Chennai: The life of S Noori is not just another tale of a transwoman who tries to overcome social stigma. There is much beyond it.
A caretaker of 45 children, Noori is an inspiration for hundreds around her to live a life with pride, not fear. The founder of South India Positive Network (SIP) at Periyar Nagar in North Chennai, Noori is the third officially declared person to be HIV positive by the Indian government.
Noori founded the NGO in 2001 and aims at providing helping hand to the HIV-affected people to overcome their fears and motivate them to live a normal life.
Noori’s another initiative is the establishment of SIP Memorial Trust to take care of the homeless and rejected children of HIV patients. The trust presently has 45 children.
Born in Rameshwaram as Noor Mohammed, it was not an easy task for a 18-year-old to deal with the realization of her identity.
“I ran away from home and spent 10 years in Mumbai as a sex worker. In 1986, I was diagnosed HIV and came back to Chennai. I made it my life’s mission to create awareness among the public about HIV/AIDS and also to ensure that HIV-affected people get basic standard of living and proper education,” she shares.
Noori started working for various NGOs and realised the need for an organisation for the HIV infected people. The organisation tries to remove the outcast system and to treat everyone as normal ‘humans’.
“It has been 38 years since I have been diagnosed with AIDS. Still, I am breathing. A person diagnosed by HIV should not get upset and get into the verge of committing suicide. There is a bright life ahead for them,” Nooriamma, as she is known, said.
With more than 8,000 members, SIP network provides counselling and helps its members through skill development programmes. “There are no HIV patients around us, they are only ‘HIV-infected’. It is the society that makes them patients,” she added.
Noori identifies herself a ‘strong-willed woman’. She has bagged many awards in her lifetime, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from Tamilnadu government and has travelled to many countries as a motivational speaker.
However, the organisation lacks funding to make proper implementation of their projects for the welfare of the neglected community.
“Without proper funding it’s difficult to move forward,” she said.
Noori dreams of a world where everyone is treated equal, where there is no HIV infected people and a kind of world where, not even one child is left abandoned and homeless.
(Article by Ardra S)