Somen Debnath - indianul care face turul lumii pe bicicleta. Acum in Romania.

Am dat de Somen pe Couch Surfing, la rubrica in care apar oamenii care calatoresc si sunt momentan in Bucuresti. Cum am antenele ridicate pentru tot ce e din India, i-am scris rapid un mesaj sa ne intalnim.

Peste doua zile eram cu el la un ceai. E un om deosebit, plin de viata, care transmite multa fericire si energie pozitiva. Mi-a povestit despre cum s-a hotarat sa calatoreasca in jurul lumii, pana in 2020 si despre ce il motiveaza in misiunea lui. Mai sta cateva zile prin Bucuresti, daca vreti sa il intalniti, puteti sa ii scrieti aici.

Iata povestea lui:

I traveled through 40 countries and till now made 75,700km on bicycle from India to Romania.

I am Somen Debnath, resident of village Basanti, which is located in Sundarbans, West Bengal, India. It is well-known that Sundarbans is a great mangrove forest & tiger reserve.

My journey "*Around the World Bicycle Tour for HIV/AIDS Awareness Programme& Indian Culture*" began on 27th of May 2004, just two days after acquiring Bachelor of Sciences degree in Zoology at University of Calcutta. I also completed 'Visarad' in Fine Arts at Sarbabhartiya University.

Inspiration for my mission came to me at the age of 14 when I read article in newspaper entitled "AIDS is Deadlier than Cancer". A homeless person was laid down in front of Medical college of Calcutta, abandoned by his villagers and left to die alone. It made a huge impact on me afterwards and I started asking my teachers in school about AIDS/HIV but they could not give me any education at all. AIDS-related stigma and lack of knowledge about this deadly yet preventable disease, motivated me to get a special training after two years at WBSACS (West Bengal State AIDS Control Society) and begin an awareness campaign about HIV/AIDS starting with educating my own teachers. My mission spread to people from my village.

Strategy: To educate people from different parts of society by raising awareness among students of schools, colleges, universities and also encourage those institutions to start a chapter on HIV/AIDS awareness program, promote the use of needles & syringes among drug-addicted people and use of condoms for sex workers. My aim is also to bring awareness among the youth and encourage Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the respective countries in the world.

Objective: I am on 191 countries tour and I will achieve this goal with completing my journey in year 2020 Through my bicycle tour around the world I am attempting to spread awareness about HIV/AIDS through lectures and also to give seminars about Indian culture. Focus is on underprivileged poor people, urban/rural and tribal population worldwide who have the lowest level of awareness about this deadly disease.

Short Term Goal: The students, youth and communities who benefit from awareness program will spread it in their societies in different countries. Besides, I am also keen to present India and Indian culture through seminars.

Long Term goal: To raise the global awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention by educating local people around the world with my mission.

Achievements : Starting from my native village on 27th of May 2004, till today I traveled in whole India and other countries in Asia to Europe. So far, I reached and conducting awareness program for 350 NGOs in 3560 schools, 3750 colleges, 68 universities,139 red-lights areas and numerous roadside restaurants.

All of this will be done for the sole purpose of presenting program on HIV/AIDS Awareness. Moreover, seminars on Indian Culture will be done as well. I feel honoured to be reworded by nine Presidents, 38 Ministers and Governors in different countries.