Mayurbhanj has a crusader, too

BARIPADA: Twenty-five-year-old Puspalata Mohanta from a remote village in Mayurbhanj was tested HIV positive. But that did not stop her from thinking positive.
Like in our previous report on Reena (name changed) from Ganjam district's Berhampur, who turned into a crusader for the HIV/AIDS victims after her husband was tested positive, Puspalata too took the "think positive" path.Despite her odds, she has is still fighting against this killer disease that she inherited from her trucker husband. As a truck driver, her spouse was always away and often practised unprotected sex and and got infected.
Puspalata's husband died and left behind a bundle of miseries for her and their five-year-old daughter and three-year-old son, both of whom have been tested positive. An extremely frustrated Puspalata almost decided to commit suicide by jumping before a running train. But at a time like this, she came in contact with RRDC (Rural Research and Development Council), a Mayurbhanj-based NGO working on AIDS. RRDC Chairman Jayanta Pal told TOI that this had become a turning point in Puspalata's life, and she began her single-minded crusade against HIV/AIDS and made it her mission for life.
She moves from one college to another in the rural areas of Mayurbhanj district, and familiarized the youths with the popular slogan "STOP AIDS - KEEP THE PROMISE". Thus, she became part of the massive awareness worldwide campaign against AIDS from her little village in Orissa. After undergoing a thorough Anti-Retroviral Therapy in Berhampur, she is now healthy and mentally fit to return to lead a normal life. She has taken admission in a rural college.
Intervention by Indian Network for Positive people (INP) also gave a major boost to her fight against HIV/AIDS. Puspalata now gets a monthly remuneration of Rs 2,000 from INP and has no problem living with her two little children, sources added.