Mangal Shah Founder, Palawi – A Project by Prabha-Hira Pratistha
Mangal Shah also known as Mangaltai is a humanitarian who has devoted her life to bringing a change in the lives of marginalized and vulnerable HIV-positive children and women. Her journey started with two HIV-positive abandoned children leading to now sheltering 110 children at Palawi. She has been bringing a change in the lives of marginalized and vulnerable HIV-positive children and women for more than two decades now. She has started multiple international and local programmes supporting the prevention and treatment of HIV patients. She has been facing challenges head-on when it comes to taking care of the myriad medical, psychological, and social issues that are endured by women and children living with HIV.
Palawi Foundation was established in 2001 and from one project, it now manages nine projects. Please tell us something about its origin story.
The primary reason for establishing Palawi was that there was a lot of stigma around HIV. We were thinking of doing something for the orphans, so we decided to work towards caring for orphan children living with HIV. My mother has always taught us to serve people in need. She had a dream of providing a home for orphaned children. I believe that where there’s a will, there’s a way and eventually, I met the late Vijayatai Lawate, Pune’s famous social worker who showed me the way. She asked if I’m okay with working for the rights and welfare of the children of the prostitutes. I immediately agreed because I feel wherever there is a need I want to work without hesitation. This is how my daughter and I got involved with this cause. You don’t need any specialized skill to do this, all you need is to work with dedication to instil good values in these children and inspire them to ensure that they get an education. That is what my motto was!
How did the journey of Palawi Care Home start where you take care of HIV+ children’s health and well-being?
Let me tell you about one incident that led to the establishment of Palawi Care Home – I was already working for children of prostitutes so I used to visit red-light areas and one day there was a government car distributing condoms. I was surprised to see that everyone was battling for it.
I asked someone why condoms are being distributed and they told me it was because of AIDS. Looking at my face they realized that this girl looks clueless about AIDS or anything like that. He told me that there I was clueless about the disease, so they explained that a girl here had contracted AIDS. Dimple and I went there to see what the situation was! When we look at what we see directly, reality hits us differently. Everyone pushed her around and disrespected her. She was begging for water, but no one was willing to give her. I was numbed when I saw this. Then, I decided to go with Dimple to educate ourselves about AIDS. We went to Dr. Pachkode for the right information and guidance. Hearing a lot of real-life stories and incidents that affected me greatly, I wrote a drama named Yadnyakund to spread awareness regarding AIDS in villages.
One of the incidents where a 5-year-old boy came to Palawi and the doctors said he wouldn’t survive beyond six months, using your knowledge through reading you ensured that the boy survived till he was 21. Tell us something about that.
That five-year-old boy was in a difficult situation. The police brought him in from his slum, where he lived in a shanty with a foul smell. His wounds were not dressed, and we took him to Dr. Sudhir Doshi, who treated his wounds and told us that the boy wouldn’t survive beyond six months as he is also HIV+. Because the community was very low on resources and the wound was very bad. I thought, maybe I should do something. So, we brought the boy to Palawi. My mother inculcated the reading habit in me. In one of my Vedic books, I came across how to fill and treat wounds, so I used that knowledge of treating the wounds with cow’s urine and for six months I did the dressing of the wounds and cared for him. It was very satisfying to see that the effort paid off and the boy’s family was able to take care of him until he passed away at 21.
You manage so many projects under your foundation. Give us some information about the Hirakani project.
The HIRKANI PROJECT is dedicated to destitute women mainly rape victims. restoration of health or normal life through counselling, training, and therapy. The story behind Hirakani is quite tragic. Once we found a homeless woman residing inside an empty pipe next to the road which was a work in progress. The locals asked us if we can shelter her at Palwai. We brought her, bathed her, and cleaned her. She was suffering from a mental illness, so she would end up going back to staying on the roads. I used to see her every day while travelling outside a dhabba next to our foundation. Once, I couldn’t find her so went on a search mission and scouted the nearby hospitals to find her. Finally, got a call from someone who said they found her and we had to quickly reach the spot. When we reached, we found her stark naked and unconscious on the road under the sun. We quickly covered her and gave her some water. She told us that she was brought there at night by a few men and was raped. She later gave birth to a son but we couldn’t save her. The child is still growing up at Palawi and excelling in his academics.
About Palawi Foundation
Palwai was established under Prabha-Hira Pratisthan in 2001 at Pandharpur. It provides a Care Home for orphan children living with HIV. Palawi believes that all children have the fundamental right to a loving, fun-filled childhood with access to health, education, and a safe and stigma-free environment. Palawi has given a lifetime commitment to provide for its educational, nutritional, medical, and recreational needs. We also aim at bringing awareness of HIV/AIDS and sensitising the general population to the prevalence of HIV.
