a well planned step in the right direction with its national and international linkages making it even more effective and credible for the locals and authorities to believe in. A major obstacle that Avahan faced especially during the initial stages of its operations was communication barriers. The locals were not very friendly towards these initiatives and were unsure of how to react to them. This can be associated to the fact that initially people in the villages and remote areas were not aware of HIV AIDS. Majority of the rural population believed that this disease has nothing to do with humans in fact it is a supernatural curse and it is beyond the span of control of living beings. It took a lot of effort from the social workers and NGOs to actually convince the locals of the reality of this disease and to make them believe that it could be controlled by methods such as usage of condoms etc (Minhas, 2011). The Avahan project is funded by B&MGF, which is the world’s largest privately owned welfare foundation so this automatically guarantees a free flow of funds for the project and hence the execution of strategies is never obstructed because of lack of funds. In fact in 2009 B&MGF announced that it will pay $338 million for the project to NGOs instead of the initial commitment of $258 million. This once again signifies that B&MGF is pretty satisfied with the progress of the Avahan project and more importantly B&MGF has also realized the dire needs of funds for such a critically important project. A critical success factor behind Avahan is the ideology of “plan globally – act locally.” Indeed the funding is coming from abroad but the social and welfare workers are local NGOs and communities and this gives the local population a solid reason to believe in what is being told to them (Minhas, 2011). The Public Health Foundation India (PHFI) has applauded the efforts made by Avahan in combating HIV AIDS in the country. As per the research and analysis of PHFI, Avahan project has went on to prevent more than 100,000 people in various states of India from getting infected by the virus through sexual interaction with carriers. The educational and awareness campaigns carried out under the program have made a prominent impact and have motivated a lot of social workers in the country to join hands in the mission of combating the health and social harms of HIV AIDS in the country. More and more groups and people are now committing themselves to this noble cause, voluntarily and slowly and gradually this effort is gaming popularity and public support in high profile circles in India (B&MGF, 2011). Conclusion A step stone placed by B&MGF in 2003 has become a humanitarian colossus that has laid a road map for a lot of people to follow in India. The Avahan program is a great success story and a symbol of human welfare not only for Indians but also for people across the globe. In terms of its approach and methodology one cannot point out a lot of areas for improvement however taking Avahan foreword with same synergy, concept and commitment will be a challenging task for its stakeholders. The real success of Avahan would be when ultimately the awareness and knowledge regarding HIV AIDS prevention and cure has spread till the grass root level of the population, this may take decades but this is where the challenge lies. More importantly Avahan should also extend its collaborations with more organizations across borders and get in more capital investment. This inflow o funds should not only be allocated in combating HIV AIDS via awareness and education campaigns in fact some portion of funds must be allocated to research that would help Avahan get to the roots of the disease, develop more effective medicinal ways of preventing transmission of the virus and making the preventives available to the local population with convenience and at low cost. Avahan has already gained experience in promoting awareness in the Indian market regarding HIV AIDS now it should take its working onto further levels such as population control, child abuse and child labor, racial discrimination and rights of women. These are the issues that are not very openly talked about by the locals in villages and rural areas of the country. A large population is deprived of its basic rights to justice and freedom and freedom of speech. Such initiatives will further strengthen Avahan in the country as a recognized body that would become the voice of silent in the masses. References Avert, 2009. Overview of HIV and AIDS in India. Retrieved October 20, 2011, < http://www.avert.org/aidsindia.htm > Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF), 2011. Avahan: India Aids Initiative. Retrieved October 20, 2011, < http://www.gatesfoundation.org/avahan/Pages/overview.aspx > Pratibha Minhas, 2011. Success of Avahan Program. 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