At Home and Abroad: A Safe Migration Initiative (Equal Access)

The need for sources of income in rural Nepal is acute, and in response to limited economic opportunities and socio-political conflict in their country, between 60,000 to 1.2 million Nepali men migrate to India every year in search for jobs. Not only do migrant men often have high-risk sexual behaviors, but Mumbai, a popular destination for Nepalese workers, has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in India. These behaviors raise the danger of an increase in HIV infections in the hills of western Nepal when these men return home. Migrant Nepali communities serve as job-search and housing networks for new migrants in Indian cities such as Mumbai. New migrants arrive in these cities with very little or no education or trained skills and most only find jobs washing dishes, sweeping, washing cars, serving as security guards/ doormen or as cooks in Chinese restaurants, where wages average a very low $33-55 per month. Most migrant men leave behind wives, children, and aged parents, promising to send them money. Some manage to keep their promises while others find themselves scrambling to cover costs. Traveling to Mumbai and finding a job is expensive in itself and gambling, alcohol and commercial sex markets prove to be popular distractions. Accordingly, Nepali migrants find themselves at alarmingly high risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), especially HIV and AIDS and returning migrants are significantly contributing to the spread of STIs & HIV in rural Nepal where awareness, education, health services are very poor. Program Description: “At Home and Abroad” (Desh Pardesh) is a 30 minute radio program that aims to reduce HIV transmission among Nepali migrants and their sexual partners by increasing awareness and knowledge on Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) among both migrant communities in India and the ʺhomeʺ communities back in Nepal. Produced in collaboration with the FHI (Family Health Initiative) Safe Migration Initiative and with funding from USAID, “At Home and Abroad” comprises a 15 minute dramatized segment following the story of Narendra, a young man from a village in western Nepal who migrates to Mumbai to find work and who experiences the difficulties and temptations encountered by Nepalese migrants in India.

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Contributor: Anuradha Bhattacharjee
Published Date: May 7, 2008